Published: Feb 20, 2015, 06:11 AM (IST)
Edited: Feb 20, 2015, 06:11 AM (IST)
New Zealand take on England in the eighth match of the ICC Cricket World Cup at Wellington in their Pool A encounter on Friday. New Zealand are coming off two back-to-back wins, while England lost their opening match to Australia in what was the second match of the World Cup. LIVE SCORECARD: New Zealand vs England, Pool A Match 9 at Wellington
New Zealand also have a historical advantage over England, having come out on top in each of the last four World Cup matches the teams have played. However, New Zealand will know that history has little significance on the day, and will need to guard against England’s impressive pace attack at the World Cup. LIVE UPDATES: New Zealand vs England, Pool A Match 9 at Wellington
According to AFP, Kiwi skipper Brendon McCullum said after the narrow win over Scotland, “It was a really good performance with the ball and in the field, but we need to improve on our batting. It should be a great challenge when we play the next one as the surfaces and conditions will also change. We are going to have to play incredibly well. This is certainly the strongest side I have ever played in.” ICC Cricket World Cup 2015: POINTS TABLE
Meanwhile, England captain Eoin Morgan said that he was not too bothered by the opening defeat, and that his side would target a comeback. According to AFP, Morgan said, “We’re expected to win games of cricket after getting off to not an ideal start. The guys are really disappointed, but we’ve dusted ourselves down and we look ahead to Friday’s game.” ICC Cricket World Cup 2015: SCHEDULE & MATCH DETAILS
The former Ireland batsman went on to say, “I believe it will work and when it does, hopefully, I can cash in on it and, hopefully, make it either a match-winning performance or build on somebody else’s performance… There is a sense of frustration. The big games that we play, these first two games in particular, are great practice for the later stages in the tour. If we can get wins under our belt against good opposition it can breed confidence for later in the tour. Ideally, you’d build that before the big games, but it is just the way they fall.” ICC Cricket World Cup 2015: Complete Coverage
