Even though low on confidence after a losing spree in the run-up to the World Cup, New Zealand are unlikely to face any real threat from minnows Kenya when the two teams clash in their opening Group ‘A’ league match here tomorrow.

Under their newly-appointed coach John Wright, the Black Caps would be keen to regain confidence, having lost 14 of their last 17 One-day International matches, including 10 in the sub-continent that has exposed their inability to play on the turning wickets in this part of the world.

Since the Kiwis’ arrival here on February 10, they have been candid in admitting their weakness in coping with the sub-continent conditions, particularly against spin, which was evident in their collapse after a good start in a warm-up game against India that they lost by 117 runs.

On the eve of their opening match against Kenya, they seemed to be in a doubtful frame of mind, considering the remarks made by wicketkeeper-batsman Brendon McCullum yesterday that a confidence crisis is dogging the team after their meek surrender to Indian spin bowling.

And even though his teammate Martin Guptill expressed hope of the team bouncing back ahead of their first World Cup game, but there is little doubt that confidence in the Kiwi camp is at its lowest.

But all said and done, the New Zealanders, who have had mixed luck in practice games — winning against Ireland in the first game, only to be comprehensively beaten by the co-hosts India in the next — still start as favourites against the Kenyans tomorrow.

The tide is expected to turn in the Black Caps favour sooner than later with Wright, who was the coach of the Indian cricket team, having loads of experience in sub-continent conditions, working hard with team, besides bowling coach Alan Donald making significant contributions.

But the Kiwis have to be wary of the Kenyan side, which has caused a few upsets in the show-piece event in the past. The African nation shocked West Indies on their debut in the 1996 World Cup at Pune and then ran over Sri Lanka in 2003 on way to their lone semi-final appearance, thanks to the walk-over awarded after New Zealand refused to play in Nairobi, citing security concerns.

Since then, however, Kenyan cricket has been on a down slide, besieged by problems in domestic set-up. The present team, boosted by the return of veteran Steve Tikolo, won against Afghanistan and Ireland in Dubai, but lost to the Netherlands and West Indies in Colombo in both their warm-up ties.

Going by their strengths, Kenya’s realistic chance of registering a victory appears to be only against Canada in group stage but anything beyond that would be a bonus for them, considering defending champions Australia, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe being the other teams in the group.

Ahead of tomorrow’s game, the Kiwis can take heart from the fact that their attacking batsmen — McCullum, Jesse Ryder, Ross Taylor and Guptill, whose 130 helped the team win the warm-up tie against Ireland in Nagpur — are all in form. But they would certainly have to work on their bowling if they want to go beyond the quarterfinals.

Their pace attack led by Kyle Mills, Jacob Oram and Tim Southee is a suspect against strokemakers on the sub-continent pitches, bringing to fore the void caused by the retirement of speedster Shane Bond.

The spin department also lacks the teeth, although it will be spearheaded by captain Daniel Vettori, who opted out of the warm-up match against India.

Newcomer Luke Woodcok and Nathan McCullum, whose availability for tomorrow’s match depends on his fitness, following his discharge from hospital after being under observation for two days with high temperature, also do not add much variety.

Kenya would be banking on the experience of 39-year-old all-rounder Tikolo and medium-pacer Thomas Odoyo, both of whom are playing in their fifth World Cup.

An exciting middle-order bat, Tikolo, who had scored 96 against Sri Lanka in 1996 and 93 against Australia, can also contribute to the team’s success as an effective slow bowler. The side has several youngsters, including opener Seren Waters, who sparkled with an unbeaten 126 against the Netherlands in the warm-up match, which they lost despite piling up 263.

As far as bowling department is concerned, the team has come well prepared for the sub-continent conditions, packing it with four spinners. Besides Tikolo, newly appointed captain James Kamande and Shem Ngoche would be their main strike bowlers.

Teams:

New Zealand: Daniel Vettori (capt), Hamish Bennett, James Franklin, Martin Guptill, Jamie How, Brendon McCullum (wk), Nathan McCullum, Kyle Mills, Jacob Oram, Jesse Ryder, Tim Southee, Scott Styris, Ross Taylor, Kane Williamson and Luke Woodcock.

Kenya: Jimmy Kamande (capt), Seren Waters, Alex Obanda, David Obuya, Collins Obuya, Steve Tikolo, Tamnay Mishra, Rakep Patel, Maurice Ouma, Thomas Odoyo, Nehemiah Odhiambo, Elijah Otieno, Peter Ongondo, Shem Ngoche, James Ngoche. Umpires: Rod Tucker and Marais Erasmus; Aleem Dar (third), Roshan Mahanama (Match Referee).

Cricket

They said he couldn’t perform in international cricket. They said he was good only for IPL and domestic cricket. He proved them wrong tonight. Yusuf Pathan engineered an improbable win for India with a violent hundred, his first in ODIs, and perhaps sealed a World Cup berth for himself. It looked grim for India when they were tottering at 188 for 5 in the 34th over, after the fall of Rohit Sharma, but Pathan pulled off a heist. One game doesn’t guarantee a successful future of course but Pathan left his past behind with a potentially career-changing innings on a drizzly Bangalore night.  His century overshadowed a superbly-crafted 98 from James Franklin that had allowed New Zealand to reach a daunting total.

Pathan declared his intent with two brutal shots. The first came in the 37th over, when play resumed after a one-hour rain break that didn’t reduce any overs and left India needing 113 runs from 14. Yusuf launched a Daniel Vettori delivery into screaming fans beyond long-on and clubbed a length delivery from Kyle Mills over the roof at cow corner. A couple of quiet overs followed but Pathan roused himself in a violent 43rd over: he smashed Mills for three fours – a lofted hit overs cover and two flicks past short fine-leg – before crashing a length delivery for six over midwicket. And when he brought up his maiden hundred with a pulled six, off Andy McKay in the next over, the game was all but over. He found support in Saurabh Tiwary, who intelligently rotated the strike, and the pair gave India a 4-0 lead in the series.

It was an incredible effort considering India had lagged behind for a major part of the chase. McKay’s twin strikes to remove Gautam Gambhir and Virat Kohli in the 10th over and Nathan McCullum’s double-strike to dismiss Yuvraj Singh and Parthiv Patel, who hit his maiden fifty, had pushed India on the back foot. And when Tim Southee had Rohit Sharma hitting straight to mid-off, New Zealand would have been thinking about the win, but Yusuf crushed their hopes with a blinder.

As good as their batting was in the end overs, their death bowling nearly lost India the game. Franklin’s knock provided the perfect climax to New Zealand’s spirited approach; the openers attacked to take them to 91 for 2 in the 14th over and the middle-order adapted to the fall of wickets – rebuilding at a slower pace before Franklin’s final flourish.

Franklin looted 22 runs in the final over, bowled by Nehra, with some wickedly entertaining big hits: he smashed the second delivery to the straight boundary, the third over long-off, the fourth to midwicket, and the fifth to the wide long-off boundary. It was not, however, a knock of such fury and adrenalin from the start. He had built his innings with conventional shots, such as the one in 47th over, when he was batting with the tail and was under some pressure. He sashayed down the track to Yusuf Pathan, who had just picked up two wickets, and nonchalantly flicked him wide of the deep midwicket fielder. No manic rush or desperation, he simply carried on with his style, sweeping the spinners and flicking and square-driving the seamers to get to his fifty. Only in the final two overs did he explode. It seemed he had done enough to win the game for his team, especially after India’s top-order had collapsed, but Yusuf seized the day.

Cricket

An unassailable lead in hand, the rampaging Indian team will now push for a series whitewash when it takes on a grossly mismatched New Zealand in the inconsequential fourth one-dayer of the five-match rubber on Tuesday.

Stand-in skipper Gautam Gambhir has led from the front with back-to-back centuries to inflict one of the worst series defeats on the visitors in the two countries’ bilateral history which dates back to 1975-76.

The second string team’s exemplary performance in the absence of Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Suresh Raina and Harbhajan Singh has also given a boost to the side’s World Cup aspirations.

The young players such as Virat Kohli, Murali Vijay and Saurabh Tiwary have made an impact and would have impressed regular captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni just a couple of months ahead of the World Cup being hosted in India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

Chairman of the natiolnal selection panel, Krish Srikkanth, said the youngsters have done well for themselves and their performance has shown that team’s World Cup preparations are going according to the plan.

“Youngsters in the team have proved that the bench strength is good. It is important that we keep winning all our matches up to end of the World Cup,” Srikkanth said ahead of the match.

“Overall, I am confident that the players will perform to their potential and keep the momentum. I am glad that the preparation for the World Cup is on the right track,” he said.

As for Tueday’s match, the Indian players are an upbeat lot and would be looking to keep the momentum going for a whitewash.

Despite being a second-string side, the Indians have proved themselves better on all counts against a short-of-confidence New Zealand, which came here after being hammered 0-4 by minnows Bangladesh.

The Indian line-up has not exactly missed the dashing Virender Sehwag or the reliable Sachin Tendulkar as the likes Virat Kohli have stepped in effortlessely against a rather ineffective Kiwi attack.

Kohli, who has been good nick in the domestic circuit, has been solid so far along with Murali Vijay.

The Indian bowling has been spearheaded well by senior pacer Zaheer Khan along with the spinners. Young off-spinner R Ashwin has, in fact, managed to make quite an impact but he has to be more economical in the middle overs.

The Kiwis, on the other hand, have been struggling and skipper Daniel vettori has to do a lot of head-scratching to find a way out of the slump that has gripped the team after a fighting performance in the Test series.

Vettori and his men would be desperate to regain confidence which has been dented severely by three defeats on the trot.

The key to it is a solid batting performance and the visitors will look towards Martin Guptill and Brendon McCullum to give them the rare crackling start. Ross Taylor and Scott Styris can consolidate from there on.

Kiwi new ball bowlers Kyle Mills and Andy McKay and one-change pacer James Franklin have the ability to disturb any combination along with Vettori but the quartet has so far struggled on pitches which have always been a batsman’s delight.

India: Gautam Gambhir (Captain), Murali Vijay, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Sourav Tiwary, Yusuf Pathan, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), R Ashwin, Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra, Praveen Kumar, Munaf Patel, Ravindra Jadeja and R Vinay Kumar.

New Zealand: Daniel Vettori (Captain), Martin Guptill, Brendon McCullum, Jamie How, Kane Williamson, Ross Taylor, Scott Styris, Gareth Hopkins (wk), Nathan McCullum, Kyle Mills, Tim Southee, Andy McKay, James Franklin and Grant Elliott.

Hours of play: 2.30 pm to 6.00 pm, 6.40 pm to close of play.

New Zealand cricket team, on a tour of India to play three Test matches and five ODIs, arrived at the Sardar Patel International Airport on Saturday night.

“The entire team has landed at the airport here,” Gujarat Cricket Association (GCA) Spokesperson Jagat Patel said.

New Zeleand team will be spending almost one and a half months in the country playing Test and ODI series. Their first test match is scheduled to be played at the Motera stadium here and will begin from November 4.

The team was welcomed by the GCA members here.

Daniel Vettori is the captain of the New Zealand team, while Mark Greatbatch is the team coach.

New Zealand are likely to play international matches against Sri Lanka in the United States after striking a partnership with American administrators.

New Zealand Cricket (NZC) chief executive Justin Vaughan on Saturday confirmed a “strategic partnership” had been formed with USA Cricket.

It is likely the New Zealand team will play three games against Sri Lanka in Lauderhill, Florida in late May following the Twenty20 World Cup hosted by the West Indies.

Vaughan stressed the games — the type of matches were not specified — were not yet confirmed but was “optimistic” they would take place.

The chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Ejaz Butt has said that he had a constructive talk with the Emirates Cricket Board officials and the proposed ODI series against New Zealand would be held this year.

Butt, who is in London, told Geo Super that he would officially announce the venues for the series of four One-Day Internationals and two Twenty20 matches on Monday after returning home.

“The venues, 90 per cent, would be Abu Dhabi and Dubai once again,” Butt said.

New Zealand had refused to tour Pakistan for the scheduled series in October this year because of the volatile security situation in Pakistan.

However, they agreed on the suggestion to play the ODI matches at neutral venues and host the three Tests in New Zealand in November-December.

Pakistan had already played a One-day series with Australia in Abu Dhabi and Dubai in April-May this year.

Butt visit to Emirates came after differences erupted over the hosting fees being demanded by the Abu Dhabi and Dubai cricket bodies.

After meeting with the Emirates board officials, Butt travelled to London where he held two rounds of talks with Giles Clarke who heads the Wales and English cricket Board and also leads the special task force of the International Cricket Council formed to explore possibilities for resumption of international cricket in Pakistan.

“I have had some constructive talks with Giles Clarke as well regarding our tour to England next year and also on matters pertaining to revival of international cricket in Pakistan,” Butt said.

“We discussed three to four points but since these matter is confidential, I can’t give out the details as yet,” he added.

Sources close to Butt said that during the meeting, the possibility of convincing India to resume bilateral ties with Pakistan with a One-day series in England next year was also explored.

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.

It was refreshing to see his face light up as he ran towards hat-trick hero Jacob Oram when New Zealand beat Sri Lanka by three runs. It has been a difficult tour for a side inexperienced in subcontinental conditions but the change in personnel for the Twenty20s seems to have infused life.

There is no ignoring the key role Vettori himself played, slowing his pace and teasing with his loop to take 2 for 11 in four overs in a Man-of-the-Match effort, but this was a victory fashioned by more than one or two individuals and that gave Vettori the most pleasure. The batting was shaky but the fielding exceptional, proving decisive in the outcome. A series win beckons, if New Zealand can keep their cool again.

For Sri Lanka, this was their third straight loss in this format, starting from the ICC World Twenty20 final. In all three defeats the batting has been a worry, especially the lack of contributions from the middle and lower-middle order. Kumar Sangakkara was left to rue another batting collapse after Tillakaratne Dilshan’s amazing attack on New Zealand’s bowlers set them on the way to victory. Dilshan aside, Sri Lanka had enough batting firepower but fell to a flurry of loose shots and were not able to forge partnerships. Sangakkara has put the pressure on his batsmen and demanded they evaluate themselves before the final game.

After a Test series in which they were run ragged by Sri Lanka, two Twenty20 internationals will probably be a welcome release for some of the New Zealand players. There is little riding on the outcome of two Twenty20 internationals except perhaps the chance to take an edge into the ensuing 50-over tri-series and New Zealand have been talking serious business in the build-up.

On paper, a promising bat-versus-ball extravaganza is promised in either innings; Sanath Jayasuriya and Tillakaratne Dilshan against Shane Bond – set for an international return – and Daniel Vettori, and, as the teams change over, Brendon McCullum, Jesse Ryder and Ross Taylor against Ajantha Mendis and Lasith Malinga. New Zealand will take some confidence from the fact that Muttiah Muralitharan won’t be playing due to injury. Bond’s return adds depth with the ball, so although Sri Lanka have been comfortably superior in recent weeks New Zealand may hope that changes in the coming days.

Failing to win the World Twenty20 in England this summer, having done so well to reach the final, frustrated Sri Lanka and being soundly beaten in the one-off against Pakistan at home was no balm. The last time these two met, during the World Twenty20, Sri Lanka came out with a 48-run win in a pressure situation at Trent Bridge. On that occasion New Zealand were bamboozled by a magical spell of 3 for 9 from Mendis and ousted from a tournament where their batting failed to fire. The way the batsmen have faced spin so far on tour, Vettori will hope history doesn’t repeat itself.

New Zealand’s pace spearhead Shane Bond makes a comeback to official cricket after two years when he plays in a Twenty20 international against Sri Lanka on Wednesday.

Bond, 34, regarded as the best New Zealand fast bowler since Richard Hadlee, was delighted to be playing again for his country after snapping links with the unauthorized Indian Cricket League (ICL).

“It’s been a long time coming and it’s something I never thought would happen again,” he said. “It feels like I am starting all over again.”

Bond, who last played for New Zealand in November 2007, hoped he could meet the expectations from team-mates and fans alike on his highly-anticipated return.

“I think I set myself pretty high standards and it is up to me to meet those,” he said. “I always strive to be the best bowler in the world, nothing’s changed there.”

Bond’s fiery pace fetched him 79 wickets in 17 Tests, 125 from 67 One-Day Internationals and 12 in nine Twenty20 matches till he was banished for his ICL connections.

He was not picked for the preceding Test series which Sri Lanka swept 2-0, and warmed up instead by playing for New Zealand’s ‘A’ team in India last month.

Black Caps captain Daniel Vettori warned against expecting the premier fast bowler to deliver immediate results.

“I can see the pressure building from a distance,” said Vettori.

“People are viewing him as a sort of saviour to some recent woes, but I think we need to let Shane relax and build his way back into the team.”

Vettori was confident his team would perform better in the two Twenty20 internationals on Wednesday and Friday, and the limited-overs tri-series also featuring India from September 8.

“I think the guys have a real belief in their own ability in the shorter forms of the game,” he said. “I hope we will see a turnaround in our performances.”

Sri Lanka, meanwhile, will be without star spinner Muttiah Muralitharan, who suffered a groin injury during the second Test last week and is being rested ahead of the tri-series.

The hosts, World Twenty20 finalists this year, have picked veteran opener Sanath Jayasuriya and fast bowler Lasith Malinga for the two matches.

New Zealand (from): Daniel Vettori (capt), Brendon McCullum, Jesse Ryder, Martin Guptill, Ross Taylor, Jacob Oram, Neil Broom, Grant Elliott, Nathan McCullum, Peter McGlashan, Ian Butler, Shane Bond, Kyle Mills, Jeetan Patel.

Sri Lanka (from): Kumar Sangakkara (capt), Sanath Jayasuriya, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Mahela Jayawardene, Mahela Udawatte, Chamara Kapugedara, Gihan Rupasinghe, Angelo Mathews, Isuru Udana, Thilan Thushara, Nuwan Kulasekera, Lasith Malinga, Ajantha Mendis, Kaushal Lokuarachchi.

United Arab Emirates (UAE) has emerged as the first choice venue for the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to host the One-Day International series against New Zealand scheduled to be held in November-December.

Sources said the PCB is likely to host the series in Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

Though the terms and conditions offered by Abu Dhabi sports authorities are acceptable for the PCB, the Dubai Sports City has still not agreed with PCB on all its terms, the Dawn reports.

PCB chief Ijaz Butt is expected to meet Dubai Sports City officials later this week to sort out the issue.

The United States and Malaysia have emerged as the second and third options respectively for the PCB to host the series, but sources said PCB would face numerous problems if it decides shift the series to US.

It would be difficult for the PCB to obtain US visas for players and its officials if the matches are held in US.