da betobet： It is New Zealand’s batting on which the heaviest burden rests, for that is whereexpectations should be highest
da betano casino： Osman Samiuddin24-Mar-2011What holds the greater weight of argument: that New Zealand do well enoughto even have a side that, for the most part, plays consistentlycompetitive cricket despite an entire population that is a third ofDhaka’s alone? Or, that given the quality of players they have produced,they are actually underachieving? Stuck somewhere between those twoquestions, it never seems to have been any other way for them.Here they are in the knock-out stages of yet another World Cup. Five timesthey have made it to the semis but never any further, beaten, on occasions,by a better side and on other occasions by themselves. With this sidethose questions have been most resonant. If they lose to South Africaon Friday in Dhaka, it won’t be a surprise. If they win, it will be anupset, but a real surprise, or a shock? Not really. In any case, theattention will fall on South Africa.There is no question New Zealand have players here who can change games.In their batting order are some of the cleanest, sweetest ball-hitters inworld cricket; Martin Guptill’s straight driving has been one of thepleasures of the group stages. Jesse Ryder, Brendon McCullum, Ross Taylor,Scott Styris and Jacob Oram should always be a threat.Few fast bowlers as initially unsuited to these conditions can haveprogressed so much individually as Tim Southee, the influence of AllanDonald as bowling coach quite apparent. Southee is probably the leastnoticed fast bowling success of the tournament. Others have chipped inaround him.Daniel Vettori will be hoping the likes of Ross Taylor will come good against South Africa•Associated Press
They now have back their captain, one of the best allrounders in the gameand a figure with the authority and stability most captains dream of. Themajority of them field as electrically as eels.And still it has been a campaign befitting them so far, unwilling toresolve those basic questions. They were awesome against Pakistan,obviously with the bat, but also in the field. The minnows weredispatched with greater comfort than some other teams were able to manage.But losses to Australia and Sri Lanka were so complete that there lookednothing of the true contenders about them.In a way they have swung as much as Pakistan do, and more than thisEngland team. Sometimes they remind you of Mark Greatbatch’s witheringassessment late last year that some of the players think they are betterthan they actually are. And there remains aroundthem talk of player power, which never has beneficial consequences.It is the batting on which the heaviest burden rests, for that is whereexpectations should be highest. The numbers of Taylor, McCullum andGuptill stand up well from the group stages – they’ve all got over 220runs and average 81.66, 59.75 and 55.5 respectively – but in only one biggame can it be said to have come together the way they want it to.”We played our best game against Pakistan when the batting fired when wegot a guy get through to a hundred, with a couple of crucial partnershipsthrough it,” Daniel Vettori said. “We’ve been at our worst when thosethings haven’t happened. That will be the key to our success.”If the top five perform it will give us a chance. We’ve got a very good fielding unitand a solid bowling attack so if we can complement that with a goodperformance with the bat we will be in with a chance. “It is the potential of that top order that New Zealand are waiting on,that might take them from where they are stuck, to a different planealtogether. There isn’t frustration at them not having done more so far,Vettori said, but expectation.”It’s not so much the frustration as much as looking forward to the nextgame and realizing these guys can do it,” he said. “They are extremelytalented and if you look at their records, as they stand alone, they arepretty good. What better time to rectify a couple of tough performancesthan now? We’ve seen the game plan that works against Pakistan, able tobuild a total and be able to unleash at the end. If we get a guy likeTaylor, Styris or Oram in those last ten overs with wickets in hand, thenwe know we can be dangerous.”Friday would be a good time for them not simply to know that they can bedangerous, but to actually be so. Else the status quo remains.
