It’s Williamson to toss. Du Plessis calls heads, and it’s tails. New Zealand will bowl first. “A little bit of weather around, but looks like a fair surface, which is usually the case here,” Williamson says. New Zealand are unchanged.
Du Plessis says he would have bowled first too. “A bit of blue sky about, so hopefully the ball will come on to the bat.” One change for South Africa. Lungi Ngidi is in. Not sure who’s out yet. We’ll let you know ASAP. I’m guessing it’s Beuran Hendricks. Yup. No Hendricks.
Watch SA v NZ cricket highlights videos today – 25th match, ICC Cricket World Cup from Edgbaston, Birmingham (England) Wednesday, 19-6-2019.
New Zealand won the toss and elected to field.
New Zealand team
1 Martin Guptill, 2 Colin Munro, 3 Kane Williamson (capt), 4 Ross Taylor, 5 Tom Latham (wk), 6 James Neesham, 7 Colin de Grandhomme, 8 Mitchell Santner, 9 Matt Henry, 10 Lockie Ferguson, 11 Trent Boult.
South Africa team
1 Hashim Amla, 2 Quinton de Kock (wk), 3 Aiden Markram, 4 Faf du Plessis (capt), 5 Rassie van der Dussen, 6 David Miller, 7 Andile Phehlukwayo, 8 Chris Morris, 9 Kagiso Rabada, 10 Lungi Ngidi, 11 Imran Tahir.
New Zealand v South Africa Icc Cricket World Cup 2019 Highlights
ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 Points Table
This is the first match to be played at Edgbaston so far, but New Zealand should have a solid source for intelligence in Jeetan Patel. Their former colleague and current Warwickshire captain took 6 for 16 in a County Championship match here (on the way to match figures of 10 for 88) two weeks ago. The off-white colour of the surface suggests it should be full of runs, but it might not be the quickest track and there could be some turn on offer. A slow track might increase the threat posed by Tahir, but it will also expose a weakness in South Africa’s middle order. The weather forecast looks a little bleak, with temperatures on the low side and rain lurking.
A fit-again Ngidi is sure to re-enter the playing XI, and South Africa may also include Tabraiz Shamsi if they, too, feel the pitch is suited to spin – especially given the way New Zealand’s middle order froze against Bangladesh. Another option could be to bring JP Duminy back, both as a middle order bat and a handy offspinner. Plus, his experience could prove useful in a crunch match. New Zealand have no pressing reason to change their XI, with Colin Munro likely to keep his spot ahead of Henry Nicholls. But if the conditions are right, they may look to deploy legspinner Ish Sodhi alongside left-arm spinner Mitchell Santner, possibly in place of Colin de Grandhomme.
Match Timings: 10.30 start, First Session 10.30-14.00 Interval 14.00-14.30, Second Session 14.30-18.00
Umpires – Nigel Llong, Ian Gould
TV Umpires – Rod Tucker
Match Referee – Sir Richie Richardson
Reserve Umpire – Ruchira Palliyaguruge
Match number – ODI no. 4165
