Another 'HOST'ility for England

It is game number 2 for England and another host to face. They would know that this host will be in no way less than the previous challenge that they had in the tournament opener. England definitely starts their campaign on a 'host'ile ground facing both the hosts in the first two games.

The moods in the camp must be contrasting. New Zealand in spite of their scrappy win over Scotland did achieve what they wanted in terms of boosting their NRR. They have also won 2 out of 2 games. Except for Ross Taylor, everyone in the team seems to doing their role perfectly. It will not be a surprise if they retain the same team for this match as well. This is a home ground for Ross Taylor and he averages 100 here, so he would like to keep that record in tact.

On the other hand, England must not be high on their confidence after their miserable outing against the Aussies. In fact they had a lot of introspection to do after that game. The first and foremost being their team composition. Hope they get that right this time to start with. Will England stick to the same team or they will bring back Ravi Bopara instead of Gary Ballance will be an area of interest? If they are not comfortable with Ravi, they can always get in Chris Jordan. This would mean push the in form James Taylor to No. 3. The form of Eoin Morgan is also a cause of worry for the visitors. 

With England's top order being troubled by the left arm quicks in the recent past it would be interesting see how they cope up with Trent Boult who is in good form. When Daniel Vettori bowls his first ball, he will be on hat-trick.

We have talked a lot about how Pakistan has not defeated India in a World Cup or how India has not been able to defeat South Africa. Similarly, between Australia v England or Sri Lanka v New Zealand rivalries. On the same lines, England have not beaten New Zealand in the World Cup since 1983.

After string of 300+ scores in the first 5 games, there have not been any 300 scored, let us see if there is one in store for this match.

A win for the Kiwis would mean an assured progress towards the quarter finals and a loss for England would mean that they would be in a must win situation for the rest of the tournament. So another good game on the cards.