Tigers tamed, three lions set to take on the Kiwi challenge

CARDIFF: After a comfortable outing in the tournament-opener, title favourites England are set to face a much stiffer test against New Zealand.

There is a lot at stake for both the teams. England will put their one foot in the semifinals with a second successive win while New Zealand will aim for two full points after rain denied them a crack at Australia and the two teams settled for a point each in a game that produced no-result.

England could not have hoped for a better start to the tournament as they thrashed a lacklustre Bangladesh in the first match of the Champions Trophy on Thursday. How easily they chased down 306 was a timely warning to the other title contenders. Joe Root strolled to a 10th ODI hundred while opener Alex Hales missed out on well-deserved hundred by five runs.

Captain Eoin Morgan too began his campaign on a confident note, smashing an unbeaten 75 off 61 balls. He, however, would be a tad worried about the lean patch of opener Jason Roy, who has not crossed 20 in his last six ODI innings.

The hosts will also have to deal with the absence of fast bowling all-rounder Chris Woakes, who was ruled out of the tournament with an injury. Nonetheless, an exciting contest is in the offing with New Zealand showing a lot of promise against Australia. Captain Kane Williamson led from the front against the trans-Tasmanian rivals with a ninth ODI hundred. Luke Ronchi looked in ominous touch at the top of the order and alongside Martin Guptill, form a dangerous combination.

Tim Southee, Adam Milne and Trent Boult, looked in good shape and would be raring to go. “In some respects, this is almost like a quarterfinal, the Birmingham no-result throwing a spanner in the works a little bit. Especially in the last two years games between the two teams have been very tight, and I expect another close encounter,” wrote former New Zealand fast bowler Shane Bond in a column for the ICC.