New Zealand’s Road to CWC 2019 Semi-Finals: Throwback to How ‘Kiwis’ Fared in Round-Robin Stage
The New Zealand team began the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 as one of the front-runners for the semi-finals in the tournament. Living true to their recent form and the talent their squad possessed, the team were invincible in the first half of WC 2019.
The New Zealand team began the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 as one of the front-runners for the semi-finals in the tournament. Living true to their recent form and the talent their squad possessed, the team were invincible in the first half of WC 2019. However, a drop in form in the crucial stage saw them limping to the knock-outs eventually. Nonetheless, the Black Caps are still a force to reckon and count them out at your own peril. New Zealand Players Practise Hard at Old Trafford Cricket Ground Ahead of IND vs NZ ICC CWC 2019 Semi-Final Match (View Pics).
As New Zealand qualified for the semi-finals of 2019 World Cup, we at LatestLY, bring you the journey of the Kiwis’ team in the WC tournament so far, and how did their batting and bowling department fared in the group stage, ahead of the crucial knock-out round, which starts on July 9. India vs New Zealand, ICC CWC 2019 Semi-Final Match Preview: All Eyes On Overhead Conditions As IND Play NZ at Old Trafford.
New Zealand’s Batting in WC 2019: Except for Kane Williamson none of the Kiwis’ batsmen stepped up, which was the cause of their downfall in the later stages of the tournament. Martin Guptill, Colin Munro, and Tom Latham didn’t score as much as it was expected out of them, and it was left for their skipper Williamson to bail them out in every crunch situation.
New Zealand’s Batsmen Performance in WC Group Stage:
| Sr. No. | Player Name | Matches | Runs | Highest | Average | 100s | 50s |
| 1. | Kane Williamson | 8 | 481 | 148 | 96.20 | 2 | 1 |
| 2. | Ross Taylor | 8 | 261 | 82 | 37.28 | - | 2 |
| 3. | James Neesham | 8 | 201 | 97* | 40.20 | - | 1 |
New Zealand’s Bowling in WC 2019: The batting unit might have failed to live up to their billing but the bowling unit maintained high deliverability rate throughout the group stage, especially Lockie Ferguson and Trent Boult. The dashing pace duo was well complemented by James Neesham and Matt Henry, which saw the team keep a lid on the opponent’s scoring rate.
New Zealand’s Bowlers Performance in WC Group Stage:
| Sr. No. | Players Name | Matches | Wickets | Best | Average | Econ. | S/R |
| 1. | Lockie Ferguson | 8 | 17 | 4/37 | 18.58 | 4.96 | 22.4 |
| 2. | Trent Boult | 8 | 15 | 4/30 | 24.66 | 4.68 | 316 |
| 3. | James Neesham | 8 | 11 | 5/31 | 18.18 | 5.00 | 21.8 |
New Zealand had quite a roller-coaster ride to make it to the semi-finals of World Cup 2019. At the time when other teams were grappling with team combination and struggling with form, the Black Caps were unbeaten in their first 6 matches. However, the tables turned and quickly, so much so that they had to depend on a higher NRR to see them through to semi-finals.
Road to Semi-Finals: ICC World Cup 2019 Points Table
| Rank | Team | M | W | L | T | N-R | T | NRR |
| 4 | New Zealand | 9 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 11 | 0.175 |
It will be a tough road ahead for New Zealand given the form that they are in. After winning five matches straight and then losing three in a row was quite a see-saw campaign for them. However, if they have to one-up their World Cup 2019 performance, the senior players in the side will have to take much more responsibility in their semi-final bout against India on July 9.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 08, 2019 01:31 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).