Daijiworld Media Network
Dhaka, Mar 24 : New Zealand, flying under the radar as usual, are a dangerous T20 team. They are in a upbeat mood, having edged out both rain and England to gain their first points on the board. Their bowlers battled back after receiving a pasting at the hands of Moeen Ali and Lumb. Much will depend on the big hitting prowess of Baz and Corey Anderson. Hello and welcome to the first of the double header today.
The dreaded C-word has already been thrown at the South African team. The men from the rainbow nation, having messed up all facets against Sri Lanka, will look to strike back to put their T20 Championship campaign back on track. However, they is still a cloud of doubt over the fitness of
regular captain, Faf du Plessis.
Faf du Plessis is fit. He is walking out for the toss.
New Zealand have won the toss and have opted to field
Faf du Plessis: 'There is nothing like a fitness test before a game. I am 100% fit. I was going to have a bat anyway. I am happy. I am coming in for Behardien. I was surprised by the way the wicket played the other day. We have some good plans today. I will play at Number 3. AB is destructive, he has that freedom and that is when he is the most dangerous. It is a must win game for me and that is why I have pushed myself.'
Brendon McCcullum: 'We are hoping to build the momentum. It is important to get into the groove and carry on the momentum. We want to bowl first. It looks a pretty good wicket. We played alright in the last game. That funky fields was Nathan's idea. He has to do a big job. These are early days in the tournament, I will have to make a significant contribution.'
Southee: 'It was a good win. We will take it. You win some, you lose some, when it comes to the rain. We heard the thunder and lightning. Luckily, we had some experienced players in the middle. South Africa are a great side. I am looking forward to the challenge. It is a typical sub-continental wicket. Looks quicker than the other wickets though'.
Pitch report: 'There is live grass on this pitch. The ball will skid on with pace and bounce. The spinners have something it in as well, a bit of extra bounce will be on offer', says Danny Morrison. 'The batsmen will also enjoy the ball coming onto the bat. Anying that is picked up, will reach the fence with the strong wind blowing. It looks like a good batting deck', reckons Shaun Pollock
Toss and team updates to follow shortly. Do stay with us, peeps.
Teams:
New Zealand (Playing XI): Martin Guptill, Kane Williamson, Brendon McCullum(c), Ross Taylor, Colin Munro, Corey Anderson, Luke Ronchi(w), Nathan McCullum, Tim Southee, Kyle Mills, Mitchell McClenaghan
South Africa (Playing XI): Quinton de Kock(w), Hashim Amla, Faf du Plessis(c), AB de Villiers, Jean-Paul Duminy, David Miller, Albie Morkel, Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel, Imran Tahir, Lonwabo Tsotsobe
Match Preview :
Two teams will go into the match with different perspectives. South Africa need to get back on their winning ways, else be ready for yet another early exit in a World Cup. On the other hand, New Zealand will consider themselves extremely lucky to have earned full points against England after rain halted play, just after the 5-over mark. While the chase was on the right track, a target of 173 is never easy to overall, particularly on a pitch that was assisting seam movement. It is not yet crunch situation, but both teams will realise the significance of two points on offer.
South Africa
Acting skipper AB de Villiers was clear about the two reasons for South Africa's loss against Sri Lanka, by a slender margin of 5 runs - Shoddy fielding as well as too many extras. In a short tournament such as the T20 Cup, teams needs to fightback from early setbacks if they are to progress to the knock-out phase.
South Africa will ponder over their opening combination. While the left-right combination makes the bowler's task difficult, Hashim Amla has not been in the best of touches in the recent past. The middle order looks settled with JP Duminy and AB de Villiers lending plenty of quality and class. Skipper Faf du Plessis, who missed the first match with a hamstring injury is expected to be back and will replace Farhaan Behardien.
Dale Steyn, returning from a niggle was in for a rude shock as young Kusal Perera tonked him all over the park, but his quality and experience will be ideal for South Africa in crunch situations. Lonwabo Tsotsobe and Morne Morkel continue to soldier away from the other end. Imran Tahir was termed as the ''ace in the pack' by du Plessis before the start of the tournament, and his form against Sri Lanka was encouraging.
Key for Success
AB de Villiers and Dale Steyn - Definitely the inspirational figures in this line-up, on their day, the world's best batsman as well as his bowling counterpart can take South Africa home and dry on their own.
New Zealand
Some powerful biffing from Brendon McCullum just before the rain came down made sure that the Kiwis walked away from the match against England with full points. The rain-shortened match also meant that New Zealand's batting was not tested to the limits, something that might worry the team management ahead of tougher contests.
Kane Williamson is calmness personified at the top of the order and he provides the balance to a batting unit that consists of powerful strikers of the ball. While Ross Taylor and Brendon McCullum have proved to be match-winners on their own, the emergence of Corey Anderson and Colin Munro make the team one of the favourites to go all the way in the tournament.
Tim Southee struggled a bit in the first match against England, but he continues to remain New Zealand's best hope in the pace department. Anderson put up a super show against England, chipping in with both the ball as well as in the field. The conditions at Chittagong have been favourable to the seamers, although the dew factor mitigates any such advantages.
Key for Success
The all-round capabilities of this New Zealand squad keeps them in good stead. As many as three batsmen can do a handy job with the ball, giving the skipper more options.
Upcoming Milestones
Brendon McCullum needs 25 more runs to become the only batsman to complete 2000 T20I career runs.
Ross Taylor needs to score 20 more runs to complete 1000 career T20I runs.
Nathan McCullum needs just one more wicket to get to 50 T20I career wickets
Dale Steyn needs two more wickets to get to 50 T20I career wickets.
Quotes
They're trying to make a judgement call as to how they see it. It just so happened we got another over in the game - Kyle Mills defends the umpires' call to extend the game despite lightning and thunder.
I'm confident that we have the armoury to give ourselves the best chance. They're a really good side, especially in the shorter formats, so we're going to have to bring our A-game - JP Duminy is under no illusions.