Follow UsIt will be a repeat of the 2019 World Cup semi-final, with India taking on New Zealand in Mumbai on Wednesday (November 15). The Black Caps, however, would be without their injured seamer Matt Henry who knocked India out of the 2019 event with a superb new-ball spell.
Lockie Ferguson said New Zealand will surely miss the services of Henry this time around but have someone like Tim Southee to fill in the gap with his experience. “I think we look good here. Matt Henry is obviously a big hole in our side but we're still a handsome bunch without Matt Henry,” said Ferguson.
“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 cricket too. 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.”
Ferguson also made it clear that his team isn’t thinking about what happened in 2019. “Over two days. I've never played a one-day game over two days, it was literally not even in the title. So, I think playing that game was pretty incredible and obviously very pleasing for us at the time.
“Four years have gone past we've played a lot of cricket in between and both teams I'm sure are raring to go come Wednesday. I guess (it's) your job to write stories like that (about revenge). But from our point of view, I'm not sure I can comment on that. But at the same time, look, four years ago was a pretty spectacular game."
Whenever we talk about Wankhede, we think of it as a chasing ground. That might still be true for T20s, but not in this World Cup. In the four games played at this venue, three times teams batting first have won the game. The main reason behind the sub-par performances by chasing teams has been the pacers in the first powerplay.
Under lights, the quicks have been unplayable at Wankhede. They average 45.8 with a wicket every 49.3 balls and an economy of 5.6 in the first innings. But in the second innings, the pacers have bagged a wicket every 9.2 runs and 13.4 balls.
“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,” said Ferguson, who has claimed 10 wickets in six innings at an average of 23.60.
“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.”
Speaking about India’s formidable pace attack, the NZ pacer said: “Good attack. I think you would probably struggle to make knockout stages without a good bowling attack. Obviously nice for India to have Bumrah back from injury, it was a tough one for him, but obviously he's back to his great self. But yeah, look, it's a strong attack. I think all four teams in the knockout stages have got a very good pace attack, of course, with good spinners.”
He also heaped heavy praise on young Rachin Ravindra, who is currently the third-highest run-getter in the tournament. The left-hander has slammed 565 runs @ 70.62 and a strike rate of 108.44. On top of that, he has also managed to claim five wickets.
“Yeah, good player, right? Yeah, very good player. I've sort of seen Rachin progress from domestic stages and played some New Zealand A-games with him. I think probably on and off the field, he's got an exceptional attitude in the way he goes about life, but especially with his cricket. He's a huge fan of cricket, but also works hard extremely on his batting and bowling.
“And he's been a huge part of our team throughout this World Cup. So, when you have a team member, I guess, who everyone loves so much, and then he does really well, then you tend to enjoy that even more. So, I know he's really looking forward to the event come a couple of days time, but it's been awesome to see him develop through this World Cup.”