Pune, Nov 2 (PTI) An injury-ravaged New Zealand have slumped to their third successive defeat in the World Cup but allrounder Glenn Phillips believes they’re two wins away from clinching a semifinal berth.
New Zealand, who are currently on eight points, suffered a massive 190-run loss against South Africa here on Wednesday.
“It’s just two wins away, and that hopefully puts us in third or fourth place, potentially even second,” Phillips, who scored a 50-ball 60, said during the post-match press conference.
“So, I think if we can just keep sticking to our basics, what we do best on the field, everything will be all right.” The Black Caps next face Pakistan (November 4) and Sri Lanka (November 9) in their remaining two matches.
Pakistan kept the door to the semifinal slightly ajar following a seven-wicket win over Bangladesh the other day.
“We try to remain level-headed throughout everything, not ride the highs too high and the lows too low. So, I think for us, it’s go about our business as we’ve done the whole way through, just keeping things simple, sticking to what we do best.
“Obviously, the way England, Australia, South Africa, they all play a very aggressive brand of cricket and we’ve got our own brand and if we stick to it, we know that we’re fighters, we keep coming back time and time again and when it matters most, we really put the foot down.” New Zealand’s decision to field first backfired as Quinton de Kock (114) and Rassie van der Dussen (133) made them pay by slamming hundreds, powering South Africa to 357 for 4.
In reply, New Zealand folded for 167 in 35.3 overs.
“South Africa are incredibly strong batting first but we’ve got an incredibly good bowling lineup and there was no reason that we couldn’t have restricted them to a total that could have been a lot easier to chase on there,” Phillips said.
“Playing on at the end, I definitely thought it got better as well. So, I think had things gone slightly differently, we could definitely have come a lot closer than we did today.” Phillips also rued the missed chances.
“I mean at the end of the day a couple of tough chances were dropped, a missed run out when his back was turned to the bowler’s end. You have no idea where Quinton’s actually standing,” he said.
“Obviously, he had a little bit more time than he thought, but at the end of the day, it’s not like we’ve been dropping straightforward chances or creating a lot of blunders in the field.
“We’ve definitely put a lot of pressure on the opposition in the field and we’ve saved a lot of runs and obviously sometimes people drop catches and that’s just the way things go.” New Zealand are grappling with a series of injuries, leaving them in a tricky position as the World Cup enters the business end. Five players, including regular skipper Kane Williamson (thumb), are battling injuries.
While Ferguson and Mark Chapman (calf) were already nursing injuries, Matt Henry and James Neesham also suffered injuries on Wednesday with the former hurting his hamstring.
Source: PTI News
