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New Zealand - W L L L W
Papua New Guinea - L L L L W
Head to Head
The two teams have never played a T20I against each other
Venue Details
Average first innings score: 94 (three games in this T20WC)
Bat first / Bat second split: Team chasing has won 2 of the 3 games at this venue in this T20WC
Highest second-innings scores at the venue (last three games): 136/9 (NZ vs WI), 101/3 (AFG vs PNG), 41/1 (NZ vs UGA)
Pace vs spin split: Average 13.1 vs 15.1, Economy 5.4 vs 5.5, Percentage of wickets 71.0% vs 28.5%
Weather conditions
We’ve seen three full games in Trinidad so far, but unfortunately there is some rain forecast for Monday (June 17). According to accuweather, there is an 80% chance of rain on Monday, with thunderstorms predicted in the morning. We’ve already had plenty of washouts and rain-affected games in the past one week. Don’t be surprised if this also turns out to be one.
Players to watch out for
Trent Boult: New Zealand might be having a World Cup to forget, but Trent Boult is in the midst of a dream tournament, having taken 7 wickets at an average of 6.4 and economy of 3.8. His figures across his last two games read 8-2-23-5, with him registering figures of 4-1-7-2 against Uganda. PNG are already averaging just 7.7 vs left-arm pacers this T20WC, so things could potentially get ugly for their batters in Trinidad on June 17.
Kiplin Doriga: The wicket-keeper batter has been the only shining light in PNG’s batting in this T20WC. With 66 runs to his name, he is PNG’s highest run-getter in this competition and against Afghanistan, he was the only PNG batter that showed some fight, top scoring with a valiant 27. His form will be crucial if PNG are to keep out the threat of Boult & Co.
Key Battles
PNG batters vs New Zealand’s new ball maestros (Southee & Boult)
For PNG to have any chance of pushing New Zealand, their batters will need to evade the new ball threat of the duo of Tim Southee and Trent Boult. It won’t be easy, and they’ll know it after seeing what happened in NZ’s clash against Uganda, where the duo bowled 6 overs in the powerplay and conceded just 8 runs while taking three wickets.
We’ve already spoken about PNG’s weakness against left-arm pace, but they’ve been poor overall in the powerplay, having averaged just 8.8. Their average against right-arm pace is also just 8.3 in the 1-6 phase.
A massive task lies ahead of the PNG batters.
Cricket.com’s suggested Fantasy XI
Probable playing XI
New Zealand: Devon Conway (wk), Finn Allen, Rachin Ravindra, Kane Williamson (c), Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, James Neesham, Mitchell Santner, Tim Southee, Trent Boult, Lockie Ferguson
Papua New Guinea: Tony Ura, Assad Vala (c), Lega Siaka, Sese Bau, Hiri Hiri, Chad Soper, Kiplin Doriga (wk), Norman Vanua, Alei Nao, John Kariko, Semo Kamea
Streaming and Telecast details
The match will begin at 8PM IST on June 17 (Monday) and will be streamed and telecast on Disney+ Hotstar and Star Sports.
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