The Black Caps have continued their winning start to the World Cup but they next face tournament favourites India. Photo / Photosport
The Black Caps have continued their winning start to the World Cup but they next face tournament favourites India. Photo / Photosport
COMMENT:
Three matches played, three wins in the bag and, bar a hint of a late batting collapse in an otherwise comfortable run-chase against Bangladesh, New Zealand have hardly broken a sweat.
But the real World Cup starts now.
The Black Caps haven't been perfect but they haven't had tobe - Sri Lanka are in the midst of rebuilding their squad and Bangladesh and Afghanistan, for all of their continued improvement, are still the weakest teams at the tournament with hopefully some more upsets up their sleeve.
At Taunton, the New Zealand team did what was expected of them with the only real surprise their inability to strike up front with the ball. Afghanistan put Trent Boult and Matt Henry under some unexpected pressure but the Black Caps managed to claw their way back thanks to Jimmy Neesham's five-wicket haul.
I'm not overly concerned by the lack of swing from Boult so far at the World Cup. He's a class act and sooner or later he will start moving the ball as we know he can.
Ross Taylor has been a shining light, while Kane Williamson has finally scored some World Cup runs, too. He's not one for records but he will admit his World Cup record far belies his ability. Tom Latham has now had some time in the middle after a few weeks off with his broken finger, putting Tom Blundell on the bench fresh off his 100 against the West Indies in the warm-up game.
Black Caps captain Kane Williamson is in the runs. Photo / Getty Images
One of the reasons we made it all the way to the final in 2015 was the fact that everyone played a part and, heading into the big games, every player had at least had some time in the middle, valuable confidence and some form.
After these three games, the same can be said of most players in this squad.
There would have been a few question marks over Neesham's spot in the side leading into the game against Afghanistan but he was given another opportunity and he took it. That's encouraging, not only for his confidence but for that of the squad as a whole.
All the teams to beat have quality all-rounders. India have Hardik Pandya, England have Ben Stokes and Chris Woakes, the West Indies have Andre Russell. New Zealand are in the fortunate position of having three players who fit that mould – Neesham, Mitch Santner and Colin de Grandhomme.
Jimmy Neesham was under pressure before his career-best bowling figures against Afghanistan at Taunton. Photo / Photosport
It gives them flexibility and the freedom to play different combinations in different conditions and against different opposition – something we could well see on Thursday against India in Nottinghamshire.
The quality of the Indian bowling attack in general, and their spin bowlers in particular, could sway the New Zealand selectors to bring in a specialist batsman in Henry Nicholls at the expense of one of Neesham, de Grandhomme or Santner.
Conditions so far in this World Cup haven't been conducive to spin bowling - in fact, it has been very similar to most tracks in New Zealand with true batting surfaces and negligible turn - but India's Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal are two of the best spinners in the business and how the Kiwis play against them could be key.
Nicholls presents an interesting dilemma. He was in fine form opening the innings with Martin Guptill before picking up a hamstring strain but he's played a lot of his cricket batting in the middle order. Colin Munro, who replaced Nicholls as Guptill's partner, has started well and his strike-rate is comparable with some of the tournament's biggest hitters.
I'm not yet convinced that New Zealand can chase a score of more than 300 against a quality bowling attack like India's, but keeping Munro's explosiveness at the start and bolstering the middle order with Nicholls could give them their best chance.
Colin Munro has been impressive at the top of the Black Caps' innings. Photo / Getty Images
There's no doubt the challenge posed by Virat Kohli's team will be one of the toughest the Kiwis will face – they are one of the overwhelming World Cup favourites for a reason – but it also presents an opportunity to show our title credentials after a poor series against them at home this summer.
A win against one of the big three – India, England or Australia – could set up this campaign in the same way the narrow one-wicket victory over the Aussies at Eden Park did four years ago.
Only after that dramatic match did the fans and the media really start to get behind us and did the public truly start to believe that we could go all the way.
Thursday at Trent Bridge could again be that spark in the powder keg.
