ICC World Cup 2019: New Zealand have a death overs bowling problem, as shown by the numbers from IPL 2019
The ICC World Cup 2019 is all set to begin on 30th May 2019, with hosts England taking on South Africa at The Oval in the tournament's first match. The games in England leading up to the mega event involving Pakistan, Ireland and West Indies have seen regular scores in excess of 300, which suggests that there will be plenty of runs on offer during the World Cup.
In such a scenario, each team's death bowling will assume great importance. And while teams like India and South Africa have an ace seamer for the death overs - in Jasprit Bumrah and Kagiso Rabada respectively - New Zealand lack a seamer on whom they can depend.
Also, the bowling numbers from the recently concluded IPL 2019 are not at all positive for the Black Caps. Let us look at the performance of New Zealand fast bowlers during this IPL:
#1 Tim Southee - economy during the death overs (16-20): 20.00
The right arm pacer had a rather forgettable IPL season this year. Playing for Royal Challengers Bangalore, he gave away runs at an economy of 20 during the death overs. Andre Russell of Kolkata Knight Riders smashed him for 29 runs off an over, which led to the defeat of his side in that game.
#2 Lockie Ferguson - economy during the death overs (16-20): 12.14
Lockie Ferguson gave away 183 runs from 5 matches and took just two wickets. He had an overall economy rate of 10.76 and a death over ER of 12.14. His strike rate of 51 was one of the worst for the frontline bowlers in the tournament.
#3 Trent Boult - economy during the death overs (16-20): 12.83
Trent Boult too had a lacklustre IPL season as he was able to take just five wickets from the five matches he played. Even though his overall economy rate was 8.57, he have away runs at an ER of 12.83 during the death overs. His bowling average of 32.60 is also pretty high for a lead bowler of any country.
New Zealand have plenty of powerful batsmen who can take advantage of the flat tracks and short boundaries in England, but their bowling attack is a huge concern right now. If their bowlers are not able to restrict the run flow during the death overs, they would be susceptible to opposition teams chasing down even the tallest of scores that the Kiwi batsmen put up.
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