New Zealand have the chance to break a five year drought

New Zealand have the chance today to post their second consecutive ODI series victory over a top 8 nation. The last time this occurred was in 2008 when New Zealand actually won 3 series in a row against West Indies and two against England. Since then it has been a barren run in ODI bilateral cricket, as since then they have only won one series, up until South Africa last month, which was against Pakistan in 2009.

This hopefully could be a beginning of a resurgence for New Zealand in the premier limited over format. At one stage in 2012 they actually slipped to 9th in the ODI rankings, when Bangladesh jumped ahead of them. If they could post another win today, then they will most likely move ahead of the West Indies into 7th position.

A competitive New Zealand team is crucial for world cricket, and with only the top 8 countries qualifying directly for the 2019 World Cup, it is never too early to start entrenching themselves in the top echelon of the rankings.