New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori Monday asked his teammates to brace up for an even stronger Pakistan side than one they had faced at home in recent ODI series defeat in their crucial Cricket World Cup Group A encounter Tuesday in Pallekele stadium.New Zealand lost a hard fought ODI series to Pakistan 2-3 just two weeks before start of World Cup.
Vettori said same opponents in tomorrow's game will be even tougher to beat in subcontinent conditions."It was a pretty tightly fought series in our conditions, this is more like their conditions. They're probably going to be an even better team than the one we came across. They are playing really well. Wehave to find a way to beat them," he said at pre-match press conference."We are fortunate that we played a lot against them lately so we are pretty familiar but they are pretty familiar with us so it's going to be a tough game but hopefully there is some confidence from Zimbabwe game," said Vettori.Pakistan have six points with three victories from as many match games, while New Zealand are on four after lopsided victories over Kenya & Zimbabwe and a defeat against Australia.New Zealand go into tomorrow's match with a poor recent record in the subcontinent as both Bangladesh & India whitewashed them in ODI series but Vettori said it all boiled down to team work and consistency."We've not been able to put consistent team performances together. That's pretty much where we've let ourselves down in the past. Hopefully there is some confidence from Zimbabwe game. If we can bring same performance in this game then it's going to be huge for us in the tournament." He hoped key batsman Ross Taylor would fire against Pakistan. "I think your best players are ones who win World Cup and Ross is obviously one of our very good players. I expect him at one stage in this tournament to win a game for us and hopefully it's tomorrow."
Source: PPI
Vettori said same opponents in tomorrow's game will be even tougher to beat in subcontinent conditions."It was a pretty tightly fought series in our conditions, this is more like their conditions. They're probably going to be an even better team than the one we came across. They are playing really well. Wehave to find a way to beat them," he said at pre-match press conference."We are fortunate that we played a lot against them lately so we are pretty familiar but they are pretty familiar with us so it's going to be a tough game but hopefully there is some confidence from Zimbabwe game," said Vettori.Pakistan have six points with three victories from as many match games, while New Zealand are on four after lopsided victories over Kenya & Zimbabwe and a defeat against Australia.New Zealand go into tomorrow's match with a poor recent record in the subcontinent as both Bangladesh & India whitewashed them in ODI series but Vettori said it all boiled down to team work and consistency."We've not been able to put consistent team performances together. That's pretty much where we've let ourselves down in the past. Hopefully there is some confidence from Zimbabwe game. If we can bring same performance in this game then it's going to be huge for us in the tournament." He hoped key batsman Ross Taylor would fire against Pakistan. "I think your best players are ones who win World Cup and Ross is obviously one of our very good players. I expect him at one stage in this tournament to win a game for us and hopefully it's tomorrow."
Source: PPI
