The All Blacks name 39 man squad for the rugby championship, Black caps need to beat England to gather much needed momentum and we catch up with two kiwi lads who will take on a 24-hour tyre flipping challenge for a great cause.
Ten teams entered this World Cup. Their number has now expanded to 11 because the hosts have entered two: England I, the pussycats who roll over at the first sign of pressure, and England II, the lions who fight their way out of a corner.
England's identity might appear to depend simply on whether they bat or bowl first. Every time they have batted first, they have won in leonine fashion, scoring more than 300 and going on to defeat South Africa, Bangladesh and India.
When they have batted second, they have lost in feline fashion to Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Australia.
The only time they have chased successfully was against West Indies, whose batting underperformed as usual, and England lost only two wickets in knocking off 212.
On balance, the lions are likelier to turn up tonight at the Riverside, whether England bat or bowl first, for their must-win game against New Zealand — otherwise they will need Bangladesh to lose against India, then defeat Pakistan.
Durham is home to Ben Stokes and Mark Wood, and was home to Liam Plunkett, whose recall against India put some backbone into the England team. Their three defeats have all happened when Plunkett has been omitted, leaving no sergeant major to rally the infantry.
"It's nice to go up north, that's where I first started," Plunkett said.
"I used to play for Cleveland, who are a minor county and they finish at under-13s, so it would have been 14 [that he started at Durham]. I bought my first house there. It is an amazing journey I've been on, and to think that if you win three games of cricket, then you win the World Cup ... this team is capable of doing just that."
The Riverside is something of a northern fastness. England have won all six of their tests there and are 7-4 up in one-day internationals. A couple of ODIs have been abandoned but even that would suit England as they are way ahead of Bangladesh and Pakistan on net run-rate: if teams finish with the same number of points and victories, this is the criterion which will decide who goes through to the semifinals along with Australia, India and New Zealand.
England's captain Eoin Morgan, left, speaks with Chris Woakes during the Cricket World Cup match between India and England. Photo / AP
England can match New Zealand's pace bowling and offer a stronger batting line-up if the lions turn up. The nearest to a weak link against India was Wood, who somehow did not trust his slower balls as the game wore on, which threw extra weight on Plunkett in the middle overs, which he shouldered superbly.
"I'm not trying to reinvent the wheel, I'm not trying to get five for spit," Plunkett said. "I know my job is to smash out my length, mix my pace up and hopefully pick up crucial wickets. I bowl a lot of cross-seam, and my pace varies with it on the same length, so that can make things tough for batsmen. I haven't got the ability to just come in and bowl rockets all the time like Jofra [Archer] or Woody."
England's opening pair were outstanding against India. Archer and Chris Woakes effectively turned India's run chase into a 40-over game in which they had to score 310. Impossible, provided England fielded well, which they did.
Woakes, on his home ground, lived up to his nickname of Wizard by conjuring three maiden overs, when Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli were in, and a spectacular catch.
No Englishman has responded better to the pressure, and Woakes has it heaped upon him at the start and end of an innings.
"Winning a game like this, under the pressure we were under, can only stand us in good stead, potentially for the New Zealand game and hopefully after that," Woakes said. "You don't play much knockout cricket, so to put ourselves in the heat of the battle — obviously we'd rather have qualified by now — could potentially help us."
Archer had his best game yet in an England shirt. Praise was lavished on Jasprit Bumrah for his bowling, especially at the death, when he conceded only 44 runs on what was too slow to be an absolute belter but was nevertheless a batting pitch.
Archer conceded one run more and would have matched Bumrah for wickets, too, had Joe Root hung on at second slip. England's slips stood too close but they were not alone in not fully appreciating Archer's pace.
