The flamboyant cricketer of New Zealand, Daniel Vettori was convinced that his team can bounce back in the forthcoming Test series against South Africa with positive attitude.
The Kiwis have lost Twenty20 series 1-2 followed by a clean sweep in the One Day Internationals by the Proteas 3-0 which added anxiety in their camp.
Earlier, the home team started off well against the visitors while beating them in first T20 at Wellington on February 17, 2012, which they won by six wickets. That proved to be their only victory as the remaining two T20s were clinched by the visitors in a commanding way.
The winning spree was continued in the ODIs by the visitors as the first two matches at Wellington and Napier were grasped by six wickets each. The last encounter at Auckland on March 3, 2012 was won by five wickets and the hosts were pushed in the corner.
Earlier, New Zealand cricket team visited Australia and lost the first Test by nine wickets on December 4, 2011, at Brisbane Cricket Ground, Woolloongabba, Brisbane.
The Black Caps bounced back in the second Test by defeating the hosts in a crunch match by seven runs on December 12, 2011, at Bellerive Oval, Hobart.
Vettori believed that his team reassessed their strengths and the weaknesses of the Kangaroos which resulted in grasping the second Test. The home side has to stick with the previous experience by reading the firepower of the Proteas otherwise they will face the same fate which was suffered in the limited over games. He said,
“We are trying to talk about ourselves and what our strengths are and what we can do to nullify their strengths. That’s what we did so well in that Test against Australia and if we can stick to that then we give ourselves a chance. If we get caught up in how good the South African team is then we’ll be in trouble.”
Zimbabwe toured New Zealand in January, February, 2012 which ended in a promising note for the home side. The Kiwis beat Zimbabwe in the only Test at McLean Park, Napier, on January 28, 2012, by a huge margin of an innings and 301 runs. They thrashed the visitors in the three ODIs 3-0 and conquered the two T20s 2-0 and the visitors could not taste even a single win.
The Black Caps will be strengthened with the inclusion of their regular Captain Ross Taylor who sustained a calf injury during the only Test against Zimbabwe after smashing 122 runs when he was retired hurt. Their experienced speedster Chris Martin with 218 Test wickets and Daniel Vettori himself having 356 will be part of the team as well.
Vettory argued that the New Zealand squad should enter the Test series against one of the best teams of the world with a positive attitude and they are capable of winning. He further commented,
“We know we’ve got to play really well. When you’re coming up against one of the top teams in the world that’s the attitude you’ve got to take. It’s similar to when we came up against Australia, who are one of the top teams, and we know that if we play well that we can beat them.”
The first Test of the three match series will be played from March 7, 2012, at University Oval, Dunedin which is a happy hunting ground for the hosts.
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