When the BLACKCAPS face the West Indies in the third ODI at Warner Park in St Kitts they will have their work cut out for them as they fight to keep the series alive.
Speaking after team training today, bowling all-rounder Nathan McCullum said it will take some fierce determination to topple their opposition.
‘We’ve just got to win,’ McCullum repeated.
It’s a simple philosophy and one that is hard to argue with. It seems the BLACKCAPS are making it plain that they aren’t interested in complicating their goals ahead of the important encounter.
“We’ve got to be determined to win and find any way possible,” McCullum said.
“We’ve got to take more wickets, we’ve got to burn through their top order and see what their bottom order has got under pressure.
“If we bat first, we’ve got to score big runs and score 100s and have big partnerships.”
None of it is exactly ground-breaking stuff, but then it doesn’t need to be.
With a little more time under their belt to adapt to the conditions and having showed signs of improvement with every match, it's now or never for the team to really hit their straps.
And according to the players themselves, nothing is out of their control. Not even the mood of the dynamic Chris Gayle.
“It’s not so much about the pitch, it’s from ourselves,” said McCullum.
“It looks to be a pretty flat wicket so it’s something we’re used to and we’ve just got to get out and play.
“At the end of the day we’ve just got to get him (Gayle) out. We’ve got some plans in place we’re pretty sure are going to work. Let’s hope they do, but we’re going to be determined to take his wicket.”
If that plan turns out to be a successful one it will go a long way to helping the BLACKCAPS turn around recent results.
The positivity around the camp shows the resilience of the group and it can only be a matter of time until it all clicks together.
