Published: Oct 21, 2014, 12:44 AM (IST)
Edited: Oct 21, 2014, 02:03 AM (IST)
Oct 21, 2014
New Zealand and South Africa will face against each other in the first One-Day International (ODI) at Mount Maunganui on Tuesday. There is a huge disparity between both teams on paper – South Africa are ranked No 2, while New Zealand are ranked No 7, but past history will count for little as the two teams will look to begin their preparations for the upcoming ICC World Cup 2015.
New Zealand can draw inspiration from their past record against South Africa at home, having beaten the Proteas 16 times and half as many. New Zealand is known to be tough opponents in their backyard, having beaten India 4-0 in the last ODI series that was played here. The Kiwis also boast of a number of players who are specialists when it comes to limited-overs cricket, such as skipper Brendon McCullum, Corey Anderson, Trent Boult, Tim Southee, Ross Taylor, and a few more. They will also field the highly-experienced Daniel Vettori on Tuesday, providing for some interesting contest between Vettori and players such as Hashim Amla, who is known to be a good player of spin, on tracks that do not have much to offer for spinners.
Catch the Live Blog of the match here
Complete coverage of South Africa’s tour of New Zealand
