Former captain Daniel Vettori said New Zealand would not panic after Kane Williamson’s side suffered their first defeat of the World Cup against Pakistan.
The beaten 2015 finalists had the chance to seal their semi-final place alongside Australia at Edgbaston on Wednesday but lost by six wickets as Pakistan’s Babar Azam starred with the bat. “The one thing New Zealand won’t do is panic after the defeat to Pakistan. This team doesn’t panic and hasn’t for a long time,” said Vettori in a column for the International Cricket Council.
“They have been playing a style of cricket that has delivered success and they have won five games out of seven, with one washout. That success breeds confidence and calmness, so there is no point in changing strategy just because of one loss,” he added. “They will stay true to how they have played for a number of years.”
New Zealand remained second in the table, on 11 points, after their loss to Pakistan and look likely to reach the semi-finals despite the hiccup. Vettori said the tournament was benefiting from a good balance between bat and ball, with early predictions of a run-fest proving wide of the mark. “The traditional road we’ve seen in one-day cricket, where 350 plays 350, is not quite as prevalent and it makes for an exciting game,” he said.
“It brings the spinners into play and brings the bowlers in general into play. It allows real batsmanship to be on display. We saw that from Babar Azam, who was just exceptional.”
New Zealand’s next game is on Saturday against defending champions Australia, who are top of the 10-team table with 12 points, and Vettori said stopping the openers would be key. “The big challenge in the next game against Australia at Lord’s will be Aaron Finch and David Warner — they have been exceptional in this tournament,” he said.
“They have set Australia up. No one else has had to bat that much. The ability to dismiss those two early on will be crucial and more often than not, that falls on Trent Boult to do that.” New Zealand’s final match of the group stage is against host nation England next Wednesday.