World Cup 2023: After New Zealand’s high-flying start, today’s match is not less than a test for the Dutch

Showing their intent to go deep into the tournament right from the start, the Black Caps were up against England in the competition opener on October 5, defeating the defending champions by nine wickets. s.

The team led by Tom Latham chased down the target of 283 in 36.2 overs, with an epic show from Devon Conway (152 not out) and Rachin Ravindra (123 not out) who played blazing innings.

Head coach Gary Stead indicated that Latham will continue to lead the team against Netherlands as New Zealand’s regular skipper Kane Williamson is yet to regain match fitness having nursed an ACL injury he suffered during the IPL earlier this year.

“Kane’s also been progressing very well — I think the fielding is still the element for him that he’s just got to get a little bit higher and get a little more trust in his body,” PTI quoted Stead on Sunday.

“But he is progressing really well, and we are pretty confident he will be playing the third match for us. We have got another training to get through today, so we will finalise the team once we have got through that training. At this stage with Kane, we are looking like the third game is when he will start the tournament,” he added. The Kiwi camp is also bound by the unavailability of veteran pacer Tim Southee, as he is recovering from a broken and dislocated thumb. Nonetheless, speedster Lockie Ferguson’s availability can be expected. Meanwhile, the Dutch were against Pakistan on Friday, which the latter won by 81 runs.

However, the Scott Edwards led team did take some confidence from that encounter, especially when they managed to get rid of three Pakistani batters in the first powerplay.

In their second innings, opener Vikramjit Singh (52) and Bas de Leede (67) gave a strong fight-back but still fell short.

Netherlands cricket team needs to focus on their batting which needs more consistency, especially in the middle order.

The two sides have met on four occasions in the format so far, with New Zealand winning all the matches.

Squads:

Netherlands: Scott Edwards (c/w), Colin Ackermann, Wesley Barresi, Bas de Leede, Aryan Dutt, Sybrand Engelbrecht, Ryan Klein, Teja Nidamanuru, Max O’Dowd, Saqib Zulfiqar, Shariz Ahmad, Logan van Beek, Roelof van der Merwe, Paul van Meekeren, Vikramjit Singh.

New Zealand: Kane Williamson (c), Tom Latham, Trent Boult, Mark Chapman, Devon Conway (w), Lockie Ferguson, Matt Henry, Daryl Mitchell, James Neesham, Glenn Phillips, Rachin Ravindra, Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee, Will Young.

Match starts: 2:00 pm.