Team preview: New Zealand

Out of the 15 players named in New Zeland's squad, almost half featured in the previous edition of the tournament. Ross Taylor is among the very few to have featured in three World Cups for his side already, while Martin Guptill and Tim Southee will be making their third appearances this year.

In comparison to the 2015 World Cup squad, New Zealand have named eight players in the side who will be playing at the premier tournament for the first time. In fact, they have even named an uncapped player in Tom Blundell, who has made two Tests and three Twenty20 International appearances for New Zealand, but is yet to don an ODI cap.

Skipper Williamson will also be making his World Cup debut as captain, having taken over from the all-action Brendon McCullum in the interim.

Strengths and weaknesses

New Zealand have an experienced squad and a good number of their players have played at the World Cup before. The likes of Ross Taylor, skipper Kane Williamson, and Tom Latham in the middle order form a strong batting combination, while Martin Guptill, Colin Munro and Henry Nicholls are the kind of pinch hitters who can get New Zealand off to a fast start. In the pace department, they have a lethal combination of Tim Southee and Trent Boult, speedster Lockie Ferguson, and they also have all-rounders like Jimmy Neesham and Colin de Grandhomme who could bowl in the middle overs. Two able spinners in Mitchell Santer and Ish Sodhi make their bowling department look like the complete package.

Although New Zealand have a strong squad, some of their players' form will be a cause for concern. Colin Munro has made 51 ODI appearances and has scored 1,146 runs at an average of below 25. They also perhaps don't have the explosive middle-order batsman to match Grant Elliott and Corey Anderson in 2015, each of whom played key parts in their run to the final. Neesham and de Grandhomme can be almost as destructive, but whether they can ally consistency to the carnage is still an unanswered question.
Key player

Ross Taylor: The experienced middle-order batsman has been in tremendous form. Since the last World Cup in 2015, Taylor has added 2,892 ODI runs to his tally at an impressive average of 68.85. He also made eight hundreds during the period including a career-best ODI score of 181* from 147 balls last year in March against England. Earlier this year, he also became New Zealand's highest ODI run scorer, overtaking former captain Stephen Fleming, who scored 8,007 runs in 279 matches. New Zealand will want their most experienced batsman to carry his form into the global tournament.

X-factor

**Martin Guptill:**It's fair to say New Zealand's opening batsman Martin Guptill enjoyed batting at the last World Cup. He finished as the highest run-getter of the tournament with 547 runs against his name, including the highest individual score in the history of World Cup – 237* off 163, studded with 24 fours and 11 sixes – in the quarter-final against West Indies. Oppositions will be wary of Guptill's exploits.

Tournament history
The 2015 edition was the first time New Zealand reached the final, but they have strong World Cup pedigree despite never having won the competition; their seven semi-final appearances is joint with Australia as the most of any team.

**Recent form (most recent first)**W W W L L L W L W W W

Fixtures

01 June: v Sri Lanka, Cardiff Wales Stadium, Cardiff05 June: v Bangladesh, The Oval, London08 June: v Afghanistan, County Ground, Taunton13 June: v India, Trent Bridge, Nottingham19 June: v South Africa, Edgbaston, Birmingham22 June: v West Indies, Old Trafford, Manchester26 June: v Pakistan, Edgbaston, Birmingham29 June: v Australia, Lord's, London03 July: v England, The Riverside Durham, Chester-le-Street

**Squad:**Kane Williamson (c), Ross Taylor, Tom Latham (wk), Tom Blundell (wk), Mitchell Santner, Colin de Grandhomme, Lockie Ferguson, Tim Southee, Trent Boult, Colin Munro, Ish Sodhi, Henry Nicholls, Martin Guptill, Matt Henry, Jimmy Neesham.