Mark Reason: How Black Caps Can Win Cricket World Cup Finals

OPINION: New Zealand may have only half of a cricket team, but it was still enough to beat India, the main cricket power and country counting more than half a cricket team. one billion inhabitants. Calling Kiwi outsiders was probably an insult to the most missed of this country, but they never let go of it and destroyed India 's much vaunted top order with a display of new quality keels.

Kane Williamson's men are now heading for Lord's and a World Cup final against Australia or England. They should probably hope for England, which will be under increased pressure and has not always been at its best at cricket. New Zealand must also hope for a friendly start for the bowlers, as it only managed to score 250 points once in the tournament.

New Zealand has already lost against Australia to Lord's at this World Cup, torn apart by Mitchell Starc who took five wickets for 26 in the match. But this is a field where these New Zealanders have played very good cricket in the past.

When New Zealand played a test match against England at Lord's in 2015, she found herself in first place after the first rounds. Kane Williamson scored a century and Trent Boult had figures of 9 for 164 in the match. Do these names sound familiar to you? Williamson and Boult are the twin peaks, the world class cricketers, the rocks on which this team is based.

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And expect New Zealand to defend its life. I smiled when Brendon McCullum urged this team to "attack, attack" before his semi-final. If they had attacked early New Zealand would be rubble now. Instead of their two major drummers, some would say that the only two drummers in New Zealand, Ross Taylor and Williamson, have once again dug them in a hole.

They did it with intelligence and skill, with a solid defense and, it must be said, with great luck. Taylor was abandoned by the painful MS Dhoni, for whom it was a World Cup too far, when he had barely two digits. Williamson and Taylor both misinterpreted and saw their edges fall safely. They regularly played and missed.

Coach Gary Stead said, "We work very hard in the nets and on other objects, but at the end of the day, you sometimes need a little luck."

Williamson's team was not always perfect, but she was certainly lucky in this tournament. They were one meter from defeat against Carlos Brathwaite and the West Indies. They had points for a match against India while Pakistan, who tied for New Zealand and beat them, was beaten against Sri Lanka in trouble. They also took a crucial shot in the semi-finals, as the one who beats first at Old Trafford has won all recent games.

New Zealand also obtained the conditions for which she would have prayed. The top Indian order regularly fights in England when the balloon floats in the air and nibbles the ground. They lost the test series last year in England 4-1. And so it was again.

Boult and the excellent Matt Henry have found the perfect line and length and have had the fortune you need. The top Indian order was slightly exceeded instead of playing and missing for the 10 assists while the ball was really spinning. And Virat Kohli was ruled out on appeal of a marginal referee, the kind of decision that took New Zealand when they hit.

Maybe the English referees thought India was just a bit too powerful, too tyrannical of world cricket these days. Nevertheless, a nation will be devastated and its sports gods reassessed. Kohli, a sumptuous player, now has scores of 9, 35, 1 and 1 in the three semi-finals and finals of the ODI World Cup he has played.

Credit to the captain of India however. The face of anger and desperation that he had worn during the sleeves of India had disappeared after the match and he spoke well, saying: "The credit goes to the New Zealand bowlers because with the new ball They were outstanding … clear to everyone and made life very difficult for the drummer.

"It's a game of margins.We have played such a good cricket match and 45 minutes of bad cricket are excluding you from the tournament.It's hard to accept, hard to accept, but look, Newcomer. Zealand deserves it. " They were more precise – and more courageous – in difficult times. "

Will New Zealand change a winning team for the final? Everything suggests that this is not Williamson's way. He and Stead have a big decision to make in this World Cup. Selection and trust in Henry paid a huge dividend when it mattered most. The captain and the coach are very proud of it.

But to their detriment, New Zealand changed its strike order only once, calling on Henry Nicholls for Colin Munro. The conservatism of this approach has been a bitter failure. The openers have been totally ineffective. Martin Guptill is a good player on a good day when he can hit the line, but as soon as the ball is in motion, he is discovered. This happened during test matches and at this World Cup.

Tom Blundell entered this tournament with an average of 70 in five days of a day against Australia, India and the West Indies and he lived a century in English conditions. But we did not see him in the tournament. Surely there is reason to push Tom Latham to the top of the order, where he scored a double century in a test match not so long ago, and to give Blundell gloves and an intermediate place.

I can not see it coming. Kohli said you had to be flexible to win this tournament and that his flexibility was fully justified by the selection of Jadeja, who was quite remarkable in the cause of the defeat of India. If conditions at Lord suggest a large ball movement, the composition of New Zealand must be changed. Just because New Zealand won against India, do not make the mistake of thinking that they did everything in terms of selection and tactics. This is the philosophy of kindergarten.

Williamson has a third of the team's tracks in this World Cup and Taylor has a good chunk of the rest. The bowlers of New Zealand have been magnificent. The captain was clever. Williamson choked India with bat and spirit. For the first time, New Zealand participates in an outdoor World Cup final

But can New Zealand make the last big step forward to win a Cricket World Cup for the first time? I remember how New Zealanders turned to Brathwaite in its hour of desperation in the round robin game against the West Indies. It's a team that plays cricket with a real spirit. Can it also be a team that takes the great and brave final decision that might be needed to win a World Cup?

One thing is sure. If it's Australia in the final, the whole world will be behind Kane Williamson and New Zealand.