The Black Caps have made their way through to the semifinal stage of the T20 World Cup for the third time. Cricket writer Adrian Seconi assesses their chances of reaching their first final and offers three reasons they can win.
How is it the cricket world is still surprised every time the Black Caps pop up at the business end of a tournament? It really should not be a shock any more.
The Black Caps are good. They’re better at longer form cricket where they can drag teams into deep water. But they have a core of experienced T20 players who ply their trade in the IPL and they have a well-balanced bowling line-up spearheaded by the frugal brothers, Tim Southee and Trent Boult. They’ve taken 18 wickets between them and have kept their run rates under six.
They will need to start well with the ball, though, because England can really bat.
Jos Buttler has been in sparkling form but fellow opener Jason Roy has been ruled out with a calf strain. That is a key change to the side and an opportunity for the Black Caps to drive a wedge in England’s confidence.
2 Whatever you think about Daryl Mitchell reinventing himself as a specialist opener, he has done pretty well. And he has helped ease the pressure on Martin Guptill, who must go down as one of the New Zealand’s greatest limited-overs batters. They will be key during the powerplay.
But it is the next two guys in the order who could have the biggest impact with the bat. Kane Williamson and Devon Conway are class operators. Neither has really made a big impact ... yet.
3 Victory in the World Test Championship final might seem completely irrelevant. Test cricket and T20 seem only vaguely related. Distant cousins at best. But test players Southee, Boult, Williamson and Conway know what it is like to win a world title and can lean on that memory. It is hard to quantify that kind of experience but it counts.
4 Bonus reasons. Karma and there is no boundary countback. Enough said.
