New Zealand will field an unchanged XI for the fifth time in the World Cup, and will hope their middle order gets a good workout
Andrew McGlashan in Napier07-Mar-2015The first part of New Zealand’s World Cup odyssey was swept along amid a deluge of wickets and outpouring of emotion. The challenge now is to sustain that over the next couple of weeks heading into the quarter-final in Wellington. It will be nigh on impossible to replicate the atmospheres witnessed against England and Australia in the final two group matches.New Zealand’s first three matches were played in the space and of a week and then there was the much-hyped build-up to the game against Australia at Eden Park. Some time off after that one-wicket victory was probably appreciated, but the last week has started to drag for New Zealand.”Playing [the next] three games in three weeks brings its own challenges and you can try and cover that by the way you train and keep guys fresh,” Brendon McCullum, still sporting the bruise on his forearm courtesy of Mitchell Johnson, said. “We’ve prepared our weeks accordingly and allowed guys a few days off then returned to training with high intensity.”The week’s break has been a key reason behind an unchanged XI for the fifth game running from New Zealand. It means the forgotten four – Tom Latham, Nathan McCullum, Kyle Mills and Mitchell McClenaghan – remain benched. McCullum said the decision would be reassessed before the final group match against Bangladesh, but there is a strong chance none will play before the quarter-final.McCullum suggested the situation had been created by New Zealand’s success, not just the fact they have been winning but the efficiency with which they have dismantled opposition batting. Adam Milne has bowled 25.2 overs across four matches so has hardly been overworked while Corey Anderson has sent down just 10.3 and they have earned six wickets.”It’s been a bit of a moving target because of the way the games have unfolded. Adam Milne…in an ideal world he would have bowled a fair few more than that [and] then we would have been looking to call on someone from the bench. The way the games have gone has allowed us the luxury of being able to roll out the same team.McCullum pleased with versatile Vettori
Brendon McCullum has lauded the role of Daniel Vettori in New Zealand’s World Cup campaign. Vettori needs two more wickets to reach 300 in ODIs and has been a vital cog in the attack, operating behind the pace spearheads Tim Southee and Trent Boult.
“It’s great to see him back and fit and enjoying his cricket. You can tell that by the way he carries himself in the field, the way he chases every ball down like a youngster,” McCullum said.
“We’ve got a lot of attacking options but someone like Dan can fill both roles. The way he stemmed the flow of a full Australian assault and change the momentum of the game just shows how good a bowler he is and calm he is under pressure.”
“That’s a big confidence booster for the group and a fillip for the selectors that the group they’ve picked is now playing out to be the perfect squad under the circumstances. It’s tough on them, they desperately want to play but they’re such strong people off the field and every one of them has a smile on their faces when they turn up to training. They’ve all said they’d rather have a bib on than sitting on the couch watching from afar. We’re lucky from that point of view and that’s a good sign.”Declaring a team the day before the game is one thing – McCullum often lays his cards on the table in advance – but to announce what you will do at the toss is taking openness to even greater levels. He confirmed he wanted to bat first, which is both a reflection on the conditions in Napier and also the side of the game that needs greater fine tuning before the knockouts.However, the mid-innings collapse against Australia which almost cost them victory has not spooked the side into feeling a change of approach is needed, although batting first could lend itself to a slightly more considered game plan.”We’ll try to operate the same way; that’s authentic to us and it’s the style that works for us,” McCullum said. “We’re not always going to bowl sides out for 150 but it gives us our best possible chance, that aggressive and positive mindset.”McCullum, with 207 runs at 51.75, is comfortably New Zealand’s leading run-scorer (twice he has not left many for his team-mates to score) while Kane Williamson sits atop the averages at 74.50. Anderson’s returns have been solid, led by the 75 he made against Sri Lanka, but then the numbers become less convincing.”The nature of how we’ve played the games and had success bowling first means our batting hasn’t been as challenged as other teams. We’ll never know till we get in those situations, but I’m very confident the guys we’ve got are very good under pressure. I’m comfortable with the squad we’ve got.”Comfortable with the squad and even more comfortable with his team.
