We're maybe just a little slow in adapting to conditions: Jacob Oram

New Zealand’s last group game is against Papua New Guinea on June 17 (Monday) but the Black Caps have already been knocked out of the 2024 T20 World Cup. New Zealand lost their first two games against Afghanistan and the West Indies respectively and their bowling coach Jacob Oram said this is something they will have to be careful of in future ICC events.

“I think one thing we struggled with early on is around adapting to the conditions and I think we're maybe just a little slow in doing that and the way this tournament has been formatted, is that if you missed a beat early on, then you're probably out of the tournament. And look at England's predicament yesterday. I know they had a rain-affected game against Scotland, and then they lose to Australia, and all of a sudden, they're hanging on by a knife edge with two games to play,” said Oram.

"We performed poorly against Afghanistan, and next thing it was a do-or-die game against the West Indies which we still came out second best so you still need to win these games of cricket but I think going forward it's about starting the tournament like absolutely hitting the ground ready to go and part of that is that adaption to whatever conditions you're thrown.”

Not a single New Zealand batter has scored more than 60 runs but their bowling has been pretty good, with Tim Southee, Trent Boult and Lockie Ferguson all being among wickets. The trio has picked up 16 wickets with and none of them have an economy of more 6.

“I think the number one thing with our bowling unit is experience, I look at our core group of players, Bolt, Southey, Ferguson, Santner, been there a long time, played a lot of cricket, been to a lot of these World Cups. So that always helps because they know what to expect. 

“A lot of the time they've played in the Caribbean before, so hopefully they can adapt quicker. But for me, that's the point of difference for our attack, that experience that they bring with them and of course the quality in their skills which is a given.

In the previous encounter, the Black Caps hammered Uganda by nine wickets, chasing down 40 in just 5.1 overs. “I think it's about us from this point. I mean, obviously not qualifying is a disappointment. So, we just, it was all about us against Uganda and I think it went really well. We bowled to our strengths and we stuck to our purpose and our plan and it came off,” said Oram. 

“And I think the same will be for tomorrow. It's just what do we have to do in these conditions. I mean, we've played now, this will be our third game on this ground, on this block. So, we know what to expect and we should be able to know the areas we have to hit again, like we did against Uganda, to make sure we succeed against Papua New Guinea.”

This will also be NZ’ first day game. “The dew factor at night seems to be a lot more humidity at night as well. I mean, it's hot out there today but that will be just another part of the conditions that we'll need to adapt to and understand that it may not swing as much as it has under lights. The other night Southee and Bolt were swinging it a long way, may not do that with the sun out so we have to adapt if it's not the case.”

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