July 14, 2019 is a wretched memory for all New Zealanders and fans of their under-stated cricket heroics across the globe. Cruel twists of fate, a resurgent Ben Stokes and a tie in the super over gave England the title. A heart-breaking tweet from a member of that side sums it up.
Fast forward four years and the scenario still doesn’t look any different. New Zealand continue to be the underdogs, a convalescing Kane Williamson is still the biggest name in the side, the pace attack is still powered by Trent Boult, Lockie Ferguson, Matt Henry and Southee and it still isn’t super-star heavy like England, India or Australia.
Yet, many still expect the Kiwis to punch above their weight. This is despite their ODI performance over the last one year, where they were thumped by England, Pakistan, India and Australia, on tour and won against Sri Lanka and Bangladesh (and Pakistan in another 3-match series) on subcontinent pitches.
For this to materialize, Trent Boult will have to play a big role. In the midst of a break from a central contract with NZ cricket board, Boult has racked up stunning numbers in the current calendar, picking up 33 wickets in the 15 ODIs since the 2019 World Cup final at Lord’s. This includes a fifer against England last month and a couple of 4-fers against Australia in September last year.
There are a number of other bright spots as far as the Kiwis are concerned. For instance, opener Devon Conway, an integral part of Chennai Super Kings (CSK)’s 2023 title-winning side, has been in great form, scoring hundreds against England, India and Pakistan this year.
All-rounder Daryl Mitchell, a virtual unknown on the IPL circuit, has also smashed three hundreds this year and was involved with Conway in a superb run-chase against England last month.
Surprisingly, the Kiwis have also figured out a strong spin contingent for the tournament in India. The leg-spinner Ish Sodhi is in good form, with a 6-fer against Bangladesh last month backed by CSK man Mitchell Santner who has been underwhelming off late. 24-year-old left arm spinner Rachin Ravindra has been a revelation with runs and wickets to boot in the handful of games he’s gotten. He opened the innings in the world cup warm-up game against Pakistan, racking up an impressive 97 against their pace attack and is someone to watch out for.
Players to watch out for:
Kane Williamson: Recovering from an injury, Williamson is a talismanic player for New Zealand. He will be in-charge of supporting the middle-order while the others go ballistic.
Trent Boult: His ability to swing the ball has caused problems for the best batsmen in the world and he is no stranger to Indian pitches, given his vast IPL experience.
Devon Conway: Expect the extremely confident Conway to score a mountain-load of runs, if he gets going.
Fixtures:
Vs England on October 5 at Ahmedabad
Vs Netherlands on October 9 at Hyderabad
Vs Bangladesh on October 13 at Chennai
Vs Afghanistan on October 18 at Chennai
Vs India on October 22 at Dharamsala
Vs Australia on October 28 at Dharamsala
Vs South Africa on November 1 at Pune
Vs Pakistan on November 4 in Bengaluru
Vs Sri Lanka on November 9 in Bengaluru