Their co-hosts, Australia, will play their first game a few hours later, with their team taking on England in Melbourne; India enter the fray as defending champions on the next day, clashing with Pakistan in a tough Pool B match. The pool also features South Africa and West Indies.
Incidentally, the tickets too went up on sale, with the lowest available for just $5 for children during the pool games. "We want to make sure that everyone at every school in New Zealand is aware of the World Cup. We are even developing a curriculum and some materials to go with, little cricket bat sets, just to grow the awareness levels across the country," Therese Walsh, the head of operations, New Zealand said at a function in the morning.
Prime Minister John Kelly and many former players, including Sunil Gavaskar from India, Richard Hadlee from NZ and Dean Jones from Australia were present on the occasion. Hadlee said New Zealand would be in with a real shot, given their form this year. "If we can replicate the form that we're in now in 12 months time then we're in with a shot," he said.
"But we do have that mental barrier don't we? Six previous semifinals but we've not gone beyond that. If we can make the semifinal and dig deep, then it's 50-50 on the day when you're in the final, so we can live in hope," he added.
Pool A:
England, Australia, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, New Zealand, Afghanistan & Scotland
Pool B:
South Africa, India, Pakistan, West Indies, Zimbabwe, Ireland and United Arab Emirates.
Dhoni aims to emulate Australia, Windies
India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni said on Friday that India are shaping up nicely and are on course to become the third country after Australia and the West Indies to win back-toback ICC World Cups.
Dhoni, who hit the winning runs in Mumbai when India won their second World Cup title, added that his side has players who are capable of handling the pressure of a global event.
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