Birmingham: With pacer Lungi Ngidi back in the side, South Africa will look to avenge their 2015 semifinal defeat while New Zealand will aim to reclaim their position at the top when the two sides clash in a World Cup match here on Wednesday. South Africa, who suffered a heartbreaking loss to New Zealand in the last edition, had a dismal start to their World Cup campaign, losing three straight games followed by a wash-out before registering their maiden win against bottom-placed Afghanistan. In contrast, New Zealand are yet to face defeat in the tournament and are lying second on the table with three wins and a washout.
Injuries to pacers Dale Steyn and Anrich Norje have hurt the South African bowling unit severely. With Ngidi fully fit and the team finally tasting victory, skipper Faf du Plessis will breathe a sigh of relief. "Hopefully this is a real confidence booster for everyone on the team. And there's a little bit of weight that you feel that's off your shoulders now. We need to win every game that we play" Du Plessis had said after the win against Afghanistan. South Africa will need their bowlers to step up to keep their World Cup hopes alive.
A lot will depend on veteran spinner Imran Tahir should the Edgbaston surface offer turn. The 40-year-old took two wickets each against England and Bangladesh, before running through Afghanistan.
The Proteas have been mostly done in by their batting but they will take heart from the fact that openers Hashim Amla and Quinton de Kock finally clicked in the previous game.
The pair, alongside du Plessis, will have to navigate their way through a quality seam attack led by Trent Boult. However, considering South Africa's dismal record against spin and the brown Edgbaston wicket, the Black Caps might consider deploying leg spinner Ish Sodhi alongside the reliant Mitchell Santer. New Zealand have a solid batting unit. Skipper Kane Williamson anchored the side to victory against Bangladesh and Afghanistan while Ross Taylor has also been among the runs but the team will hope for openers Colin Munro and Martin Guptill to start clicking.
Squads
NEW ZEALAND: Kane Williamson (captain), Martin Guptill, Matt Henry, Tom Latham, Colin Munro, Jimmy Neesham, Henry Nicholls, Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi, Trent Boult, Colin de Grandhomme, Lockie Ferguson, Tim Southee, Ross Taylor, Tom Blundell.
SOUTH AFRICA: Faf du Plessis (captain), Aiden Markram, Quinton de Kock, Hashim Amla, Rassie van der Dussen, David Miller, Chris Morris, Andile Phehlukwayo, JP Duminy, Dwaine Pretorius, Beuran Hendricks, Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi, Imran Tahir, Tabraiz Shamsi.
Players to watch out for
Birmingham: New Zealand will look to continue their winning streak while South Africa will look to make amends and with Rabada back in the side, the contest is sure to produce soem thrills and frills, at Edgbaston in Birmingham on June 19. Here are the some of the players to watch out for in this match.
Ross Taylor: Taylor is the seventh Kiwi cricketer to play in his fourth and last World Cup. New Zealand depends mostly on Taylor if their top-order fails to give a good kick-start. The 35-year-old hit 54, 90 and 137 against Sri Lanka early this year.
Imran Tahir: The 40-year-old is the oldest player in the World Cup but has exhibited the energy of a twenty-year-old. The leg-spinner, who is popular for his long run celebration after taking a wicket, is in great form as he grabbed eight wickets in the five matches so far.
Quinton de Kock: South Africa's wicket-keeper batsman de Kock strengthens the top-order and provides speedy start to the inning. The left-hander has the ability to adapt according to the situation.
Kagiso Rabada: The right-arm fast bowler possesses the skills of bowling both in-swingers and out-swingers. The 24-year old is also known for his toe-breaking yorkers in the death overs. In the match against India, Rabada returned with the figures of 2-39.
