ICC World Cup 2019: New Zealand's 15-man squad and full schedule 

What's the story?

New Zealand became the first team to announce their 15-man squad for the 2019 Cricket World Cup to be held in England starting from May 30. The 2019 World Cup will be one of the most open tournament with every team having the capability to win the tournament.

The Kiwis have a strong batting line for this year's World Cup which includes, Martin Guptill, Colin Munro, Kane Williamson, Ross Taylor, Henry Nicholls. Colin de Grandhomme, Jimmy Neesham, and Mitchell Santer make up the all-rounders.

The Kiwis have picked a strong fast bowling line up which comprises of Tim Southee, Trent Boult, Lockie Ferguson, and Matt Henry. Ish Sodhi and Mitchell Santer have been included as the two spinners in the squad.

The Background

New Zealand has been playing brilliant cricket in the past few months. They whitewashed Sri Lanka 3-0 and then decimated Bangladesh 3-0. But they were outplayed by the Men in Blue in the ODI series by 1-4.

The participating nations deadline for announcing the World Cup squad is 23rd April 2019.

Under the captaincy of Brendon McCullum, New Zealand reached the finals of ICC World Cup in 2015, played in Australia and New Zealand. In the 2019 World Cup, each team will play each other once before the top four qualify for the semi-finals.

Martin Guptill finished as the leading run-getter in 2015 World Cup with 547 runs from nine matches (nine innings) with two centuries and one half-century. He had the best score of 237* against West Indies in the quarterfinals to help the hosts reach semi-finals.

Trent Boult took 22 wickets for New Zealand from nine matches with an economy rate of 4.36 runs per over.

The heart of the matter

The Kiwis team have never a major ICC tournament apart from the Champions Trophy win in 2000. Under the captaincy of Kane Williamson, they have a well-balanced unit which can go on to win their maiden World Cup.

New Zealand came so close in 2015 losing the World Cup final to Australia at the MCG. Before the first match, they will play two practice games.

The Kiwis will take on Sri Lanka in their opening match of the tournament to be played on June 1, 2019 at Sophia Gardens, Cardiff.

If the conditions are helpful for the fast bowlers, then New Zealand will be a force to reckon with and could cause trouble to any batting line up in the tournament.

The full schedule of New Zealand at the ICC World Cup 2019

1. New Zealand versus Sri Lanka (1st June 2019)- The Sophia Gardens, Cardiff

2. New Zealand versus Bangladesh (5th June 2019)- The Oval, London

3. New Zealand versus Afghanistan (8th June 2019)- The County Ground, Bristol

4. New Zealand versus India (13th June 2019)- Trent Bridge, Nottingham

5. New Zealand versus South Africa (19th June 2019)- Edgbaston, Birmingham

6. New Zealand versus West Indies (22nd June 2019)- Old Trafford, Manchester

7. New Zealand versus Pakistan (26th June 2019)- Edgbaston, Birmingham

8. New Zealand versus Australia (29th June 2019)- Lords, London

9. New Zealand versus England (3rd July 2019)- Riverside Ground, Chester-le-street.