New Zealand batsman Ross Taylor pulls a ball while batting in the nets during the team's practice session in Colombo yesterday, ahead of tomorrow's semifinal clash against Sri Lanka. Photo: AFPNew Zealand lost 4-0 to Bangladesh in October, conceded the next two one-day and Test series in India and at home to Pakistan but on Tuesday, they will be the only team outside the sub-continent to be in the last four.
At the P Sara Oval Ground here in Colombo, New Zealand's appearance was as improbable as it was for anyone finding out that Sir Don Bradman's only appearance in the sub-continent was at this very venue. But call it luck or the “John Wright effect”, Vettori's men have made it to their country's sixth semifinal in the World Cup after 1975, 1979, 1992, 1999 and 2007.
One might say that New Zealand were fortunate to face South Africa in a knockout game or that Wright's appointment was vital, but only the most optimistic, like that reporter in Mirpur, would have thought of this day.
“We are proud of our history of making semifinals. This team would like to make history and go the furthest and into the final. We genuinely believe we can do that and we want to make it on Tuesday,” said Ross Taylor after New Zealand's training yesterday.
Wright was keen to stress on unity more than his appointment as the New Zealand coach as the reason behind this sudden (but hardly surprising) rise into the semifinals.
“I think it is teamwork more than anything else. We often have to play against teams with higher quality bowling and batting so we have to rely on teamwork,” said Wright.
The team's No 1 batsman at the moment, Taylor, added that it was the experience in these conditions since October that really helped their cause in this campaign. Be it the heat, the turning slow tracks or the opposition, New Zealand spent most time in the sub-continent than even India before the World Cup began. Though they lost everything in sight, the Black Caps' underdog status became more firm as, according to Taylor, teams started to take the team even more lightly.
“We didn't play as well as we'd have liked but there was belief in the team. We knew we could win. I don't think a lot of other people gave us a chance. It probably made other teams take us lightly than they did normally. That played into our hands,” said Taylor.
“We had full belief. We didn't play as well as we'd have liked back then. We are learning from our mistakes. I believed we could have come this far,” he added.
Taylor, who blasted a 124-ball 132 against Pakistan in the first round in an aggressive display only a few have shown in this tournament, said that the match's magnanimity puts both New Zealand and Sri Lanka in equal footing ahead of the game, though he believed they carried momentum from their surprising 49-run win over South African at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur. “It is a sudden death game. We will take a lot of confidence from our last game against South Africa. We have the advantage of playing against Sri Lanka in the preliminary stages and we did a few things wrong. Hopefully we can rectify that,” he said.
Taylor and the Kiwis arrived in Sri Lanka on Saturday evening but the batsmen in the Black Caps camp took heart from Jonathan Trott's 86 and especially the way he tackled the home team's trump card. “I saw bits of it but not the whole game. We can take some positives out of that. I think the way Trott batted was something we can take a leaf out of with our bat. The way they played Murali, because obviously he's a big factor in the way Sri Lanka beat us in the last match,” said Taylor.
Unlike Germany in football, New Zealand have been the perennial underdogs in this sport but have continuously defied odds (small population, injuries, etc) over the years. Taylor confirmed that it is a tag they enjoy.
“Most of the time New Zealand plays, we are the underdogs. It is something that we almost enjoy and we expect when we play it. Lot of teams expects to beat us and we enjoy the underdog tag,” he said.
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