New Zealand equal South Africa’s 20-year old World Cup record

ICC World Cup: New Zealand equalled South Africa’s record of going unchanged for 6 matches in a row in a World Cup.

Kane Williamson’s New Zealand on Wednesday equalled a two decade old ICC World Cup record held by the South African ide led by the late Hansie Cronje in the 1999 tournament.New Zealand equalled the record as they took field against Pakistan at Birmingham South Africa’s 99 campaign ended with a heartbreaking result in the semi-final against Australia. The match ended in a tie and the Proteas failed to advance to the summit clash due to their inferior position in the Super 6 points table.

New Zealand captain Kane Williamson in action against Pakistan during the ICC World Cup. (AP)

That team though was a paragon of machine like consistency and a lot of it was a result of the core group playing together for a long time. South Africa in that campaign were unchanged for 6 matches in a row. In a high pressure tournament like the World Cup, most teams chop and change to plug their gaps. And that is the reason why the record has stood the test of team.

The 2019 tournament though has seen another team achieve similar consistency. The Kiwis under Williamson have so far had an unblemished campaign and went in unchanged for their 6th match in a row, when they started their match against Pakistan.

The Kiwis have a balanced side and most of the players have performed well, hence keeping their place in the playing XI. When asked about giving a chance to few players to keep them in form in case of an injury, captain Williamson said, “We are going with horses-for-courses type of mentality. There was some consideration (about team changes) with this being played on a used surface, but we have gone with the same team.”