Vettori stunned by used wicket

[Ramzz]

Colombo - New Zealand skipper Daniel Vettori was shocked when he discovered Monday that a used wicket is being prepared for the World Cup semifinal against Sri Lanka. "They've told us we're playing on the same one as England which is very surprising for us," Vettori said on the eve of the semifinal. "Playing a World Cup semifinal on a used wicket, we would have thought it would be mandatory to prepare a fresh wicket. But obviously not." Co-host Sri Lanka has the advantage of having played on the wicket in their 10-wicket quarterfinal demolition of England on Saturday. New Zealand had an upset 49-run win over South Africa at Dhaka to reach the semifinals for the sixth time - and the Kiwis are still aiming for their first win in the final four. Vettori takes inspiration from New Zealand's run to the Champions Trophy final two years ago. "Everyone wants to talk about our record of making them (to semifinals) and not going on any further," he said. "In the Champions Trophy we went one step further and made the final against Australia, so we can look on that and hope it's a starting point for us going past the semis." New Zealand was not rated by many to make it this far at the 2011 the World Cup, particularly after being swept by Bangladesh and India in limited-overs series on the subcontinent last year. The positives started to emerge in the New Zealand ranks when John Wright was appointed coach in December and the Kiwis lost a close one-day series to Pakistan 3-2. "Look, John's been fantastic for us," Vettori said. "I've loved working with Wrighty and he's brought a lot of passion to the team. And his knowledge of people over here and grounds has been a tremendous help as well." "But the players took the blame for those losses (to Bangladesh and India) so I think the players have to take credit for the wins as well." New Zealand has at least six survivors from the 2007 World Cup - Vettori, Brendon McCullum, Jacob Oram, James Franklin, Scott Styris and Ross Taylor, who all featured in an 81-run semifinal defeat to Sri Lanka in Jamaica. And Vettori expects another tough semifinal as Sri Lanka will be playing in front of its home crowd. Mahela Jayawardene scored 115 and Upul Tharanga scored 73 in the semifinal in the 2007 edition and both batsmen are in prolific form in this tournament, too. Tharanga has scored two centuries while Jayawardene smashed the fastest World Cup century for Sri Lanka when he made 100 off 80 balls against Canada in the first group match. New Zealand beat South Africa in the quarterfinals but it also had heavy losses to Sri Lanka and Australia in the group stage. "Whenever we've won well we've backed it up with a poor performance," Vettori said. "We've had our up performance (against South Africa) so we've got to make sure we we've got another one in the bag because we know how strong Sri Lanka can be in their home conditions." Sri Lanka used all its three spinners in the quarterfinal against England and, with the same wicket to be used, Vettori said he was tempted but not entirely sure about using another spinner. New Zealand has flown in fast bowler Andy McKay in place of injured pacemen Kyle Mills and also has an option of playing seamer Daryl Tuffey. Sri Lankans "grew up playing spin," Vettori said. "So for us we'll have a good long hard look at McKay and Tuffey and see if they're a good option to come in instead of the third spinner." Vettori will be stepping down from the ODI captaincy after the World Cup and said he was lucky to lead the side for four years. "I'll be 32 so I think it's time for someone new to come in," he said. "After four years, some fresh ideas and a different voice. "I wanted to give as much as I could in that time, and then whoever the next man is, stick around and support them as much as I can." Source: http://www.sport24.co.za/Cricket/CricketWorldCup2011/Vettori-stunned-by-used-wicket-20110328

[vvvslaxman]

Wright was part of Indian team management when India thrashed Srilanka in 2003 world cup. He definitely must be using the all the ideas discussed at that time. NZ is never going to change any total against SL. That is a fact. So they better play conservatively put up something in the range of 220 and field like tigers. Once if they manage to get through the top 4 SL will fold meekly. Very very very tall order. But they have to dream somewhere.

[Sir john]

vettori :cheer:

[rajmarie]

What a cheap move by SLC. Hope it backfires.

[youngindia]

SL also has issues in the middle order. samaraweera and chamara are solid.but they lack explosiveness. they will rely on matthews. ryder and taylor will be the key. if SL gets past these two, then its mostly an easy win

[Prakat]

very odd. Hope it's a good match and not a repeat of the QF.

[cowboysfan]

kiwis should pick 3 spinners and hope they win the toss.

[Sachin=GOD]

What a cheap move by SLC. Hope it backfires.

This. Its one thing to prepare wickets that suit your players and quite another to do such a thing.

[NareshK]

One thing I hate about New Zealand batting is they seem to be in T20 mode all the time. Brendon McCullum, Ryder, Ross Taylor all seem to be playing way too many shots without thinking about the conditions or the situation. It surprising because John Wright always favored proper technique over the slam bang variety and yet he seems to have no affect on the approach of the Kiwi batsmen. They seem to have done reasonably well in a couple of matches but they need to be patient against SL spinners because runs are not going to be easy to come by. Anything below 260 will be easy for Sri Lankans to chase unless they lose the top four cheaply and New Zealand can forget about chasing against SL spinners.

[singhprakash72]

I think it is same situation with SL & Ind ...here SL desperately wants to win the WC and is willing to go to any extent. But NZ is a dark horse...it will be either a one sided like Eng Match SL winning easily or NZ may win a close match ???....they should remember what NZ did to Pak in group match ..just little opening and they can prove LETHAL !!

[Cricketics]

It would be nice to see Nathan McCullum picking up Dilshan in first over. and than later tharanga, and exposing jaywardene and Sanga in first 10 overs to

[Switchblade]

Hope that Brendon also comes to the party but they should have played on a new pitch

[akshayxyz]

If this "used pitch" news is true, shame on SLC and they deserve to lose.

[lonestarranger]

It's a well-known fact that SL are minnow-bashers. And though I hate to admit it, Kiwis are considered minnows here :(.

[rajmarie]

It's a well-known fact that SL are minnow-bashers. And though I hate to admit it' date=' Kiwis are considered minnows here :(.[/quote'] They just sent SA on their home. Plus they also beat the hell out of Pak. How are they considered minnows?

[vvvslaxman]

Your strengths against one teams is not necessarily going to be your strength against another team. Same applies to weakness. Based on that theory NZ will struggle against SL. There is no question about that.

[ganeshran]

No way NZ is going to win this. Lankans will crawl all over them

[punjabi_khota]

It will be a bigger upset than the QF, since SA are prone to choking and SL are tigers at home. It will be crazy if NZ win this.

[zen]

I am someone who advocates fair playing conditions in marque tourneys like the WC, esp. for KO games .... If the reports are true, then I hope NZ can turn the tables (unlikely though)

[Karan114]

If this "used pitch" news is true' date=' shame on SLC and they deserve to lose.[/quote'] Agreed. Just pathetic from SLC. Sadly it won't happen...SL are not going to lose a knock out game to NZ, and that too at home.