Black Caps have mental advantage over Proteas
New Zealand head into their clash against the Proteas at Edgbaston with a significant mental advantage.
The Black Caps are unbeaten in the tournament so far with seven points from four games.
History does not favour the Proteas either, they have only beaten the Kiwis twice in seven World Cup matches with their last victory incidentally coming in Birmingham back in 1999.
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New Zealand quick, Trent Boult says their upper hand comes down to how they deal with pressure on the big stage.
“Whether there's a lot of pressure on them, I'm not too sure. For us, we know what works well,” Boult said.
“For me as a bowler, I'm sure I want to lead the bowling attack as best as I can. If we can do the things that we do well and we know that works well, put some early pressure on and get some wickets, then, yeah, hopefully, they feel that pressure a little bit more,” Boult added.
Statistics won’t count for much on the day, Boult knows that a win will solidify their chances of reaching the semi-finals but will also deal a massive blow to the South Africans.
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“I think we've got to respect all of them, to be honest. They've got some classy players at the top of the innings. They've obviously had an interesting start to their tournament, so they'll be hungry to come out and perform,” Boult said.
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