6 Jun 2017

Black Caps can't let the weather enter their thoughts

11:56 am on 6 June 2017

The fickle English summer is the least of New Zealand's concerns as the Black Caps prepare for their Champions Trophy match against England in Cardiff tonight.

Rain at the cricket.

Rain at the cricket. Photo: PHOTOSPORT

Steve Smith's Australians looked in control against Bangladesh at the Oval overnight, bowling the Tigers out for 182 then reaching 1-83 after 16 overs before rain stopped play.

With a similar outcome from their first game against New Zealand, Australia have two points from two washouts and now have to beat England in their final group game to have a chance of making the semi-finals.

Black Caps opener Martin Guptill says the result won't mean any change to the way New Zealand approach their match against England.

"We can't let that dictate the way we play - we still have to go out and do our thing, be aggressive and take it to the opposition," he said.

"If we take a step back, we've already lost the game before stepping out there."

Guptill (26) combined with Luke Ronchi (65 off 43) to kickstart the New Zealand innings against Australia last week, with skipper Kane Williamson's 97-ball 100 anchoring the Black Caps to 291 off 45 overs.

Coming in at No.3 for England, Joe Root played a similar role for England with an unbeaten 133 in their eight-wicket win over Bangladesh.

Guptill said there were some key similarities between the two batsmen.

"They're both obviously world class players - they can both be destructive without hitting those massively big shots," he said.

"They kill teams softly. They're not going to go out and blast at a 160 strike rate through the innings.

"Their batsmanship is ridiculously unbelievable, they know the game inside out and it's a master class when they get going."

Guptill said his role as an opener was to provide some stability and set up a platform to launch the New Zealand innings.

Whether it's with Ronchi or Tom Latham - still working his way back from a foot injury - makes little difference to Guptill's approach, which he said had become a little more aggressive since Brendon McCullum's retirement.

"I play the same way whoever I'm batting with. Whether it be one-day or Twenty20, I look to go out and create a strike rate at the top of the innings for the rest of the guys to be able to come out and play their games."

-AAP