CT 2017: England v New Zealand, Game 6 – Match Result Predictions

Cardiff will host its first match of the ICC Champions Trophy 2017 where England will battle it out against  New Zealand for the 6th match of the tournament. It promises to be one interesting contest as both the sides are well balanced and had very good starts to their campaigns. England out batted Bangladesh in the inaugural match whereas New Zealand were hard done by rain as they were forced to share the points with Australia.

The hosts were being deemed as favourites to win the title going into the tournament. In their first match against Bangladesh, they conceded 305 runs while bowling first. After an early scare, they chased down the total comfortably thanks to a classy hundred from Joe Root. Despite the win, they suffered a huge blow as Chris Woakes could bowl only 2 overs and a side strain forced him to go off the field. Ultimately, he was ruled out of the remainder of the tournament. Steven Finn was named as his replacement.

On the other hand, New Zealand played against their arch-rivals Australia and managed to score 291 in the first innings that was curtailed to 46 overs due to rain. The skipper Kane Williamson scored a wonderful hundred that propelled them to a big score. The Aussies were reeling at 53/3 after 9 overs just when rain interrupted. There was no further play possible and the teams had to share 1 point each. New Zealand were in a very good position of winning but had to be content with just one point.

Here is what Crictracker predicts for the game:

Scenario 1: England wins the toss

Toss prediction: England will choose to bat first

First innings score prediction: 330-340

Result prediction: England will win the match by 20-30 runs

Scenario 2: New Zealand wins the toss

Toss prediction: New Zealand will choose to bat first

First innings score prediction: 310-320

Result prediction: England will win the match by 3 wickets with 1 over to spare

Head to Head Record

Overall: Total Matches – 83, England Won – 36, New Zealand Won – 41, No Result/Tied – 6

Matches in England: Total Matches – 30, England Won – 14, New Zealand Won – 12, No Result – 4

The stats suggest that the two sides have had tight competitions between each other in ODI history. Here as well, there is not much to choose between the two sides. It is going to one heck of a game where the hosts might have a whisker of an advantage given they are playing under familiar conditions.

Playing Combinations

England:

As far as the batting of England is concerned, only Jason Roy’s form was the cause for concern from the last game. Sam Billings is another potential opener that will give him tough competition but Roy might just hold on to his place for one more game. Rest of the batting order is expected to remain the same. Alex Hales, Joe Root and Eoin Morgan scripted an easy run chase in the last game. Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler and Moeen Ali didn’t get to bat but they form a daunting lower middle-order.

They will be a bit concerned about their bowling that proved to be slightly ineffective against Bangladesh and conceded in excess of 300. Liam Plunkett was the pick of the bowler who bagged 4 wickets. The injured Woakes will be best replaced by Adil Rashid rather than a pacer given the success of spinners like Imran Tahir and Ravindra Jadeja in other games. Mark Wood, Jake Ball and Ben Stokes will be the other quickies and Moeen Ali will provide support with the off-breaks.

Predicted XI: Alex Hales, Jason Roy, Joe Root, Eoin Morgan(c), Moeen Ali, Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler(wk), Jake Ball, Adil Rashid, Liam Plunkett, Mark Wood

New Zealand:

The opener Martin Guptill threw away a decent start in the last game. In spite of that, he might stay in the side but needs to come good as the in-form Tom Latham is waiting in the wings. Luke Ronchi, Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor all were in good touch against Australia. The lower middle-order consisting of  Neil Broom, James Neesham and Corey Anderson failed to make an impact but they would need to raise their games to win against the hosts.

The bowlers got to bowl only 9 overs against Australia but they impressed even in that short duration. Trent Boult picked the vital wicket of David Warner while Adam Milne dismissed the other 2 batsmen. After a good run in the first match, it is highly unlikely that they would tinker with the line-up and will go in with Tim Southee and Mitchell Santner as the other 2 frontline bowlers with Anderson and Neesham doing the job of the 5th bowler.

Predicted XI: Martin Guptill, Luke Ronchi(wk), Kane Williamson(c), Ross Taylor, Neil Broom, James Neesham, Corey Anderson, Mitchell Santner, Tim Southee, Adam Milne, Trent Boult

Both sides are pretty well balanced and are in form. It is very hard to select the stronger of the two to predict as the winner. The thing that might work in the favour of the hosts is the home advantage but those are not alien to the Black Caps either.

The contest between the side is expected to be a close one and the hosts might just come out victorious given their current form and the familiar conditions.

You can follow the live scores of the match here

Do let us know your predictions in the comments section below.