By Richard Boock
CARDIFF - The New Zealand cricketers reckon staging the World Cup on bowler-friendly pitches is good for cricket.
Kiwi captain Stephen Fleming said it was a pleasant change, though no less a challenge, to be playing at venues which make batting more difficult, and bowling more influential.
Speaking directly after his side's upset win over second favourites Australia, Fleming told a packed press conference that the batsmen had been having it too good for too long.
"I like the way the ball's had more impact on this tournament than is usually the case," he said. "We've become used to the bat dominating, but there's no reason why the bowlers shouldn't play more of a part - it still makes for exciting cricket.
"The reason we were able to restrict Australia was because we kept taking wickets. We took early wickets, and we kept taking wickets at crucial times."
Fleming hoped to know later today the extent of the hamstring strain suffered by Craig McMillan, who batted through most of his innings with a runner, and will have to make a quick recovery if he is to be considered for the West Indies match on Monday.
Australian captain Steve Waugh said the loss was bitterly disappointing for his side, particularly as New Zealand were close to being out of the game at 49 for four, when man-of-the-match Roger Twose was joined by Chris Cairns.
Waugh's decision to bat first was questioned by some, but he said he believed 213 runs on a sporting pitch should have been successfully defended.
"We should have perhaps scored another 20 or 30 runs but we still had our chances during New Zealand's reply and can only blame ourselves for what happened," he said.
"Our form's got to improve because we need to win our last three pool games to be safe, and that's quite a challenge. But we're certainly not going to put too much store in this one performance. We played poorly, but it's just one game."
The veteran one-day campaigner paid his dues to the New Zealand effort, and particularly to the eye-catching batting of allrounder Chris Cairns, who hit three sixes in his knock of 60.
"Cairns played really well today. Not many teams have players with his type of striking power. He was hard to stop and I know some more teams will have trouble with him before this tournament's out."
