Cricket: Fleming gets his first wish

New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming got the first of two wishes yesterday: he wanted to meet India at Mohali in the semifinal of the Champions Trophy and the Mohali part came true.

The Black Caps flew from the northern venue to Delhi on Friday evening but, after South Africa's crushing of Pakistan lifted them above New Zealand in Group B, it means Fleming and his team can make a 180-degree turn and return to the venue to prepare for Wednesday's semifinal.

The Black Caps have played two and won two at the Punjab Cricket Association ground, the latest their 500th one-day international last Thursday.

His wish to meet India could already have vanished. The West Indies were to meet England in Ahmedabad overnight and if the suddenly impressive Windies prevailed, it is they the Black Caps will meet.

If England surprised, then the Black Caps will meet the winner of tonight's match between Australia and India at Mohali. A tie and it will be the Windies.

"Playing India is always nice," Fleming told the Herald on Sunday, "and to play them in India is a lot of fun. The atmosphere is great so we'd certainly like to play them."

Mohali has been kind to the Black Caps but the victory over pakistan was achieved only after a gutsy partnership of 108 between Fleming and Scott Styris.

"We're more familiar with the pacy side of things, with the ball moving around early," Fleming said. "The adjustments you have to make while batting are more familiar to us."

On the West Indies, Fleming said he wasn't as surprised as the rest of the cricketing world by their renaissance. The defending champions have had a lean time since the 2004 tournament in England, but Fleming never lost respect for their abilities.

"I could get quite cynical about this and say they were a good side when they came to New Zealand this year but everybody wrote them off." New Zealand won the three-test series 2-0 and the ODIs 4-1. "We played some excellent cricket to beat them and that possibly wasn't recognised at the time."

Fleming talks a lot about the lack of respect for New Zealand. That is never going to change while he leads his team in low-profile series and until they start winning consistently overseas in both forms of the game.

But what Fleming does have is the strongest side he has been able to call on as he approaches 10 years in the job. Indeed, there are few sides that at once have at their disposal a champion spearhead (Shane Bond); a world-class spinner (Daniel Vettori); a world-class keeper-batsman (Brendon McCullum); a genuine allrounder (Jacob Oram) and two batsmen with upwards of 11,000 international runs - (Fleming 13,898 and Nathan Astle 11,611).

"We're lucky at the moment in terms of injuries because we've had out frustrations with those in the past. But what that's meant is we have exposed young guys to international cricket and they've grown into it."

Despite New Zealand's strong showing, there is an undeniable feeling their ability to set competitive totals still rests too heavily upon Fleming's shoulders.

He has made 80s twice and New Zealand won, he made a duck against Sri Lanka and they struggled. On a testing Mohali wicket, Fleming's poise will again be critical.

"My form is not as crisp as it should be," he admitted. "There's the odd play-and-miss and inside edge here and there. I feel my form can get better... but that doesn't necessarily translate into more runs."

At present, he said, nobody had been ruled out though Styris and Bond are still in the recovery process.

Astle needs 39 more runs to join Fleming as the only members of New Zealand's 7000 ODI runs club, and one more wicket to become the 11th New Zealander to take 100 ODI wickets.