/ 22 November 2007

Black Caps confident ahead of limited-overs matches

The Standard Bank Pro20 match and the three MTN one-day internationals (ODIs) will give New Zealand a chance to restore some pride after their crushing defeats by South Africa in the two Test matches.

That was Black Caps skipper Daniel Vettori’s view on Thursday on the eve of the Pro20 match at the Wanderers on Friday.

”We do take a little solace in our Twenty20 performances and our ODI performances over the last couple of years. I think we’re ranked third in the world. It shows we are a good one-day side. We’re still missing a couple of players, but I think the guys who’ve come in realise that this is a new campaign.

”The guys know their one-day game pretty well, and they’ve had a good dose of it over the last few years. We were here for the World Twenty20, so they have a good feel for the wickets.”

Asked what New Zealand could do to turn things around in the face of a very confident South African side, Vettori smiled. ”A win [for us] would be a start.

”We’re a confident one-day side and a confident Twenty20 side. We reached the semifinals of the World Twenty20 and South Africa didn’t, so there’s a step up for us straight away.

”We’ve got to relay the initial feeling of confidence in the squad into actual performance.”

Vettori said New Zealand were moving away from their traditional ”dibbly-dobblers”.

”We’ve realised that quality fast bowling and good spin bowling win you games. The quality of wickets that you play on for Twenty20 and one-day games normally means that the batter takes over, and if you’ve got a guy bowling at 110 [km/h], 120, it probably doesn’t allow you an ability to attack or even defend now.

”But having said that, we have Scott Styris who’s been very effective for a number of years and he’s going to play a big role in the matches to come — particularly in Port Elizabeth and Cape Town, where the wickets are generally slower.”

The first international Pro20 match South Africa played was against New Zealand in 2005. New Zealand won that match by five wickets. The teams met again in the World Twenty20, with South Africa beating New Zealand by six wickets.

The Pro20 match starts at the Wanderers at 6pm on Friday. — Sapa