New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori said Friday the recent one-day victories against Pakistan had restored some of their confidence ahead of the World Cup.
Published: Feb 11, 2011, 07:50 PM (IST)
Edited: Feb 11, 2011, 07:50 PM (IST)
Nagpur, February 11, 2011
New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori said Friday the recent one-day victories against Pakistan had restored some of their confidence ahead of the World Cup.
New Zealand lost the home one-day series but managed to win two games against Pakistan to end an 11-match losing streak which started with a triangular tournament in Sri Lanka last August.
They were later blanked in one-day series in Bangladesh and India. “Defeats in the last three series have affected our morale, but the wins against Pakistan have restored our confidence,” Vettori told reporters in Nagpur on the eve of their warm-up game against Ireland.
The New Zealand skipper said the experience of playing in Bangladesh and India would stand his team in good stead.
“We have been playing in the sub-continent for some time and that has helped us gain more experience. We will focus on every match,” he said.
Vettori was also banking on the expertise of newly-appointed coach John Wright, who helped India reach the 2003 World Cup final in South Africa during his five-year stint with the team.
“John is an important asset for us. He has vast experience, knowledge of local conditions, crowd and people and therefore he will be a good coach for New Zealand,” said Vettori.
New Zealand are in Group A with defending champions Australia, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe, Canada and Kenya, with the top four teams advancing to the quarter-finals.
They open their World Cup campaign on February 20 against Kenya at Chennai in India.
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