Daniel Vettori
The BLACKCAPS captain talks about the performances so far, the confidence in the team and the Duckworth/Lewis system.
On the BLACKCAPS recent form and looking towards the Super 8’s…
“If you couple that (v Zimbabwe) with the Sri Lankan performance, to go through to the next round with two wins is what we aim for and we are pleased with that.
“There are always aspects still that you want to improve on but I think the fight back in the field and the way that McCullum and Styris bowled to give us huge momentum changes, made a real difference. We walk away pretty comfortable and looking forward to Super 8’s.”
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“We always knew it was going to be difficult on that wicket against the slower bowlers. It had a bit of turn in it and was gripping so it’s almost a case of trying to get those six overs out of the way so we could get into what we do best. In those middle to late stages and we proved that well again today.
“We can do better in that top six, I think we have to, but overall pretty happy.”
On the BLACKCAPS performance in the tournament so far…
“I suppose you take it at face value and say that it is four wins, so the team is really satisfied with that. Any good team looks for improvements on the small aspects and hopefully the best thing we did was improve.”
“We’ve got to understand the wicket a bit better, particularly with the batting. That’s the area we really need to improve in heading into the Super 8’s.”
“We have got a really good balanced line up and some destructive guys there as well. I think they will probably enjoy a better surface in Barbados, for batting, so guys are pleased with their efforts here but looking forward to moving on.”
On taking confidence from previous tournaments…
“I think we took some confidence from the Champions Trophy and making the final there. A lot of the team that was there is involved in this squad so I think the top eight team’s aim to win the World Cup and each captain could sit here and say that quite comfortably. We are no different, we know there is a long way to go and there are some very impressive teams that we have to beat to get to that stage and the Super 8’s is our focus and we will worry about semi finals if we get there.”
On the Duckworth Lewis system…
“Referring to the game yesterday – I’m not sure of the formula they use to make the system work. My understanding is that it probably dates back a little bit to the 50 over game and maybe it needs to be re-looked at for the 20 over game.
“All you want is parity between the two teams and i suppose a lot of people have viewed yesterday’s chase as not that, but I don’t know exactly how the system works but I think there is no harm in looking in to it.”
