The Black Caps have started this World Cup better than any other team. They are flying high with two emphatic victories in their first two matches. In the World Cup opener, they defeated the defending champions England handsomely and went on to bulldoze the Netherlands in the second match. The last edition’s finalists will be facing Bangladesh in the third encounter of their campaign at the MA Chidambaram stadium in Chennai. Let’s look at the probable lineup that the Kiwis can go with against the Bangla Tigers.
Here are the ODI World Cup 2023: Probable New Zealand’s Playing XI:
Top Order
New Zealand’s top three has worked wonders for them in the first couple of matches. Against England, Devon Conway and Rachin Ravindra played magical knocks to start the campaign on a high. Will Young joined the party against Netherlands where Rachin Ravindra also scored a half-century. But there might be a change in this top three with captain Kane Williamson looking likely to make a comeback. If Kane returns, he can bat at number 3 and Rachin Ravindra may have to go down in the batting order. This little tweak might result in Ravindra batting at number 4. New Zealand’s top order would be strengthened with Williamson’s return as he looked in good touch in the warm-up match against Pakistan. As a precautionary measure, he had to sit out in the first two matches but the Kiwi captain would be desperate to go out and score some runs.
Middle Order
We can see Rachin Ravindra batting in the middle order at No. 4 to accommodate Kane Williamson. As a result of it, Daryl Mitchell can miss out if there are changes in the batting order. The rest of the middle order would remain unchanged. Stand-in captain Tom Latham played an attractive knock of 53 against Netherlands which provided solidity to the Kiwi middle order. Mark Chapman and Glenn Phillips would want to contribute as well. Mitchell Santner played a quickfire innings of 36 runs in just 17 balls in the later phase of the innings. His contribution would also be handy for the Kiwis.
Bowling unit
The match will be played at MA Chidambaram stadium and the traditional Chennai track would help the spinners. Ish Sodhi would certainly find his place in the starting lineup as New Zealand would be looking to strengthen their spin department. Mitchell Santner delivered a match-winning performance with the ball in Hyderabad by picking up five wickets and destroying the Dutch batting order in the process. The turning pitch in Chennai would suit him a lot. Rachin Ravindra along with part-timer Glenn Phillips will be the other two spin bowling options.
With the addition of a spinner, it would be interesting to see who will be dropped. In the last match, Matt Henry had three scalps to his name and Lockie Ferguson had just made his comeback. It would be a tough decision for the team management but either of the two quicks would have to sit out as New Zealand would want to exploit the conditions in Chennai with an additional spinner in the starting lineup.