New Zealand in the groove and unchanged for England

Friday, 20 February 2015 00:31 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Reuters: New Zealand are in something of a groove after playing a lot of one-day cricket in recent months and will face England with an unchanged side in their third World Cup match on Friday, skipper Brendon McCullum said on Thursday. The co-hosts kicked off their campaign with a three-wicket victory over Scotland on Tuesday, a win built on fine swing bowling but almost undone by a sloppy batting display. Nevertheless, McCullum had enough confidence in the XI that started the match in Dunedin to confirm the side even before hh even had a chance to look at the wicket at the Wellington Regional Stadium. “We have a full squad to pick from, and we’re going to go with the same team we’ve played the last two games,” McCullum told a news conference. “The guys have performed well so far. We want to give them the same opportunity again. We think that the balance of the team that we’re going in with will suit us well on this ground.” The Black Caps have won their nine of their last 11 one-day internationals in Wellington going back to 2006 and lost just two of their last 13 at all grounds. Such form has put the co-hosts among the favourites to win the World Cup but McCullum said New Zealand would not allow such tags to distract them from the task at hand. “We know that we can’t get too far in front of ourselves. We’re not a good enough team to do so,” he said. “We need to be very respectful of that, go about our preparation and go about our work and try to execute our game plan. If we do that, that’s certainly how we give ourselves our greatest opportunity.” England opened their campaign with a 111-run defeat to the other co-hosts Australia in Melbourne last Saturday, giving them three more days to prepare for their second encounter. “We’ve been playing a lot of cricket recently, so we’re probably in a little bit of a groove,” McCullum said. “We knew the scheduling well before we came into it so we were able to affect that into our preparation as well. So we go on with no excuses. “We’ll give ourselves a good chance, and hopefully we can replicate the form we’ve been playing with of late.” New Zealand: Brendon McCullum (captain), Martin Guptill, Kane Williamson, Ross Taylor, Grant Elliott, Corey Anderson, Luke Ronchi, Daniel Vettori, Tim Southee, Adam Milne, Trent Boult

England were ‘embarrassing’ v Australia, says Gooch

Reuters: England’s 111-run mauling by Australia in their opening World Cup match was “embarrassing”, former captain Graham Gooch said on Thursday. Australia piled up 342 for nine after being put into bat and England were bowled out for 231, only a valiant 98 not out by James Taylor saving them from an even more emphatic loss. “There’s no disgrace in defeat, but the way they racked up runs was embarrassing,” Gooch told the BBC. England captain Eoin Morgan was out for nought, his fourth duck in his last five innings. “He’s in a bad run but he’s a match-winning player and England desperately need him to be leading the way,” Gooch said. “Morgan’s a bit vulnerable outside off-stump but he should retain his attacking instincts - that where his skills lie.” England reduced Australia to 70 for three but conceded 105 runs in the last 10 overs as Glenn Maxwell plundered 66 off 40 deliveries. “You have to have a full armoury of deliveries for the last few overs,” said Gooch, who worked closely with the team as batting coach until leaving the role last year. “It’s all about variation – and what you saw from England was a concentrated attack of similar deliveries. “I was gob-smacked by the way they bowled at the end. Our side is full of talented cricketers but it’s delivering that talent under pressure.” England’s next game is against co-hosts New Zealand in Wellington on Friday.