Out In The Middle With Scott

It's Business Time

Well, we’re at the business end of the first part of our campaign here at the World Cup.

A win over Sri Lanka will see us finish top or second in the group but what a game to finish the first round of this world cup.

The Sri Lankans thrashed both Zimbabwe and Canada by considerable scores but they were narrowly beaten by Pakistan.

So it’s fair to say we’re coming in to the game fairly even when it comes to results and performances so far.

The Sri Lankan side have the formidable talent of Lasith Malinga but let’s be honest they have stars all over their side.

We had the luxury of having a couple of days off this week and even managed to get out of the hotel in Mumbai for a great dinner.

But now it’s all about taking care of business.

We’re getting pummeled in the nets with plenty of focus on Malinga throw downs and big turners.

But as we all know we have to put together a full team performance with the bat and the ball if we’re really going to be a serious contender for winning the cup.

That’s one thing we haven’t done very often this summer and it’s something that we must do if we have any chance of going past the quarter-finals.

Last night (NZ time) it was announced Daryl Tuffey is on his way to join us.

With Kyle Mills carrying an injury it’s obviously important that we cover our options so we don’t get caught short in the next phase.

Here’s a few facts about the Black Caps and Sri Lanka in the World Cup.

Our head to head record looks like this:

New Zealand lead 35-32 (Tied: 1; NR: 4)
In the World Cups, Sri Lanka lead 4-3
In the sub-continent, Sri Lanka lead 15-5 (NR: 2)

Sri Lanka have lost only two of the nine matches they have played against us since the start of 2007 and have not lost any of their last three World Cup matches to the Black Caps.

But here’s the biggest stat I’d like to get out there, I have scored two World Cup centuries against Sri Lanka – it would be pretty good to get a third tonight.

As you will all know Dan Vettori and Kyle have been ruled out of tonight’s game with injuries but we’re pretty confident we’ll get them back for the quarters.

Before I wrap up this blog I wanted to let you know how impressed I’ve been about how the Northern Knights have been going in the Plunket Shield since it resumed in February.

The boys went into this week’s game against Auckland with two solid wins behind them and a draw.

They were looking pretty good until today to come away with another win but they fell short unfortunately and lost by a miserable 18 runs.

Next week they go up against the Central Stags in Napier at McLean Park so I know they’ll be out to put the loss behind them and get back on with their winning ways.

And just finally, as if the earthquake in Christchurch wasn’t bad enough we all watched in horror at the scenes we saw in Japan last week and the pictures and stories we’ve heard since.

From all the Black Caps our sincerest thoughts go out to the Japanese people and any Kiwis caught up in this horrific natural disaster.

Cheers, ScottY