Vettori unhappy with wicket
Source: Agencies |
March 29, 2011, Tuesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
NEW Zealand skipper Daniel Vettori was shocked when he discovered yesterday 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 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 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 in subcontinent last year.
For the Lankans, Muttiah Muralitharan is an injury doubt.
Muralitharan, 38, the leading wicket-taker in both test and one-day internationals, will retire from international cricket after the tournament. He is suffering from a bruised knee and a quadriceps injury and left the field early during Saturday's match.
"This is the crunch game and, if he can play tomorrow, that will be great for us. But if that doesn't work out for us we have got enough cover to make sure that we are still a solid winning side," captain Kumar Sangakkara said.
"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 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 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 in subcontinent last year.
For the Lankans, Muttiah Muralitharan is an injury doubt.
Muralitharan, 38, the leading wicket-taker in both test and one-day internationals, will retire from international cricket after the tournament. He is suffering from a bruised knee and a quadriceps injury and left the field early during Saturday's match.
"This is the crunch game and, if he can play tomorrow, that will be great for us. But if that doesn't work out for us we have got enough cover to make sure that we are still a solid winning side," captain Kumar Sangakkara said.
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