England will need to overcome their own patchy form and New Zealand‘s favourites tag when the two teams meet in the 2015 Cricket World Cup in Wellington on Friday. You can follow live scores and a blog of this match from 12:00 noon AEDT.
It’s been a struggle for England in recent times but the jury is still out on whether the replacement of Alastair Cook by Eoin Morgan was a good move.
What they do have is a chance to prove that decision right when they take on one of the frontrunners for the title this year in New Zealand.
England are coming into the game without much of confidence, having gone down rather tamely to Australia in their opener.
Between bowling fuller at the Australian batsmen and bowling length, their strategy was to pull the ball short at them, and in doing so they erred in sending too many of them down their own half.
The result was a confident Aussie side plundering 342 in their 50 overs and with a bowling attack as potent as their hosts, they were never going to get any close to the target.
What followed was even worse. England were bowled out for 231, and were never in the game after having lost early wickets in the pressure of that big chase.
Morgan was dismissed for another duck, his fourth in five matches and that has put even more pressure on the captain – neither are the results going his way, nor his own form.
And New Zealand are not going to make it any easier for their opposition.
With two wins from two games, New Zealand are at the forefront of finishing in the top two in the points table in their group and a win here will all but ensure that.
They are the form side too. Despite losing seven wickets in their chase against Scotland, the coach Mike Hesson was quick to remind everyone that it was far better for them to win the game in 24.5 overs for the loss of seven instead of going wicketless but using up 30 overs to get to the target.
If anything, one can say that New Zealand weren’t clinical in their approach in that Scotland game and that’s a chink England will hope comes back to bite their hosts.
What will be interesting to see is if England continue with their tactic of bowling short at their opposition in this game as well or if they chance things around.
McCullum has said in his pre-match press conference he isn’t sure of whether to bat or bowl first but the side has shown enough confidence in naming their starting XI before the game. They are going in with the same side that beat Scotland last game, which only makes sense because they were easy winners in the end.
England, on the other hand, are yet to decide on their XI. Some questions still remain unanswered for this game and it could be time for them to tweak things around.
Should they give Ravi Bopara another chance after dropping him from the previous game or should Gary Ballance be continued?
Can James Tredwell be fit into the starting line-up or will it be too much of a risk on an easy-paced pitch? After all Majid Haq did tease and torment the Kiwis a tad in their previous game, didn’t he?
It does look like for England to win, they will need to do things slightly differently, but it remains to be seen whether that’s in terms of personnel change or a tactical one.
You can follow the live score of this New Zealand vs England World Cup 2015 encounter from 12:00 noon AEDT on Friday and post your comments in the section below.
JamestheElder
Guest
Brilliant Captaincy. Brendon set test match fields and the England batsmen duly fell for the trap. Of course that may not work against the likes of de Villiers, Kohli, Warner and Amla! I like the NZ attitude. No lack of self believe as yet.
Don Freo
Guest
Surely England is a minnow side. I'd back the West Indies against them.
Don Freo
Guest
Stuart Broad will back away to the boundary. The ump had better stand at point. I wonder if they carry extra tissues for him. Ashton Agar is so unlucky. Broad would have been his first Test wicket if he wasn't so unfaithful with sportsmanship. Now he would jump at the chance to be dismissed. I reckon if he was rapped on the pads, he'd join in the appeal.
Bobbo7
Guest
Means nothing Don. When there is a game on NZ turn up like today. Aus v NZ will be. 50/50 match for mine.
Kia Kaha
Roar Guru
:) England Afghanistan will be a better match to evaluate England in those stakes.
Nudge
Guest
Are Ireland now a better cricketing nation then England?
murugavel
Guest
Ammezing
Don Freo
Guest
Whoa!!! They are way too timid to try being evil.
Free Kick
Guest
Is it too late to send out England's women's team to give them a sniff against Scotland and Bangladesh? The current team of schoolboys just don't cut it against real men.
Kia Kaha
Roar Guru
Does that mean England have joined the Axis of Evil, Don Freo?
Don Freo
Guest
Don't get too cocky, Peter. It was a third world attack.
Peter Robinson
Roar Rookie
McCullum's innings, ball by ball : - 160044444016404606666401W = 77
Kuruki
Roar Guru
I honestly think we are just not turning up 100% mentally when we play those minnow sides. As you have seen against Sri Lanka and England, NZ have been outstanding. I actually felt more confident after that little switch off against Scotland then if we would have beaten them too easily, we can't be peaking mentally 100% of the time so it's good to have those lapses when you can afford it. A good break coming up before this cracker match against Australia, i think we will turn up again and it's going to be the match of the tournament.
Debz
Guest
Is it the 1st April??? I might have to start watching ODI's again if NZ keeps playing like this!!
Kia Kaha
Roar Guru
It was important that NZ rectified their blip against Scotland. They did so in emphatic form and thus approach the game against Australia with their confidence assured. They must see this home game as a must-win. They must harness the spirit of 92 and take the game to Australia with the same level of aggression they had against England today. McCullum can't win a toss to save himself but if NZ are put into bat first, he does have the power to take the game away from Australia with his hitting and contributions from a few other senior partners (if you can call a 24-year-old senior!). After that, it's by no means a foregone conclusion. Momentum can be added or removed at any time and in knockout matches a duff performance will see your hopes quickly dashed. That's England's only saving grace at the moment. The wheels have come off their sweet chariot but if they don't lose to the minnows they have a fighting chance against Sri Lanka and they won't necessarily need their fans to come and carry them home.
The structure of the tournament means England can still win this tournament, regardless of how they are playing now, if they beat the minnows the can still make the quarters, and from there anything is possible.
Don Freo
Guest
I'm feeling cocky about Oz's chances. At least we might get to see the second half of our batting order get a bat in the last 5 overs...that's if we don't bowl first. NZ has lost 9/260 in it's last two games against 2 of the competition's minnows and that 9 wickets includes the top order twice. A little bit fragile?
Renegade
Roar Guru
The Australia-NZ game next week is shaping up as the most anticipated game of cricket in a very long time. In this moment in time, based on form they are the two best teams in the world. Both teams have belted opposition for the past few months and now meet each other for the first time in a couple years. Absolutely massive match next Saturday and I still think it's going to be a preview of the World Cup final.
Slane
Guest
How exciting is the NZ vs AUS game going to be?!
DaniE
Roar Guru
Cheers Suneer!