Cricket World Cup Team Preview: New Zealand pick strong squad
Published:
Number of previous appearances: 10
Last appearance: 2011
Best finish: Semi-finals (1975, 1979, 1992, 1999, 2007, 2011)
2014 ODI record: Played 16, Won 9, Lost 5, 1 Tied, 1 No Result
Pool: A
First 3 fixtures: Sri Lanka, Scotland, England
Coach: Mike Hesson
Squad: Brendon McCullum (capt), Corey Anderson, Trent Boult, Grant Elliott, Martin Guptill, Tom Latham, Mitchell McClenaghan, Nathan McCullum, Kyle Mills, Adam Milne, Luke Ronchi (wk), Tim Southee, Ross Taylor, Daniel Vettori, Kane Williamson.
Top runscorer: Kane Williamson. The right-handed number three heads to the World Cup in a rich vein of form having compiled his best Test score of 242* against Sri Lanka recently, but is in good nick in the coloured kits too. He scored 770 ODI runs at an average 70.00 in 2014, which included seven fifties and a ton.
Pre-tournament storyline: It goes some way to explain the rude health that the Kiwi’s bowling stocks are in that Matt Henry, a surprise package of a seam bowler who took 19 wickets in his first six ODIs, was left out of the squad completely. Journeyman allrounder Grant Elliott was instead preferred despite being absent from the setup for two years.
Tournament odds: 7/1
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.
Fancy a flutter? Sign up today to claim up to £25 in free bets.
