Jofra Archer celebrates as Martin Guptill is caught behind © Getty Images
New Zealand coach Gary Stead hopes “lady luck” starts to shine on them in the World Cup semi-final after their campaign stalled at the end of the group stage with three consecutive heavy defeats.
Barring a victory by an astonishing margin for Pakistan against Bangladesh at Lord’s (more than 300 runs) New Zealand will line-up in a semi-final against the top-placed side, either Australia or India, at Old Trafford on Tuesday.
They have been left thankful for the way their fixtures played out in the group stage with comfortable early victories against Sri Lanka and Afghanistan, alongside a nervy chase against Bangladesh, giving them breathing space plus the benefit of a point from a washed out match against India which would have been one of their tougher matches.
The major issue has been the lack of runs from the top order in support of Kane Williamson with Martin Guptill (166 runs) enduring a poor tournament and neither Colin Munro (125 runs) or Henry Nicholls (scores of 8 and 0) finding success alongside him. Ross Taylor has also slightly underwhelmed with an average of 37.28, but Stead believes that the batsmen haven’t always had the rub of the green – especially in the match against England where Williamson was run out backing up.
“We are working very hard in the nets, but at the end of the day sometimes you need a bit of lady luck as well and that hasn’t always been,” he said. “If you take [the England match], Henry Nicholls had an lbw that he possibly should have reviewed, Martin Guptill was caught down the leg side off a glove and your next two batsmen are run out – one off the fingers of the bowler – little things like that can turn a game, especially when it’s your top order.
“If we get a little bit of luck going our way and they continue to be really positive in their mindset then it doesn’t really matter what has happened in the past. Martin Guptill can go out there and we know he’s capable of getting a double hundred – he could do that in the semi-final and all of a sudden we won’t be talking about form.”
New Zealand will take a couple of days away from training to refresh having achieved their first aim of the tournament, albeit with some significant issues to address.
“For our guys it’s probably more a mental break than anything,” Stead said. “We are thinking, playing, training cricket just about every day of the week so having some pre-planned breaks – and this is one we were always hopeful for – will be a good thing. But I know the guys will still be thinking about what’s ahead. We are under no illusions, it’s going to be a tough, tough game but if we can fire some shots then we are a real chance.
“Spirits aren’t too bad, our first goal was to make the semi-finals and pretty sure we will be there. There’s obviously some individuals who aren’t getting the runs or wickets they want to and that’s just about getting around them and knowing why they are here, the role they are doing, but cricket’s also a harsh game and we know you aren’t going to be perfect every day.”
© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
Source: ESPN Crickinfo