BLACKCAPS Coach Mike Hesson speaks to the media after yesterday’s three wicket win over Scotland yesterday in their ICC Cricket World Cup match in Dunedin. Read the transcript of what he had to say on the bowling and batting performance, the net-run-rate and the upcoming match against England on Friday.
How would you describe yesterday’s batting performance?
I think untidy is probably the best word. I think that we had two main objectives really, obviously to win the game and secondly to get our net run-rate up and to win the game in 25 overs was significant for us. We would have liked to have done it three or four down, but we were a little bit untidy.
How many of the batsmen got themselves out?
A few. Once the game was out of reach in terms of us always having it under control, we tried to improve the run-rate and we were able to do that, so after two games we’re in a good spot.
How deeply will you go into the performance last night with the guys?
After two games and two wins it’s massive, so we’re tracking pretty well, as I said, a little untidy but still got the job done.
Was it a missed opportunity there for one or two of the batsmen?
Not really. You also have to give some respect to Scotland as well. You can’t underestimate how competent they are and they could cause some surprises in this tournament.
And what did you make of the bowling display?
We were very pleased. Initially to get those wickets up front was huge for keeping a score to under 250 and then the way Dan and Corey came back and brushed them off was great. To polish them off as quickly as we did was pleasing.
Few people surprised by the lack of rotation in the squad from the first game…
It’s our best 11 at the moment. As we said at the start, we don’t disrespect any of our opposition. It’s important that we got two points and got there by putting our best team on the park.
Do you expect any changes for the game against England on Friday?
We’ll have to scrub up and see how guys recover. Three games in seven days is always challenging, but as I said it’s always important to get those wins early and put the points on the board. We haven’t got anything of concern at this stage, but we’ve got our medical review later in the day so we’ll know more then.
What do you make of England ahead of your match on Friday?
They’re a dangerous side. I think they’ve got a lot of quality players and some are in form, some are not so much so. They’re seam attack has got pace and bounce and a pretty good mix and they bat deep, so they’re a dangerous side.
With the way the schedule is, was it tempting to rest a few players for the Scotland game?
The Associate sides are good sides. We’ve seen Ireland, we’ll see Afghanistan today and they’re a quality outfit and if your disrespect them you’ll get rolled over and that’s what I think we’ll see throughout this tournament. We don’t want to disrespect any of them and we’ll prepare as well as we can and put out our best team.
Could the slightly slower pitch conditions in Wellington bring someone like Kyle Mills into the mix?
Yeah, he’ll definitely be considered, along with Mitch who is also bowling well and obviously Nathan who offers us another spin bowling option, so they’ll all be considered, but as I said we’ll have a look at what we think the best 11 for the game for us is. It’s obviously a big match for us.
Is there a bit of edge to playing England, as there almost due a big game?
In a World Cup anything is possible and they’ve got some very good players and a lot of match winners. We’ve had some pretty good battles over recent years we look forward to another one on Friday.
