Kiwis Can Swing It To Drop Their Nearly Men Tag

SOUTH Africa may have a reputation as the World Cup’s nearly men but with six semi-final defeats and a runnersup finish in 2015, New Zealand should perhaps be the true owners of that unwanted crown.

- Luke Baker

After being battered by their old foes Australia in the final four years ago, the Black Caps have undeniably kicked on since and found themselves second in the Test rankings and third in the ODI rankings at the start of 2019.

That rightly had them dreaming of a first World Cup title in England this summer – an ambition only heightened by an impressive 3-0 series sweep of Sri Lanka in early January – but they hadn’t reckoned on running into an Indian buzzsaw.

The Indians handed them a harrowing 4-1 beatdown on home soil – despite the talismanic Virat Kohli being rested for two of those matches – and the clean sweep of Bangladesh that followed hasn’t quashed the nagging suspicion they might come up just short against the very best sides in the world.