Fleming: We would like to leave the tournament with a good result

Santhosh S

September 22, 2002

With Australia having confirmed their place in the semi-finals from Pool 1, the winners of ICC KnockOut 2000, New Zealand, already find themselves out of this edition of the Champions Trophy. But with a match against Bangladesh at the SSC Ground in Colombo on Monday ahead of them, Stephen Fleming's men are hoping to at least bow out on a winning note.

The New Zealand team had a practice session at the SSC Ground on Sunday afternoon in extremely hot and humid conditions. At the end of it, Fleming told CricInfo that his side are taking tomorrow's game very seriously.

"We respect Bangladesh's ability. So we have trained real hard over the past few days. We would like to stamp some authority on the game and leave the tournament with a good result," Fleming observed.

The New Zealand skipper admitted that he was disappointed with his team's performance in their opening game against Australia, observing that in his opinion the bowlers gave away far too many runs while the batsmen did not show enough fighting spirit. He, however, added that "all facets of the game has been thoroughly looked after, during our week of rest", and that New Zealand were now prepared to get down to business against the Bangladeshi team.

Talking about the squad for tomorrow's game, Fleming said, "Paul Hitchcock seems to be on the mend, so he'll probably play tomorrow. He comes into contention."

He also confirmed that young Andre Adams is still recovering from a stress fracture to his back and could only be expected to return by Christmas time.

After the game, the New Zealanders will enjoy a few months' rest, before they take on India in a series at home in December. This makes the New Zealand side all the more determined to "finish this tournament on a better note than we started", Fleming observed.

Bangladesh, meanwhile, are not nourishing any high hopes; they are looking at the tournament as a part of their learning process. Mohsin Kamal, the Bangladesh coach, was not unduly worried about his side's comprehensive defeat by Australia last Thursday.

"Losing is a part of the game," said Kamal, rather philosophically, before adding quickly, "If you are not going to play against big teams, you are not going to improve."

"You have to deal with the pressure, be mentally strong, and believe in your ability, when playing against the big teams," he observed.

Talking about the upcoming encounter against New Zealand, Kamal said, "To prove and improve is the part of the game plan. The boys are keenly looking forward to the game. We have a tough tour of South Africa coming up, and it will be a good practice for us."

He said that he also will be expecting more commitment from his top players in his side's final game of the tournament. "They have the ability; sometime they don't show it on the field. They have to learn to play positive consistently," Kamal observed.

New Zealand (from): Stephen Fleming (Captain), Nathan Astle, Shane Bond, Chris Harris, Paul Hitchcock, Kyle Mills, Chris Nevin, Jacob Oram, Matthew Sinclair, Scott Styris, Glenn Sulzberger, Daryl Tuffey, Daniel Vettori, Lou Vincent.

Bangladesh (from): Khaled Mashud (Captain), Al-Sahariar, Alok Kapali, Fahim Muntasir, Habibul Bashar, Javed Omar, Khaled Mahmud, Manjural Islam, Mazharul Haque, Mohammad Ashraful, Mohammad Rafique, Talha Jubair, Tapash Baisya. Tushar Imran.

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