ST JOHN’S (Antigua), April 1: Seeking to clinch a World Cup semi-final berth, New Zealand are wary of tripping against the two outsiders they will face in their next two Super Eight matches.
New Zealand’s runaway seven-wicket victory over host West Indies have them well-placed in the race for a semi-final spot. But skipper Stephen Fleming has warned that complacency against Bangladesh and Ireland, the two unfancied teams in the Super Eight, could prove expensive.
“These are a couple of tricky encounters coming up,” Fleming said. “Bangladesh tripped us up in a warmup match and Ireland used the conditions well to beat Pakistan.”
New Zealand will play against Bangladesh at Antigua’s Sir Vivian Richards Stadium tomorrow and then Ireland a week later in Guyana. These might be considered relatively easy outings, but Fleming is conscious of Bangladesh’s ability to pull off a surprise win. After beating New Zealand in the warmup game ahead of the World Cup, Bangladesh then beat India in the preliminary group, a result that knocked the 2003 finalist out in the first round and secured Bangladesh their biggest World Cup moment.
World champion Australia outplayed Bangladesh by 10 wickets in a rain-marred match yesterday, leaving the subcontinental nation and Ireland as the only ones without any point in the Super Eight competition.
Having carried two points from the preliminary round win over England, Stephen Fleming’s team now have four points and are looking to boost it to eight from fixtures against Bangladesh and Ireland. Eight points should be enough to take a team into the semi-finals, but Fleming wants to be doubly sure by having a minimum of 10. New Zealand have never featured in the World Cup’s title round. But they have qualified for the semi-final four times in the previous eight tournaments ~ the last one being 1999. New Zealand are seeking to place one foot inside the semi-finals before they move into tougher games against other semi-final contenders ~ Sri Lanka, South Africa and Australia.
