Circket World Cup: Black Caps arrive in Wellington for crucial English clash

Sunny skies greeted the Black Caps as they arrived in the capital today ahead of Friday's game against England.

The New Zealand cricket team managed to scrape past Scotland by three wickets to win their second match of the ICC Cricket World Cup in Dunedin yesterday.

The team then turned heads as they landed in Wellington.

Cricket fan Peter Hodgson, 64, from Christchurch, was excited to meet the team upon their arrival at Wellington Airport.

"I turned around and there were all the Black Caps," he said.

Mr Hodgson said he had been following the World Cup closely so far, and had attended the New Zealand vs Sri Lanka game in Christchurch last Saturday.

Mr Hodgson, who was in Wellington for a concert, said he would also be attending the Pakistan vs West Indies game at Hagley Oval in Christchurch on Saturday.

Today, Mr Hodgson was lucky enough to get signatures from nine members of the team, on a small cricket bat he was carrying "just in case".

He said he had signatures from Nathan and Brendon McCullum and Daniel Vettori, among others.

"Its excellent. It has been great to see them in person they have been brilliant."

The Black Caps have now checked into the Bolton Hotel in Wellington, where they will have the afternoon off, before a day of training and appearances tomorrow.

A spokesman for the Black Caps said the team would kick tomorrow off with breakfast at the hotel, before heading off for training at 10am at the Basin Reserve, which will include scouting reports of the opposition.

At 1pm, Black Caps captain Brendon McCullum will hold a press conference, before the whole team has a massage window in the afternoon.

The Black Caps will take on England at Wellington's Westpac Stadium from Friday at 2pm.