Factbox on World Cup match between New Zealand and Sri Lanka at Hagley Oval.
While multiple-time world champions and Champions Trophy winners Australia are always a tough nut to crack, New Zealand will enter the game at Edgbaston with renewed confidence after their six-wicket warm-up win over Sri Lanka at the same venue.
Off-spinner Sunil Narine was already indicating he would be a factor later in the game as he put New Zealand's batsmen under immense pressure on the second day of the third Test on Friday before the hosts finished on 156 for three at the close of play.
Ben Stokes took two wickets in two balls to inspire England to victory over New Zealand in the first Test at Lord's.
'A lot of our recent success has been based on the value of our number six batsman bowling some overs and we're comfortable continuing in that vein'
Left-handed batsman Henry Nicholls is in line to make his Test debut against Australia next week with Ross Taylor ruled out of the side for the match at the Basin Reserve with a side strain.
Ross Taylor and Kane Williamson fell agonisingly short of centuries but New Zealand's imposing total ensured they beat Sri Lanka by 120 runs in the sixth One-day international on Sunday to take an unassailable 4-1 lead in their seven-match series.
Every person was tested 72 hours before they travelled in order to ensure that all members of the party were travelling virus free.
Alastair Cook and Ian Bell survived a torrid final hour to guide England to 74 for two at the close on the third day of the first Test against New Zealand on Saturday.
The England attack were heavily criticized in media back home for their lack of penetration
The Belgian wizard tormented West Ham throughout and scored both goals to move Chelsea above Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal in the race for a top-four finish.
New Zealand entered their maiden ICC World Cup final, beating South Africa by five wickets in a thrilling rain-reduced World Cup semi-final at Eden spoPark in Auckland on Tuesday. Set 298 to win from 43 overs, the Kiwis, led by fine knocks from captain Brendon McCullum (59 off 26 balls) and Grant Elliott (84 off 73) got across the finish line with one ball to spare. Elliott hit the winning run with a six over long-on off the bowling of Dale Steyn.
Valerie Adams chalks up another medal for the mums.
BJ Watling scored a fine century as New Zealand dominated the final session with steely resolve to reach 338 for six on the third day of the second Test against England on Sunday.
Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor mastered a lifeless England attack to lift New Zealand to 303 for two at the close on the second day of the first Test at Lord's on Friday.
Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan picked all three New Zealand wickets to fall as the visitors put up 107 for three before rain returned to halt play on Day 2 of the second and final Test on Tuesday.
Kane Williamson's assured unbeaten 70 guided New Zealand to a comfortable four-wicket win over Pakistan in the second One-Day International in Sharjah on Friday to level the series at 1-1.
Grant Elliot's all-round performance eclipsed Shahid Afridi's 29-ball blitz to secure New Zealand a comfortable seven-wicket victory over Pakistan in the first One Day International in Wellington on Saturday.
Ish Sodhi's 168-ball 56 not out helped New Zealand hold on for draw and secure a first series win over England since 1999.
Martin Guptill stroked a fluent century to help New Zealand edge past Bangladesh by three wickets with seven deliveries to spare, in the ICC World Cup Pool A match in Hamilton, on Friday.
England face unbeaten New Zealand in the first semi-final of 2016 World T20 at New Delhi's Ferozshah Kotla Stadium on March 30. While England have been champions in 2010, New Zealand will be eyeing their first World T20 title. Following is a factbox of the two teams:
Tamim Iqbal became his country's top run-scorer in one-day cricket as Bangladesh beat New Zealand by 40 runs in the second ODI to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series, in Dhaka, on Thursday night.
Trott, who played 68 ODIs and seven T20 matches, has scored 18,662 runs in first class cricket.
Ross Taylor scored his 10th Test century and surpassed 4,000 career runs to anchor New Zealand's 307 for six at the close of play on the first day of the second Test against the West Indies at the Basin Reserve on Wednesday.
New Zealand will have their tails up and eye another upset when they resume the trans-Tasman rivalry with a strong Australian side.
Bangladesh shocked New Zealand by five wickets to keep their hopes alive of making it to the semi-finals at the ICC Champions Trophy in Cardiff, on Friday.
New Zealand secured their third straight win to book a spot in the semi-finals of the World Twenty20 after beating Pakistan by 22 runs at the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium in Mohali in their Super 10 stage match on Tuesday.
Tom Latham and Luke Ronchi lifted a New Zealand side bristling with attacking intent to 297 for eight at the close on a rain-disrupted first day of the second Test against England at Headingley on Friday.
Buttler was fined 15 per cent of his match fee and handed one demerit point after swearing repeatedly at South Africa all-rounder Vernon Philander
Rain disrupted almost all of the second day of the first Test between New Zealand and England on Friday, with the hosts managing to extend their lead to 171 runs before they were forced from the field for good ahead of the final session.
Fast bowler Adam Milne won the battle for the final pace bowling spot in New Zealand's cricket World Cup squad named on Thursday.
All-rounder Jimmy Neesham and batsman Tom Latham have been named in New Zealand's team for the second Test against India after Jesse Ryder and Doug Bracewell were dropped for a late night drinking session in Auckland last week.
When India lost the Wellington Test by 10 wickets, was it the worst defeat for Virat Kohli's team? Rajneesh Gupta has the answers.
India lost the No 1 ODI ranking after a 15-run defeat in a rain-truncated second One-Day International against New Zealand, in Hamilton, on Wednesday. The victory gave the Kiwis a 2-0 lead in the five-match series.
Martin Guptill has been recalled to the New Zealand Test squad for the two-match tour of England after the top-order batsman finished top scorer at the recent 50-over cricket World Cup.
New Zealand named a virtually unchanged squad for the upcoming ODI series against India, with the selectors keeping faith in players who drew the recent five-match home assignment against the West Indies.
Aggressive batsman Jesse Ryder has returned to the New Zealand side after a doping suspension and an absence of nearly two years when he was included on Thursday in the limited overs squad for matches against West Indies later this month.
Pace bowler Jackson Bird has been recalled by Australia for the first Test against New Zealand after James Pattinson was deemed not quite ready to stand up to the rigours of a full workload, captain Steve Smith said on Thursday.
The West Indies tasted success for the first time on their New Zealand tour on Thursday when they scraped home by two wickets in the first One-Day International in Auckland. After dismissing New Zealand for a modest 156 in 42.1 overs, the West Indies made hard work the target for the loss of eight wickets in 27.3 overs.
Demoralised Bangladesh will look to end their campaign on a high when they face a rampaging New Zealand.
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