McCullum hopes Vettori gets fit for Pakistan Test

New Zealand's captain Brendon McCullum hoped Daniel Vettori regains full fitness to lead the team in the first Test against Pakistan starting later this month.

McCullum hope Daniel gets fit to lead the team in the Tests, McCullum said of the regular captain who missed team's two Twenty20 matches which finished in Pakistan's 2-0 win here on Friday.

Vettori felt concussion after being hit on the grille of his helmet during the third one-day match at Abu Dhabi last week. He vomitted before CT scans revealed no injury, but doctors advised him two-weeks rest.

That put Vettori in doubt for the first Test against Pakistan starting at Dunedin from November 25.

McCullum reckoned both teams were evenly balanced.

McCullum think that Pakistani spinners Danish Kaneria and Saeed Ajmal are danger bowling hand.

Pakistan has been a dangerous side for a number of years and we have to be at our best to beat them. Pakistan, at times, can do amazing things in batting, bowling and fielding.

New Zealand had to tour Pakistan for three one-day, two Twenty20 and three Test matches but the limited over series was shifted to United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Tests to New Zealand over security fears in Pakistan.

McCullum said The conditions here in the UAE suited Pakistan but back home they will be in our advantage. The real thing is how you play in Tests, which is very different to limited over matches.

New Zealand will also hope opener Jesse Ryder, paceman Daryl Tuffey and all-rounder Grant Elliott, who all missed the UAE tour due to injuries -- get fit for the Tests.

McCullum said New Zealand players have learnt a lot during the UAE tour. 

Pakistan won the toss elect to bat first against New Zealand

1st ODi in UAE between Pakistan and New Zealand.Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi the straw-colored grass is well rolled into the turf and it should be good for batting. There are some cracks but they haven't opened up and the pitch looks very hard."

Pakistan won the toss and Younis Khan (C) Packistan elect to bat first against New Zealand 1st ODI.

Starting is very Slow and loose two wickets (Salman Butt and Younis Khan (C)) no score 2.1 over.

Bond Clash those wickets 1st two overs. New Zealand some Player injured but Daniel Vettori (c) said all team player will be all efford against Pakistan.

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Shane Bond confidence over pipping Pakistan in Abu Dhabi

New Zealand’s pace bowler Shane Bond is confident of his team’s good performance against Pakistan in the first of the three matches in Abu Dhabi.

New Zealand’s five-wicket victory over Pakistan in the Champions Trophy in Johannesburg was reason to believe a series win was within their grasp, although Bond is wary that the environment would suit Pakistan far better.

“We’ll redraw the stuff we had last time on them. It worked pretty well in terms of the bowlers; we knew what we had to do. Obviously this time we''ll have to adapt to the surface which will be flat and slow like Pakistan conditions,” Bond said.

 Bond will be a key figure at the top of the bowling order as he continues his return to the international fold, the New Zealand Herald reports.

 He returned in September’s one-day series in Sri Lanka, followed by the Champions Trophy, where he showed glimpses of his class.

A return to the test stage looms in the three-test home series against Pakistan starting on November 24 in Dunedin.

“It’ll be quite nice to get a full run of cricket in this series and then get back and get into some four-day cricket as well. I’m expecting the more I play the better I’ll get. I haven’t hit top form but it’s not far away,” he said.

“Everyone goes on about the speed, I’m happy with the pace I’m bowling. The more I bowl the more consistent I’ll get. I haven’t put in a consistent performance yet. I’ve been good in the odd spell then I’ve come back and haven’t been as sharp as I’m supposed to be,” he said.

Pakistan win the toss 2nd Semi Final

Toss Pakistan chose to bat v New Zealand

Pakistan welcomed back Imran Nazir and Mohammad Aamer, and Younis Khan won the toss and asked Nazir to pad up right away to make first use of a pitch that both captains thought good for batting. Nazir took Misbah-ul-Haq's place, and Aamer came in for Mohammad Asif.

Pakistan's formula in big matches has always been to bat first and get runs on the board, which they didn't deviate from, and they also have the bowling to defend slightly below-par totals too.

New Zealand received good news, too, in that Grant Elliott cleared the last-minute fitness test, and kept his place. In their must-win match against England, Elliot had taken four wickets before sustaining a hand injury.

This was the seventh time these teams were meeting in a tournament semi-final: Pakistan were 5 and 1 in the previous encounters.

Vettori determined to 'lead New Zealand in a final'

Having already lost three key players to injury, New Zealand could be without Grant Elliott, Man of the Match against England, for the semi-final against Pakistan. Daniel Vettori, the captain, was confident though that New Zealand could overcome their semi-final jinx [only one final after eight appearances in the last four of global 50-over events] against Pakistan at the Wanderers on Saturday.

"The momentum is with us, I think," he said. "It's a much more preferable to go into the semi-finals, knowing that we've won two big games and qualified top, whereas in the past we have scraped through. We go into the game with confidence. Their [Pakistan's] spin bowling over the last year is very impressive. [Saeed] Ajmal and [Shahid] Afridi combine well, and coupled with a very good seam attack, and no obvious weakness in their batting, we know they can be a very good side. But they can be a little inconsistent like us, I suppose, and I'm hoping we can catch them on an off day."

Having already lost Jesse Ryder, Jacob Oram and Daryl Tuffey to injury, New Zealand are keeping their fingers crossed over Elliott. "Grant took part in training this morning and had an injection," Vettori said. "It works when he bats but not when he bowls. We'll leave it till the last possible minute before making a decision. It's frustrating but we're used to it. We've been through it before with New Zealand, even in the Twenty20 World Cup. It brought the group a little tighter and there was the realisation that the senior players have to step up more."

Pakistan captain prays for "two more good days"

Pakistan captain Younus Khan is looking for "two more good days" in the Champions Trophy as his team clash with New Zealand in the semi-final here on Saturday.

Pakistan have never reached the final of this competition, but Younus said Friday the team were capable of breaking the jinx if they played to their potential in the day-night match.

"After winning the Twenty20 World Cup in England this year, we are now in the semi-finals here. We need two more good days," Younus told reporters on the eve of the match.

"If that happens, it will be very nice for me and fantastic for Pakistan. We need a couple of big titles."

Younus said he did not believe the advantage was with New Zealand, who had beaten Sri Lanka and England in league matches at the Wanderers here.

"I don't think any team has an edge over the other, especially in the semi-final or final. There's nothing like that these days," he said.

"If we play our natural game tomorrow and stick to our plans, I think we will be through. It'll be fantastic if we reach the final."

The Pakistan skipper said his team needed to put in a disciplined performance against New Zealand who were in good form.

"They are a good side. They are fantastic, especially their fielding. Whenever they are under pressure they play like a team," said Younus.

"They have a couple of good all-rounders. Their captain is always fantastic with the ball and now he is also batting well. I think it will be a good game."

New Zealand were sweating over the fitness of all-rounder Grant Elliott, who is suffering from a thumb injury. The seamer was named man of the match for taking four wickets in his team's victory over England.

"He took part in training this morning, but we'll leave it till the last possible minute before making a decision," said New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori.

New Zealand, who have already lost Jesse Ryder, Daryl Tuffey and Jacob Oram to injuries, summoned all-rounder Scott Styris as cover for Elliott.

Vettori said his team were not short of confidence going into the big match against Pakistan.

"Momentum is with us, I think. It's a much more preferable way to go into the semi-final knowing we've won two big games. We go into the match with confidence," said Vettori.

"The Wanderers has been good for us. We always felt confident of making the semi-finals and backed our chances. This is a real test for us now.

"Personally, it will be one of the most satisfying things I could achieve in my career if I lead New Zealand in the final and you never know what can happen after that."

New Zealand have often fallen in the semi-finals of big tournaments, like the 2006 Champions Trophy in India and the 2007 World Cup in the Caribbean.

"We want to go past that. We want to change the script a little bit," said Vettori, a day after New Zealand won the International Cricket Council (ICC) Spirit of Cricket award.

"That will be the ultimate if we can couple that with a major tournament. If we win a major tournament, it'll be a great achievement for us.

"We know they (Pakistan) are a very good side and hope we can catch them on an off-day."

Bowlers did a good job to restrict Pak: Ponting

Australian captain Ricky Ponting said his bowlers did a fantastic job in restricting Pakistan at a low score in a crucial ICC Champions Trophy clash.
Australia pulled off a last-ball win against Pakistan to reach the semifinals of the Champions Trophy and Ponting said they would have to do some soul-searching before they take on England in the second semifinal on Friday.
"It was quite emotional and chilling to sit there in the dressing room and it really got too close. But we have crossed the line and we will meet England in the semifinals in a couple of days time," Ponting said.
"We had a very good series against England over there but its different conditions here and I think they are playing really good cricket. We have to go back to the drawing board and see what went wrong in the last half an hour and make sure we play well in the next match on Friday," he added.
Ponting praised Pakistan bowlers and also said his team was finding it difficult to face them.
"It was pretty tough to score runs. There was inconsistent bounce and pace for new ballers and it was difficult getting them away," he said.
"But we knew it will be over and spinner will come into play and I think we are very lucky to restrict them to that total because there bowlers really bowled very well and did a good job in the last half an hour," he added. 

Younus Said Losing to Australia can help us

Pakistan captain Younus Khan was unfazed by his side?s loss to Australia in their final Champions Trophy round-robin match Wednesday, which he felt was probably a good thing as they head into the knockout stage.

Australia?s two-wicket win off the last ball at SuperSport Park placed them at the top of Group A and the title holders will face England in Centurion Friday while Pakistan play Group B winners New Zealand at the Wanderers on Saturday.

But while the game was turned on its head in the last 10 overs with Pakistan?s bowlers ripping through the Australian middle order, Pakistan should have been thumped.

Showing little intent of putting up a big total when batting first, having already qualified for the play-offs, they reached a modest 205-6 after losing the toss, and only the late collapse of the Australian middle-order brought them back into the game.

But Younus said he wasn?t worried about their first loss of the competition, as long as it didn?t come in a more crucial encounter.

"It?s nothing because sometimes you win all the games in the first stage and then suddenly you lose a big game," Younus said.

"So it?s good for us, not like some other teams, like South Africa and Sri Lanka in the last World T20, who won all their games and then lost the big games.

"I think sometimes it?s good for your team. This game was very close and maybe everybody thought Australia were going to win, so it was a shock for us and a shock for everyone."

Younus said he had been confident that his bowlers could defend the total they put up, giving credit in particular to Shahid Afridi, Saeed Ajmal, Rana Naved-ul-Hasan and Mohammad Asif, back in action after a one-year ban.

Australia captain Ricky Ponting, however, had been almost certain of coasting to victory when he was removed by Shoaib Malik for 32. At that stage Australia needed only 66 runs from 112 balls with seven wickets in hand.

Michael Hussey anchored the innings with 64 runs from 87 balls but after he was removed in the 41st over, Australia crumbled and eventually needed 19 from 25 balls with only two wickets in hand.

And while the tail hung on for the narrowest of victories, Ponting admitted he never expected Pakistan to fight back so well.

"I didn?t think it would go this close when we had 20 overs left," he admitted.

New Zealand reach Champions Trophy semi-finals

New Zealand shrugged off an injury crisis to defeat England by four wickets at the Wanderers on Tuesday and reach the Champions Trophy semi-finals.

The victory completed a stirring Group B comeback by the Black Caps, who also overcame Sri Lanka after tamely surrendering to hosts South Africa in their opening match.

Bowlers Grant Elliott and Shane Bond inflicted most damage after the Kiwis won the toss and an England team that had amassed 323 against South Africa just 48 hours earlier were bundled out for 146 in 43.1 overs.

New Zealand openers Brendon McCullum and Martin Guptill made a whirlwind start in pursuit of the total, garnering 66 from 60 balls, and the 147-run target was reached for the loss of six wickets after 27.1 overs.

Paul Collingwood, Ravi Bopara and tail-enders Graeme Swann and Ryan Sidebottom were the only England batsmen to reach double figures on an overcast afternoon in the South African financial capital.

If New Zealand were cursing their luck at losing bowlers Jacob Oram and Daryl Tuffey and batsman Jesse Ryder through injury since the two-week tournament began, they were not showing it.

England skipper Andrew Strauss was first to depart, getting on an outside edge off Kyle Mills to wicketkeeper McCullum having faced just two balls and failed to score.

Joe Denly was next to experience the venom of the Black Caps attack, scoring just five before reacting too slow and Shane Bond sent the off stump flying to his relief after two previous games yielded a solitary wicket.

Owais Shah, 98-run hero of the weekend triumph over hosts South Africa, survived a mere 10 balls and claimed three runs before he tried to flick Bond over square leg and sent a thick edge to McCullum.

At 27-3 stunned England got a reprieve when New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori reversed a run-out decision against Collingwood, who went on to top score with 40 before an excellent Ross Taylor catch ended his innings.

Collingwood was one of four England batsman claimed by South Africa-born right-arm medium pacer Grant Elliott, whose 4-31 off eight overs was the pick of the New Zealand bowlers and won him the man of the match award.

England wickets fell regularly and cheaply with the expection of 30-run Ravi Bopara until tail-ender Ryan Sidebottom struck three boundaries in a defiant 20 before Taylor caught him off Vettori to conclude the innings.

New Zealand reached 84 in 12.3 overs before England made a breakthrough as McCullum hopelessly mistimed a Stuart Broad delivery and Bopara made the catch at cover.

Another six overs passed before England could celebrate again as the 53-run stand of Guptill finished when he got a thick edge to a clever James Anderson delivery and Graeme Swann took the catch at first slip.

Swann struck again three balls later, diving at second slip to remove Taylor, who bungled his reaction to a Broad delivery and got a thick edge, but it was hardly a crisis for the Kiwis, who needed 32 runs from 30 overs to win. dl/cw

Vettori eyes semis spot for resurgent Kiwis

New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori has a Champions Trophy semi-finals place in his sights after victory over Sri Lanka in a Wanderers run-feast.
Put in to bat, the Black Caps overcame a mid-innings crash to post 315-7 off 50 overs, the second highest total of the tournament after Sri Lanka scored four runs more in defeating South Africa on the opening day.
A defiant 77 from Mahela Jayawardene gave Sri Lanka hope of an unlikely win Sunday, but they fell 38 runs short after being all out for 277 with 20 balls left of a Group B match staged in stifling heat.
"Our fate is in our hands and we know the Wanderers wicket where the game against England will be played," said Vettori ahead of the Tuesday day-night clash that will determine the final mini-league standings.
A win for the Kiwis and they are guaranteed a place in the semi-finals of the second most important one-day national team competition after the quadrennial World Cup.
Depressed after a five-wicket loss to South Africa in their opening match at SuperSport Park in Centurion continued a run of poor batting performances, Vettori hopes his team have turned the corner.
"We have been inconsistent with the bat, especially in Sri Lanka recently, and without good partnerships a team cannnot hope to win a tournament like the Champions Trophy."
Vettori could also do with a change of luck as Jesse Ryder, 74-run hero of the win over Sri Lanka, has joined bowler Jacob Oram in quitting the tournament through injury.
Ryder, who scored 10 fours and one six with the aid of a runner in his 58-ball stand at the crease, struggled with a hamstring injury and was ruled out.
He also had to attend a disciplinary hearing for breaking a chair with his bat as he returned to the pavilion after being caught by Sri Lanka skipper Kumar Sangakkara off the bowling of Nuwan Kulasekara.
Sangakkara was furious with the fielding of his team who were suffering their second consecutive loss after surprising South Africa in the opening match of the two-week tournament.
"The standard of our fielding has to improve if we are going to challenge for titles like the Champions Trophy. For many months now we have been really shoddy in this area.
"We were in the hunt for a long time against New Zealand but, unfortunately, the one big innings that could have swung the match our way never came and now we are relying on England defeating New Zealand to survive.
"While I take heart from some great individual performances during our three matches, there is no doubt that as a team we let ourselves down," admitted Sangakkara.
Should surprise packets England complete a clean sweep by defeating New Zealand, Sri Lanka will squeeze through on net run rate as South Africa have been eliminated.

New Zealand to host Pakistan 'home' series

New Zealand will host six Tests in a summer for the first time after confirming their series against Pakistan, Bangladesh and Australia for 2009-10. The season features a three-Test series against Pakistan, who will be the 'home' team after relocating the games to New Zealand due to security concerns in Pakistan, while the heavy schedule has forced Australia's tour to be cut to two Tests instead of three.

The first Test against Pakistan is in Dunedin from November 24, before the series moves on to Wellington and Napier in December. After a break over Christmas and January, the New Zealanders host Bangladesh for a Twenty20, three ODIs and a one-off Test in Hamilton during February.

Australia's tour features two Twenty20s in late February before a five-match ODI series for the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy and two Tests - rather than the originally scheduled three - in Wellington and Hamilton starting on March 19 and 27 respectively. It will be the first time in 20 years that New Zealand have hosted Australia for a series of fewer than three Tests and it confirms that Australia and New Zealand players will not be available for IPL till March 31.

"Playing Test cricket in New Zealand after the cessation of daylight saving and deep into the second week of April is not realistic," Justin Vaughan, the chief executive of New Zealand Cricket, said. "Therefore our only option has been to limit the series to two Tests.

"This is shaping up as a very exciting season for cricket fans - and a really busy one for the Black Caps. New Zealand has never before hosted more than five Tests in a season, so the six Test matches being played this summer is a tremendous programme."

The summer will feature two one-day internationals against Australia at Auckland's Eden Park, which will at the time remain under redevelopment with a reduced capacity. Only 8000 seats will be available for each of those games, instead of the usual level of up to 25,000, and fans can pre-register for tickets at the New Zealand Cricket website.

Pakistan in New Zealand
November 18-20 - Warm-up match
November 24-28 - 1st Test at University Oval, Dunedin
December 3-7 - 2nd Test at Basin Reserve, Wellington
December 11-15 - 3rd Test at McLean Park, Napier

Bangladesh in New Zealand
February 3 - Twenty20 international at Seddon Park, Hamilton
February 5 - 1st ODI at McLean Park, Napier
February 8 - 2nd ODI at University Oval, Dunedin
February 9 - 3rd ODI at AMI Stadium, Christchurch
February 15-19 - Only Test at Seddon Park, Hamilton

Australia in New Zealand
February 26 - Twenty20 international at Westpac Stadium, Wellington
February 28 - Twenty20 international at AMI Stadium, Christchurch
March 3 - 1st ODI at McLean Park, Napier
March 6 - 2nd ODI at Eden Park, Auckland
March 9 - 3rd ODI at Seddon Park, Hamilton
March 11 - 4th ODI at Eden Park, Auckland
March 13 - 5th ODI at Westpac Stadium, Wellington
March 19-23 - 1st Test at Basin Reserve, Wellington
March 27-31 - 2nd Test at Seddon Park, Hamilton

Tri-series rivals set sights on Champions Trophy

India, Sri Lanka and New Zealand hope to put in impressive performances in a tri-series starting here on Tuesday to boost confidence ahead of the Champions Trophy.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni's India side start as favourites despite missing injured opener Virender Sehwag and paceman Zaheer Khan, having beaten both New Zealand and Sri Lanka in their own backyards in their last one-day series.

India are seeking a hat-trick of wins in Sri Lanka after clinching a pair of bilateral five-match series in August 2008 and in February this year.

Each team will play two league matches before the top two qualify for the final on September 14. The hosts clash with New Zealand in Tuesday's opening game.

Sri Lanka's record-breaking Muttiah Muralitharan believes the series will help the teams prepare for the eight-nation Champions Trophy which opens in South Africa on September 22.

"The tri-series will be good preparation for the upcoming Champions Trophy," said the off-spinner who is the world's leading wicket-taker in Tests (783) and one-day internationals (511).

"New Zealand have shown in the past few days how much more dangerous they are in the shorter version, winning both Twenty20 matches, and India have happy memories of Sri Lanka after two series wins here in the last 13 months.

"It will be a great test for the Sri Lankan team."

Daniel Vettori's New Zealanders salvaged some of their reputation when they stunned the hosts in two Twenty20 internationals last week after being whitewashed in the preceding two-Test series.

"The guys will take a lot of confidence from that," Vettori said after his team's Twenty20 success.

"They can take that into the one-dayers. For us, to make the final will be a great stepping stone for the Champions Trophy."

Focus will be on Indian batsman Rahul Dravid and New Zealand paceman Shane Bond, returning to one-day sides after playing their last match in 2007.

Bond, 34, became eligible to play after severing links with the unauthorised Indian Cricket League, while Dravid, 36, was recalled ahead of India's busy international schedule for his wealth of experience.

Vettori was impressed with Bond's form in the Twenty20 matches in Colombo where the fast bowler bagged three crucial wickets.

"It's great for him to start the way he has and I think he'll get better and better," said Vettori.

"He looks confident and when Shane is confident, he's really a good bowler. I think we'll see more of that as the one-day series goes on."

Dravid got the selectors' nod after a couple of younger batsmen failed to cope with short-pitched deliveries in the World Twenty20 in England in June.

He is only the second Indian after Sachin Tendulkar in the current team to have completed 10,000 one-day runs.

India's South African coach Gary Kirsten welcomed Dravid's return.

"It's good to have him back," Kirsten said recently. "He is a very experienced player and adds massive value to the team. He is a natural performer."

India will play New Zealand on Friday and take on Sri Lanka on Saturday in back-to-back matches.

Buoyant New Zealand seek encore

The last statement Daniel Vettori made after New Zealand snapped their winless streak on tour with a tense victory on Wednesday was that there was still a game to go to clinch the short series. Vettori knows how much confidence his side can take from anything they win on tour.