It’s a clash between two sides which have peculiar similarities. While England have lost three World Cup finals without winning one, New Zealand have never gone past beyond semi-finals. In fact, they have played six and lost all.
On Friday, both sides clash at Wellington in a crucial Pool A match of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015. On paper, New Zealand are favourites. Even in head-to-head clashes in World Cup, the stats favour the Kiwis. In seven matches played so far, New Zealand have won four. ICC Cricket World Cup 2015: Full Coverage
New Zealand lead Pool A with four points, while England are yet to open their account. Ahead of the match between the Brendon McCullum led New Zealand and Eoin Morgan’s England.
Suvajit Mustafi lists out the past World Cup matches between both the sides.
The first encounter between both these sides in World Cup went in favour of the English men. Riding on Keith Fletcher’s brilliant 131, England managed a good total of 266.
New Zealand never stood with a chance and were bundled out for 186, as Tony Grieg picked up four wickets.
Brief scores:
England 266 for 6 in 60 overs (Keith Fletcher 131) bt New Zealand 186 in 60 overs (John Morrison 55: Tony Greig 4-45) by 80 runs
New Zealand once again did well in the group stage to qualify for the semi-final and this time they were up against England.
Choosing to field first, the New Zealand bowlers did a good job restricting England to 221 and looked set for the chase. England came back well, bowling a tight line, to restrict the Kiwis 10 runs short of the final berth.
Brief scores:
England 221 for 9 in 60 overs (Mike Brearley 53, Graham Gooch 71, Derek Randall 42*) bt New Zealand 212 for 9 in 60 overs (John Wright 69; Mike Hendrick 3-55) by nine runs
It was the opening game of the tournament and England won it comprehensively. Electing to bat first, England cruised to strong total of 322, thanks to quick hundred from Allan Lamb. Martin Snedden was clobbered for 105 from his 12 overs.
The chase wasn’t going to be easy for the New Zealanders and the only one to have posed some fight was Martin Crowe, who managed 97. His lone hand wasn’t enough as the hosts comfortably won the match by 106 runs.
Brief scores:
England 322 for 6 in 60 overs (Chris Tavare 45, Allan Lamb 102, Mike Gatting 43) bt New Zealand 216 in 59 overs (Martin Crowe 97; Bob Willis 2-9) by 106 runs
The sides met again six days later. Deriving confidence from their last win, England once again elected to bat first. This time they were bowled out for 234. David Gower scored a masterful 96 not out to take them to that total.
In a very closely-fought contest, New Zealand managed to clinch the thriller with one ball to spare. Off the fifth ball, with the scores level, John Bracewell struck a boundary to settle the issue and handing New Zealand their first ever win against England in World Cup matches.
Brief scores:
England 234 (Graeme Fowler 69, David Gower 92; Richard Hadlee 3-32, Lance Cairns 3-44) lost to New Zealand 238 for 8 in 59.5 overs (Geoff Howarth 60, Jeremy Coney 66, Richard Hadlee 31; Bob Willis 4-42) by two wickets
New Zealand were in some form then. Before this match, Martin Crowe’s New Zealand had won all their six games. England, too were one of the title contenders and were playing good cricket.
Against a disciplined Kiwi bowling attack, England batting first could manage only 200. It proved to be an easy chase for New Zealand as they won by seven wickets with almost 10 overs remaining.
Brief scores:
England 200 for 8 in 50 overs (Alec Stewart 41, Graeme Hick 56) lost to New Zealand 201 for 3 in 40.5 overs (Andrew Jones 78, Martin Crowe 73*) by seven wickets
It was the opening match of the 1996 World Cup. New Zealand batting first put up 239 and they were helped by some scrappy fielding from the English side. Reprieved at one, opener Nathan Astle went on to score 101.
England were right up there with their chase but a disciplined bowling effort from the Kiwis led by Dion Nash, restricted them 11 runs short.
Brief scores:
New Zealand 239 for 6 in 50 overs (Nathan Astle 101, Chris Cairns 36) bt England 228 for 9 in 50 overs (Graeme Hick 85, Neil Fairbrother 36; Dion Nash 3-26, Gavin Larsen 2-33) by 11 runs
It was Scott Styris’ game. His brilliant all-round effort ensured New Zealand of a win in their first game of the tournament.
England were put into bat and found it extremely difficult to negate the pace of Shane Bond. They scrapped their way to 209 and reduced New Zealand to 19 for three at the end of fifth over. Styris then added 138 with Jacob Oram for the fifth wicket, as New Zealand registered a comfortable six wicket win.
Brief scores:
England 209 for 7 in 50 overs (Kevin Pietersen 60, Paul Nixon 42*; Shane Bond 2-19, Scott Styris 2-25) lost to New Zealand 210 for 4 in 41 overs (Scott Styris 87*, Jacob Oram 63*) by six wickets
Head-to-head (Overall)
Played: 77 Eng: 33 NZ: 38 Tied: 2
Most Runs: John Wright (NZ) Runs: 930 (30 ODIs) Average: 31.0
Most Wickets: Richard Hadlee (NZ) Wickets: 34 (23 ODIs) Average: 23.5
Head-to-head (In World Cups)
Played: 7 Eng: 3 NZ: 4
Most runs: Martin Crowe (NZ) Runs: 190 (3 ODIs) Average: 95.0
Most wickets: Bob Willis (Eng) Wickets: 7 (3 ODIs) Average: 13.1
(Suvajit Mustafi consumes cricket for lunch, fiction for dinner and munches numerous other snacks throughout the day. Yes, a jack of several trades, all Suvajit dreamt of was being India’s World Cup winning skipper but ended up being a sports writer, author, screenwriter, director, copywriter, graphic designer, sports marketer, strategist, entrepreneur, philosopher and traveller. Donning so many hats, it’s cricket which gives him the ultimate high and where he finds solace. He can be followed at @RibsGully and rivu7)
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