Confident New Zealand look to booking berth in final

The New Zealanders are back in the nets preparing for their first match of the second round of the Coca Cola Cup against Sri Lanka at the Premadasa Stadium which will be played on Wednesday.

The Black Caps beat India convincingly in their first round match of the Coca Cola Cup while in the match against the host nation, they went down after a gallant fight.

After the matches in Dambulla were shifted to Colombo, the team management decided for a two day outing in Kandy. "Well, the only reason to go out of Colombo was because we didn't want to spend three and half weeks in the same hotel in Colombo. That was to give the guys a different atmosphere. But I tell you we haven't neglected any practice opportunities" said Jeff Crowe, the manager of the New Zealand team.

"We fitted in the essentials of our programme during our stay in Kandy. For example we did our gym sessions over there and the players are looking forward."

Reflecting on the two matches the Black Caps have played, the New Zealand manager said; "We would have liked to win both the games obviously. But we played better cricket in the second game. In the first game we were bit rusty, but I still feel we had chance to win that game as well. But more importantly, we checked our mistakes on the second game and we are improving" said Crowe who has been the manager of the side for close to two years.

"Even in the game against India, our batsmen struggled. But we've addressed that issue and we have to see that we won't repeat the mistakes in the matches ahead," said the former New Zealand captain.

Talking about the second round matches of the tournament, Crowe said; "We are looking forward for both the games and want to do well to book a place in the final," Crowe continued, "The prime importance will be to beat Sri Lanka. We've lost the first match against them, then they defeated us at home few months back. If we can put everything that we've been practicing, that's it."

In the one day game, the New Zealanders cornered the headlines when they won the ICC knockout tournament in Kenya last year, but all the good work was spoilt after the side lost two successive series to Sri Lanka and South Africa soon after.

"I think we are capable of winning the Coca-Cola Cup. We have shown in the past that we've got the nucleus to win tournaments. We proved that in the ICC knockout tournament" reflected Crowe. "But this is not a knock-out tournament. Here you've got to be consistent and when it comes to the final it's the team that's good on that day."

However, a key player missing in the side is Chris Cairns who was instrumental in leading the side for victory during the ICC knockout tournament, "He's a world class player. No doubt about it. Unfortunately he's not here so you can't worry about that."

The Black Caps' chances of going through to the final increased after India fell to bottom of the points table with a poor run rate as well. No one can take them lightly and they are capable of doing what they accomplished in Kenya last year.