Cricket: Black Caps to take 20/20 opener seriously

JOHANNESBURG - New Zealand's last 20/20 cricket international was against Australia back in February and the Black Caps decided to treat it as a fun occasion.

The Australians, notorious party poopers that they are, came out their usual ruthless selves and blew the New Zealanders away.

It set the stage for the one-day international series which followed in which New Zealand, beset by injuries, increasingly found themselves trapped behind the eight-ball.

On Sunday, another one-day series begins for the Black Caps, this time in South Africa, and once again it is preceded by a 20/20 international, on Friday at the Wanderers.

And this time the New Zealanders will be on full alert, the memories of how they gave the Aussies an easy foot-up still fresh in their memories.

"We treated the 20/20 match against the Aussies as a bit of fun, but they saw it as the beginning of the one-day series," allrounder Scott Styris said.

"So they got into the winning habit early on and, in hindsight, we gave the Australians the momentum.

"We learned then that the sooner you get on top, the harder you make it for the opposition to climb back up. So it is very important that we win on Friday for our goal of winning the one-day international series," Styris said.

Heading into the matches against South Africa, only three New Zealanders have spent substantial time at the crease in the two warmup matches against South Africa A, Craig McMillan (105), James Marshall (64) and Stephen Fleming (100).

But Fleming says this is not cause for undue worry.

"I'm satisfied with the warmups because we've often lost those, so it was nice to get some winning momentum. They were not complete performances, but we played well in parts," Fleming said.

"It's too early to be concerned about the top-order; they're good players and they've all played enough cricket. I'm pleased we got a couple of hundreds under our belt."

Fleming did admit to being frustrated by the niggling injuries afflicting his bowlers.

Left-arm seamer James Franklin is slightly underdone after a bruised ankle limited him to just five overs against South Africa A, while Styris (hamstring) and Jacob Oram (back) are both likely to play at the weekend but might not be able to bowl.

Star spinner Daniel Vettori only came across from Australia following the Super Series late on Wednesday and is unlikely to play on Friday.

"I am frustrated by the injuries, we want selection dilemmas not injuries to decide the make-up of our team," Fleming said.

But pace bowler Shane Bond has already shown enough to make sure that the South African batsmen will have to be fully focused.

Fleming is hoping that his team will be as well.

"The 20/20 match has a lot of importance, it's certainly not a hit-and-giggle game. It does have a bearing on the one-day series and it's nice to start well."

The South Africans have recalled all-rounder Albie Morkel, which came as no surprise after the left-hander blasted 48 not out in 28 balls in the first warm-up match against the Kiwis, following on his 23-ball 67 not out against New Zealand A at the Wanderers just over a year ago.

Herschelle Gibbs is also back in action and he has a top-class record against New Zealand bowling.

Rest of the World players Graeme Smith, Jacques Kallis, Shaun Pollock and Mark Boucher have all been named in the squad and there is a chance they will play on Friday night, even though they will be a tired after travelling from Australia.

South Africa have named a 15-man squad for the 20/20 match and the first three one-day internationals and are likely to dip into their reserve strength for Friday's game.

Exciting prospect AB de Villiers could open with Boeta Dippenaar and keep wicket, with Morkel, Andrew Hall and Andre Nel in line for action.

- NZPA