Cricket: Spin doctors get busy before Zimbabwe

Spin bowling, and how to take advantage of it, will occupy New Zealand's minds ahead of the second world T20 championship game against Zimbabwe on Wednesday.

Having got their campaign off to a snazzy start with a penultimate-ball two-wicket win over Sri Lanka in Guyana, the aim will be to build on that with a more convincing win over unfancied Zimbabwe. The southern Africans might yet be group-B spoilers. Underestimating them would be unwise, given that they beat Australia and defending champions Pakistan in their two warmup games last week.

And central to that was their use of spin. On the opening weekend's evidence, the Providence Stadium pitches in Guyana are even more conducive to slow bowling than the St Lucia strips, where Zimbabwe had their two wins.

Zimbabwe opened their bowling with offspinner and captain Prosper Utseya and orthodox left-arm spinner Ray Price against Australia, and they, with legspinner Graeme Cremer and another offie, Greg Lamb, were prominent and successful, against Pakistan.

There's a clear message for New Zealand in that.

"We're trying to work a method out to play on these surfaces," New Zealand coach Mark Greatbatch said yesterday. "They are a bit low and slow and turning and it's not easy to score boundaries all the time, so it's important we come up with an effective method."

The outfield is large at the Providence Stadium and observing how Sri Lanka's master craftsman Mahela Jayawardene went about his fine innings of 81 off 51 balls against New Zealand on Saturday should provide a clue. Jayawardene's innings was an impressive exhibition in how to work the ball into space.

Rarely did he try to blast it on a holding surface. He held the Sri Lankan innings of 135 for six together and had it not been for Nathan McCullum's slammed six over long off from Lasith Malinga's second-last ball of the game, it may well have been enough to get Sri Lanka the win.

"We've got a bit of work to do playing the spin, and Zimbabwe have got plenty of that," Greatbatch said. "We need to get the ball into the outfield, which is nice and big, and put pressure on their fielders, and we're going to get more runs like that. If we can do that it puts more pressure on the bowlers and we might get more boundary opportunities."

McCullum had a game to savour. He took three catches and, in what is likely to be a regular occurrence, opening the bowling with his off spin, taking one for 17 off his three overs.

New Zealand almost blew it, with Jacob Oram - whose back-to-back sixes put New Zealand on track - Gareth Hopkins and Dan Vettori departing in quick order. However, McCullum got a full length ball right in the sweet spot to win it.

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Pakistan got their title defence under way with a 21-run win over Bangladesh in St Lucia yesterday, but for a time the Bangladeshis had a chance as they chased 172 for three.

Openers Salman Butt and wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal shared a 142-run stand, the highest T20 stand for Pakistan, and third-best in all T20 internationals. However, while captain Shakib al Hasan and Ashraful (65) shared a rousing 91-run third-wicket stand, Bangladesh hopes were well and truly alive.

India beat newcomers Afghanistan by seven wickets, reaching 116 for three, in reply to 115 for eight.

Afghanistan, on the International Cricket Council main stage for the first time, didn't die wondering with the bat, opener Noor Ali hitting a breezy run-a-ball half century. Indian opener Murali Vijay's 48 anchored the innings, the game being won with 5.1 overs to spare.

Early today in St Lucia, India were playing South Africa and Australia were playing Pakistan in the big games from groups C and A respectively. Hosts the West Indies, having won their first game against Ireland, play England tomorrow in Guyana, while Sri Lanka meet Zimbabwe. Defeat for the Sri Lankans would eliminate them.