Ross Taylor, Martin Guptill, New Zealand, Australia, CT 2017
Martin Guptill and Ross Taylor are key cogs of the New Zealand batting lineupReuters

Australia have been tipped, along with England, to qualify for the semifinals from Group A of the ICC Champions Trophy 2017, with not many picking New Zealand to go through. The Kiwis will want to show why they must be in the conversation by topping their Trans-Tasman rivals in this match at Edgbaston, Birmingham on Friday.

New Zealand can go into this game, knowing that they aren't favoured to begin their CT 2017 campaign with a win, which gives them the freedom to express themselves.

When you have players like Martin Guptill, Kane Williamson, Ross Taylor and Corey Anderson, that can be a dangerous thing for any opponent, particularly if you add the potent bowling lineup, led by Trent Boult and Tim Southee, the Kiwis have.

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New Zealand have a habit of doing well – reaching the semifinals or final – in big ICC tournaments, and the Black Caps will have the extra motivation of gaining some revenge from the 2015 World Cup final loss to their nearest rivals.

"It's important that our batsmen come out, play positively," New Zealand captain Williamson said. "I suppose the focus is a lot more about how you want to play your cricket rather than the opposition. Especially in tournament fixtures like this, where it is pretty much a knockout form.

"I guess we have played each other a lot, and we are fairly familiar with each other. But teams are always trying to do slightly different plans to get on top of the opposition. For us, it's trying to attack it as best we can."

Steve Smith, David Warner, Australia, New Zealand, ICC Champions Trophy
The pressure is on Steve Smith and David Warner to deliver for AustraliaReuters

Attack is what Australia do best as well, and with a scary top three in David Warner, Aaron Finch and Steve Smith, this is a team that will go a long way in this tournament.

Australia also have the option of going for all-out attack with the ball as well, with four brilliant pacers in Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Pat Cummins and James Pattinson, but they are likely to resist that temptation and go for a more balanced team.

At the end of the day, going by the nature of the wickets, and if the sun's out, this is going to be a batsman's Champions Trophy. So, the pressure is on that top order and the big-hitters that come in after that to give Australia a perfect start.

"We certainly hold ourselves very highly in these tournaments," Smith said. "We've got a very good record in the ICC tournaments over the last, I guess, 10 to 15 years.

"We work our hardest in these tournaments to try and win them. And we've got a good group of players here to do that. Everyone's been batting particularly well in the nets. The bowlers have been steaming in and been great as well. So everyone's pumped and ready to get started."

When and where to watch live

India: TV: Star Sports 1, Star Sports 1HD (English, Hindi, Tamil). Live Streaming: Hotstar.

 

Australia: TV: Fox Sports. Live Streaming: Foxtel.

 

New Zealand: TV: Sky Sport 1. Live Streaming: Sky Go NZ.

 

UK: TV: Sky Sports 2. Live Streaming: Sky Go and Watch Sky Sports.

 

USA: TV: Willow TV. Live Streaming: Willow TV Live Online.

 

South Africa: TV: SuperSport 2. Live Streaming: SuperSport Live Video.

 

Middle East: TV: OSN Sports Cricket. Live Streaming: OSN Play.

 

Singapore: TV: Star Cricket.