Here’s how to bowl to Kane and able Joe

It Is a joy that in the big-hitting power world of modern one- day cricket, two touch players in Joe Root and Kane Williamson are as good as anyone out there.

Neither New Zealand’s captain nor England’s new test leader are big, strong lads who rely on clearing the ropes. they are very skilful and manoeuvre the ball, but they still score as quickly as anyone in world cricket.

they are half of the fab four batsmen in the world game — Virat Kohli and steve smith being the others — and both run-machines who meet today already have a century in this Champions trophy.

With these two, you can bowl a perfect ball on the top of off-stump and they can hit it to third man, cover or even square leg. they pick up the ones and twos better than anyone.

Williamson plays very late, with the bat angled down to get the ball to third man. It enables him to score off good deliveries and he is a master of putting away bad ones.

the difference between the two comes in character. Root is much more bubbly and can fret when he is not scoring during a one- day innings. the New Zealand captain, by contrast, quietly and calmly soaks up pressure. He is also more shy away from the game.

the key to containing Williamson is stopping his release shots. so, if I was Eoin Morgan, I might put in a fine gully, almost like a fifth slip, just to stop that knock down behind square for a single to third man.

Keep him on strike for four or five deliveries so he has to go for his big shot — and the same applies if New Zealand are looking for a way to stop Root, because he can lose his shape when he tries to keep up with the big-hitters.

England have to make Williamson slog earlier than he wants, rather than give him singles and wait for a mistake. He won’t make one.

It’s been fascinating to watch Williamson adapt his game and against Australia he moved outside off stump to make the bowler go wide into his zone. When the bowlers then went straight, he would smash them over the leg side.

But if he tries that today against a skiddy bowler such as Mark Wood, it will bring the lbw into play and a straight yorker on middle and leg might be the best way for England to go. Get it wrong, though, and he will punish them.

Williamson is not a captain to stick with convention. Most sides in this tournament have wanted to chase but New Zealand batted against Australia at Edgbaston and had the better of the game before the rain.

Williamson used to play under Brendon McCullum and he is another aggressive, positive captain in the modern New Zealand way.

He will have good plans for the England batsmen, too. For Morgan, expect to see a predominantly off-side field, because I expect New Zealand to try to hide the ball or go short at him.

this will be a fascinating contest — and Root and Williamson are certainly the men to watch.