Swing and seam friendly conditions, a lack of truly scary Australian bowlers and New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum's retirement are all themes that will resonate when the first Test gets underway in Wellington on Friday.
Reinvigorated after back-to-back Twenty20 triumphs, New Zealand will hope to continue the trend when Daniel Vettori's men lock horns with Sri Lanka in the Compaq Cup cricket tri-series opener in Colombo on Tuesday.
IMAGES from Day 2 of the rescheduled 5th Test between England and India at Edgbaston in Birmingham on Saturday.
New Zealand won the first Twenty20 international match against West Indies by 81 runs at EdenPark on Saturday to go 1-0 up in the two-match series.
The opening pair of Subhman Gill and Nitin Rana may not have fired in the first leg of IPL but Kolkata Knight Riders chief mentor David Hussey believes the duo can "shock the world" with their batting in the second phase of the tournament beginning in Dubai on Sunday.
Team combination a worry for India
Former New Zealand skipper Stephen Fleming said that the nail-biting one-wicket triumph over co-hosts Australia at Auckland showed why Brendon McCullum's men can be considered as favourites to win the World Cup.
Royal Challengers Bangalore pacers blew away the Mumbai Indians' top order before shining in the death overs to set up a much-needed 14-run win, which kept them alive in the Indian Premier League Play-offs race, in Bengaluru, on Tuesday.
Brendon McCullum struck a quickfire fifty before Ravindra Jadeja produced a brilliant spell of 4-11 as Chennai Super avenged its defeat over Rajasthan Royals with a 12-run win to virtually secure its place in the play-offs of the Indian Premier League in Chennai on Sunday.
New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum has been awarded Sir Richard Hadlee medal.
The batting was a big letdown for the Indians with Virat Kohli, Hanuma Vihari, Shubman Gill and Shreyas Iyer failing in both innings, while Shardul Thakur's selection over Ravichandran Ashwin turned out to be a big mistake.
Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow slammed majestic centuries as England pulled off their highest-ever successful run chase in the longest format for a convincing seven-wicket win over India in the rescheduled fifth Test in Birmingham on Tuesday.
'We are also fortunate that Eoin Morgan, the 2019 World Cup-winning captain, who has been the vice-captain, is willing to lead the side going forward.'
Skipper Brendon McCullum led from the front, smashing an unbeaten 83, as Otago Volts from New Zealand beat Pakistan's Faisalabad Wolves by eight wickets in a qualifying round match of the Champions League Twenty20 in Mohali on Tuesday.
The WTC final presents the Black Caps with another opportunity to become world champions and if all falls into place, nothing can stop them go for glory.
Images from Day 5 of the second Test between England and New Zealand at Trent Bridge in Nottingham on Tuesday.
Kolkata Knight Riders captain Eoin Morgan praised rookie opener Venkatesh Iyer for batting fearlessly in only his second game.
England cricket captain Stuart Broad said he and New Zealand counterpart Brendon McCullum considered taking their players off the field due to fears they could be struck by lightning in their World Twenty20 clash on Saturday.
Kolkata Knight Riders' chief mentor David Hussey said Andre Russell is recovering from his injury and 'might be in the mix' for Friday's IPL final against Chennai Super Kings.
With Chennai Super Kings notching up a second straight win in Indian Premier League-8, the team's coach, Stephen Fleming, lavished praise on centurion Brendon McCullum while lauding the side's "dynamic" and "sensible" batting.
Statistical highlights from the drawn second Test between India and New Zealand in Wellington.
New Zealand will not let their tight loss to England in the classic Test at Lord's lessen their resolve to keep playing aggressive cricket, captain Brendon McCullum said.
Unbeaten in seven Test series since 2013, New Zealand are widely viewed to have their best chance in a good while to secure a second series victory on Australian soil to go with the Richard Hadlee-inspired 1985 triumph.
New Zealand will stick with their crash, bang, wallop brand of cricket in Saturday's World Cup quarter-final against West Indies because it gives them the best chance of winning, captain Brendon McCullum said on Friday.
New Zealand's Brendon McCullum expects favouritism, underdog status and the possibility of choking under the weight of expectation to have little influence on Saturday's World Cup quarter-final against West Indies.
Williamson' leadership skills came under the scanner following New Zealand's crushing defeat
Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow put England on course for a ground-breaking run chase against India despite Jasprit Bumrah's brilliance on day four of the rescheduled fifth Test, setting up a fitting series finale in Birmingham on Monday.
Former New Zealand skipper Glenn Turner is quite surprised that his country has its "nose ahead" in the ongoing bilateral series against India and the reason, according to him, is the underwhelming performance of the Jasprit Bumrah-led visiting pacers. However, Turner expects Bumrah and Mohammed Shami to lift their game in the upcoming two-Test series, which begins on February 21.
New Zealand will face England with an unchanged side in their second World Cup match.
For ICC Women's Player of the Decade, Ellyse Perry (Australia), Meg Lanning (Australia), Suzie Bates (New Zealand), Stafanie Taylor (West Indies), Mithali Raj (India), Sarah Taylor (England) have been nominated.
A resurgent New Zealand beat England by 13 runs on the Duckworth/Lewis method in a high-scoring second One-day international, marred by a late rain interruption, at The Oval on Friday to level the five-match series at 1-1.
'I feel No. 3 is my batting position because that's the position I love to bat and have been batting for very long'
Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor scored centuries as New Zealand completed their World Cup preparations with a crushing 119-run win over Pakistan in Napier on Tuesday. It was their eighth win in their last 10 completed matches.
Skipper Kane Williamson smashed his fourth Test double-hundred while Henry Nicholls and Daryl Mitchell notched up centuries to fuel New Zealand's bid for a 2-0 series sweep
Chris Morris' brilliant unbeaten knock of 82 went in vain as Gujarat Lions held their nerves to pull off a thrilling one-run win over Delhi Daredevils in an Indian Premier League match.
Brendon McCullum gave the cricket World Cup an explosive opening, scoring a blazing 65, as New Zealand beat Sri Lanka by 98 runs on Saturday.
A blazing half-century from opener Martin Guptill helped New Zealand beat South Africa by 32 runs in Centurion on Sunday to draw the two-match Twenty20 international series 1-1.
Sunil Narine hammered a quickfire half-century as Kolkata Knight Riders outclassed Royal Challengers Bangalore by four wickets at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.
Swing and seam friendly conditions, a lack of truly scary Australian bowlers and New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum's retirement are all themes that will resonate when the first Test gets underway in Wellington on Friday.
Swashbuckling West Indies opener Chris Gayle smashed a blistering half-century before Yuzvendra Chahal returned with a three-wicket haul as Royal Challengers Bangalore outclassed Gujarat Lions by 21 runs in their Indian Premier League match in Bengaluru, on Tuesday.
