TelstraClear Black Caps team to meet Gauteng named

TelstraClear Black Caps coach Denis Aberhart today named an 11-man team to play Gauteng at Soweto, Johannesburg tomorrow (Thursday, February 6).

The team is:

Stephen Fleming (captain)
Andre Adams
Nathan Astle
Shane Bond
Chris Cairns
Chris Harris
Craig McMillan
Kyle Mills
Scott Styris
Lou Vincent
Daniel Vettori

Mathew Sinclair, Brendon McCullum, Daryl Tuffey and Jacob Oram are not playing.

Aberhart said that Lou Vincent would keep wicket in place of McCullum.

"Lou has kept very well for Auckland this summer and we know he can do the job for us at this level.

"We also feel he may possibly provide us with a bit more flexibility within our batting line up."

Aberhart went on to say he would be looking for improvement from Tuesday's match against Easterns.

"I was pleased with the relatively comfortable win we achieved against Easterns, but we need to develop longer partnerships when we are batting.

"Good partnerships are the difference between scores of 210-220 and scores of 250-260."

However, Aberhart acknowledged the wicket had made scoring runs difficult and that he had been pleased with the application of some of his batsmen.

"Chris Harris and Scott Styris in particular played solidly and showed the necessary application required in difficult conditions."

Aberhart also said he was comforted by the way his bowlers used the conditions and attacked the Easterns batsmen.

"Anytime you bowl a side out for 130 you've got to be happy and the bowlers clearly dominated the Easterns batsmen.

"I thought all the bowlers contributed with Jacob Oram clearly the stand out with his figures of 5-35."