NEW DELHI, Sept 13: Clubbed alongside former champions Pakistan and Bangladesh, New Zealand will be have to “combat” some top class spinners in the group stages of the upcoming World T20 in Sri Lanka, said captain Ross Taylor.
Taylor is in no mood to look “too far ahead” as the Kiwis have been placed in a dicey Group D along with two sub-continental teams in the event, scheduled to be held from September 18 to October 7.
“We’ve got a tough pool in Pakistan and Bangladesh and we don’t want to look too far ahead of those two matches,” he said.
“Twenty20 is a game where you now have to play attacking but they do have world-class spinners in their sides and we need to acknowledge that and allow our players to combat it,” Taylor was quoted as saying by ‘cricinfo’.
But going into the tournament, New Zealand will be high on confidence after pulling off a thrilling one-run win over India in the second Twenty20 game against India on Tuesday.
“I think it (the win) gives you a little bit of confidence but you don’t want to get too carried away. It’s just one win,” Taylor said.
New Zealand play Australia and South Africa in two warm-up games before their tournament opener against Bangladesh on September 21.
“Australia played very well in their last game, I’m sure they’ll take a lot of confidence from that. The way (David) Warner and Watto (Shane Watson) batted set a very good platform for the side,” Taylor said.
“Any New Zealand-Australia game is obviously competitive and we’ll be looking forward to trying a few things and obviously want us to win the game as well,” the Kiwi skipper said. (PTI)
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