Daniel Vettori
The BLACKCAPS captain talks before the second World Twenty20 match against South Africa.
On Mendis dismissing Ross Taylor…
“Ross Taylor was a crucial player for us and he probably targeted that over to the smaller boundary when we need to get a move. Unfortunately that’s what a quality bowler [Mendis] can do. He bowled exceptionally well today along with their other bowlers. I think the wicket was perfect from them but you still have to bowl well.”
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On not getting set against the quality Sri Lankan attack…
“I think we did have set batsmen. I thought we played the first six overs pretty well and at that stage I was pretty happy with our position but to lose those wickets quickly I think, unfortunately, which made it tough was that the guys picked Mendis today but he still bowled so well that he was difficult to score from. You could see from the turn he got which made it even more difficult. We can sit here and blame our players and we will work hard on our reviews but you still have to admire the quality of the bowling that was on display.”
On the injuries affecting the performance of the team…
“It has been difficult but we have been lucky with a fortunate draw. We’ve been able to win only two games before today against associate teams and still have a chance of making the semi-finals today. So we are as full strength as we could be without Jesse. While momentum was derailed at times because guys couldn’t consistently bat we still had an opportunity today to turn up and win the game so we are devastated but injuries are not the reason we lost today.”
On only beating Scotland and Ireland...
“No it’s definitely not good enough. Like I said, a couple of times we were fortunate enough to be in a position of only beating those two and still being in a position to make the semi-finals. In a lot of ways that probably wasn’t right but it was the way it turned out and for that group of guys that had such high expectations leading into it, high expectations of our batting order but if we look back at all our important games our highest score was 120 and in this format that’s just not good enough.”
On Mendis being an unpickable mystery bowler...
“I think the guys picked him so I don’t think he’s a mystery bowler, just a very good bowler. It’s the same with Murali. I think guys over the years have been able to decipher what he bowls but he bowls so well that it’s difficult. It’s the same with a number of bowlers around the world – once you pick them it great but if they’re still good enough to beat you in flight or spin then it’s very tough and he’s a quality bowler with some great balls.”
On the IPL contributing to player exhaustion…
“I don’t think we use that as an excuse for our performance. Brendon was the only one who played all of the games, Jacob played most of them and Ross and myself played just over half so it’s not a factor. We had a lot of guys who had six weeks off, turned up here and prepared well. “
On 158 being too many to chase down…
“No, we were comfortable with 158. It wasn’t our best bowling of fielding display but still to restrict their team to 158, dismiss Jayasuria first ball gave us a lot of imputis but those middle stages with the bat were the crucial part. I think we were 60 for one after seven and that’s a great start against Sri Lanka so after that point we really lost momentum and never got it back. Like I said yesterday, if you’re not set against these quality bowlers it makes it difficult.”
Looking at the tournament as a whole, where did the BLACKCAPS go wrong…
“We just didn’t get the runs. Our highest score in three important games against South Africa, Pakistan and Sri Lanka was 125 I think and if you look at the scores across the tournament that’s nowhere near par, so we weren’t even close to par and therefore never gave ourselves a chance.”
