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Cricket World Cup diary: The Black Caps are being written-off - which is exactly what they want

July 8, 2019
The Black Caps celebrate against England

CWC Diary – Semi-final T-2 days

This is crazy to say, but the Black Caps seem right where they want to be.

Written off, ridiculed, given no chance against India in the semi-final. And that’s exactly how they like it. Sure, they would’ve liked to have won their last three games or, at least, put up a fight.

But, being the heavy underdogs suits this New Zealand side down to the ground.

When Gary Stead was asked about exactly that at today’s press conference, a smile broke out across his face.

"People aren’t expecting us to win and, from my point of view, I think that’s a good place to be because if that’s the case we can go out there and play with some real freedom," he said with a glint in his eye.

That glint and smile returned not much later into the same press conference when Stead was told about Sachin Tendulkar's tweet wishing Indian batsman MS Dhoni happy birthday and "all the very best for the next two games". Two games. A subtle hint that Tendulkar is already putting India in the final against either Australia or England.

Ross Taylor was even more to the point, saying they underachieve when they’re considered favourites and much prefer to be given no chance. He also had a smile and a laugh when told about Tendulkar’s tweet.

Taylor said he's just looking forward to the big moment.

This is how they want it. They want to be given no chance. They want all the pressure on their rivals. They want to cause the upset.

Let’s not beat around the bush, it would be an upset. An enormous one. It’s hard to find any reason why New Zealand should be expected to win this semi-final. Aside from Kane Williamson, Taylor and, perhaps Trent Boult, it would be hard to argue that India isn’t stronger across the park.

That may be harsh on Martin Guptill who, at his best, is one of one-day international cricket’s most explosive, brutal openers. The problem is, he’s not at his best. Nowhere near it.

But he appears relaxed. So do the rest of his teammates. If you had come straight off the street with no idea what kind of match they were preparing for, you’d have no idea it’s the semi-final.

Contrast that to India who, like they have all tournament, have kept largely to themselves, barely wanting anything to do with anyone outside of their environment. Could that add to the pressure? Absolutely. Are they capable of handling the pressure? Time will tell.

Pressure is a monumental factor in this match. There’s not a lot of it on Williamson and his team. There’s a weight of a billion people on Virat Kohli and his players’ shoulders.

It obviously doesn’t mean New Zealand’s all of a sudden the favourite. But, what it does is gives them the opportunity to get off to a good start, apply some early pressure and hope the weight of the world, or at least a large chunk of it, crushes India’s dreams.

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