Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India] : Despite the loss of fast bowler Matt Henry, New Zealand pacer Lockie Ferguson feels Kiwis’ bowling attack is ‘handsome’ and that all bases are covered for Wednesday’s World Cup semifinal against India.
The 2019 runner-up Kiwis will face off against hosts India at the Wankhede stadium in Mumbai in the first semi-final of the World Cup on Wednesday.
New Zealand, who qualified as the last team for the semifinals, had a slump in form, losing four consecutive games after an initial winning streak.
They qualified for the semi-finals by defeating Sri Lanka in their final league game.
Ferguson stated that the squad is not concerned about Henry’s inability to play due to a ruptured right hamstring.
“I think we look good here. Matt Henry is obviously a big hole in our side and we’re still a handsome bunch without Matt Henry,” Ferguson said in a pre-match press conference.
Ferguson emphasised that star pacer Tim Southee has great knowledge from his time playing in India, which he believes will benefit New Zealand in the forthcoming match.
“So, I guess I’ll take that on the chin, but now from a cricket point of view Tim Southee brings a lot of experience obviously being captain of the test team, captain in T20s and one day too, so I think that experience counts for a lot. He’s also played a lot in India, which is great too, obviously pretty disheartened with how Matt Henry exited the World Cup, which was such a shame. We know injuries always come at the worst time, but no doubt he’ll be supporting from back home and Tim Southee is raring to go. So once again, looking forward to it,” the New Zealand pacer said.
New Zealand pacer stated that they must precisely examine the ground at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium before their World Cup semifinal against hosts India and tighten up their bowling at the notoriously high-scoring location.
South Africa scored 350-plus twice at the stadium, and India made 357-8 against Sri Lanka before Glenn Maxwell produced a brilliant double-century to help Australia successfully chase down 291 against Afghanistan last week at the Wankhede.
“Yeah, I feel like a lot of Indian grounds have been high-scoring. But that’s just the nature of, I guess, one day cricket in this part of the world. But from our point of view, it’s, I guess, trying to understand what the pitch will be like and try to read what a good score on it is because of course those big overs, 10 runs here, 10 runs there can cost you at the back end of the innings so from a bowling point of view we’re trying to I guess shut down those big overs, try to understand what we think is a good total on the score. So, it’s an experience thing, it’s an assessment thing. The pitch will be different again, that’s the joy of cricket I think, we play on a different pitch each time, so it’s hard to read two days out. But from our point of view, yeah, we’ve got to adapt as quick as possible come Wednesday,” Ferguson said.
Ferguson stated that, while the Wankhede template has been the team batting first after winning the toss, New Zealand will have strategies in place for all scenarios.
“Yeah, look, I think the stats are probably favouring batting first, but at the same time it’s A – not up to me, and B – we have to play the game on the day. So, whatever it might be, battle ball first. We’ve got plans for that. And it’s important to stick to them. Obviously, nice to bowl under lights and always from a bowling point of view. Nice to see when the ball does move around a bit and brings us into the game. We’ll just have to play it as we see it come game day, but I’m looking forward to it,” Ferguson said.