Hyderabad: Their morale is high after registering a dominating win over defending champions England in their World Cup opener, Tom Latham-led New Zealand will look for their second successive win in the Cricket World Cup when they take on the Netherlands here on Monday.
New Zealand, despite the absence of regular skipper Kane Williamson, on Thursday defeated England by nine wickets and once again showed the intent to go deep into the tournament. England posted a decent 282 for the loss of nine wickets, but New Zealanders romped home in 36.2 overs, thanks to Devon Conway's blistering 152 not out and Rachin Ravindra's belligerent 123 not out playing blazing innings.
Tom Latham, who led the side against England, will continue wearing the captain's band on Monday as well after New Zealand head coach Gary Stead indicated that Kane Williamson is still not fully match-fit to feature against the Dutch. The match will be played at the Rajiv Gandhi stadium in Uppal here and will begin at 2 PM, with the toss scheduled at 1.30 PM.
"Kane's also been progressing very well -- I think the fielding is still the element for him that he's just got to get a little bit higher and get a little more trust in his body," Stead said on Sunday. While veteran pacer Tim Southee's inclusion in the team also looks unlikely, as he is recovering from a broken and dislocated thumb, fellow speedster Lockie Ferguson could be available for the clash.
The Dutch started their campaign with a loss to Pakistan on Friday. They lost the match by 81 runs. The Netherlands did have their moments in the match, especially early on in the contest as they managed to get rid of three Pakistani batters in the powerplay. Netherlands opener Vikramjit Singh (52) and Bas de Leede (67) gave a strong fight-back but still fell short.
The Dutch bowling seems sorted, it is their batting that needs more consistency, especially in the middle order. Skipper Scott Edwards is yet to touch the 30-run mark in the last four ODIs. The two sides have met on four occasions in the format so far, with New Zealand winning all the matches.
Squads: Netherlands: Scott Edwards (c/w), Colin Ackermann, Wesley Barresi, Bas de Leede, Aryan Dutt, Sybrand Engelbrecht, Ryan Klein, Teja Nidamanuru, Max O'Dowd, Saqib Zulfiqar, Shariz Ahmad, Logan van Beek, Roelof van der Merwe, Paul van Meekeren, Vikramjit Singh.
New Zealand: Kane Williamson (c), Tom Latham, Trent Boult, Mark Chapman, Devon Conway (w), Lockie Ferguson, Matt Henry, Daryl Mitchell, James Neesham, Glenn Phillips, Rachin Ravindra, Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee, Will Young.
