KEY POINTS:
Daniel Vettori believes New Zealand will need to negotiate a World Cup sprinkled with upset wins, toss-dependent results and bowler-friendly pitches if they're to finally lay their hands on the Cricket World Cup.
The New Zealand vice-captain seemed to confirm most suspicions yesterday when he spoke of his first impressions of the Caribbean conditions and, in particular, the newly laid pitches to be used throughout the tournament.
Speaking from Bridgetown, where New Zealand were preparing for this morning's final warm-up match against Sri Lanka, Vettori said the consensus among his and other teams was that it would be a bowler-dominated and low-scoring tournament.
"From what we've seen and after talking to others, it's shaping up as the sort of competition in which you win the toss, bowl first, make use of the early morning conditions and give yourself a marked advantage," he said.
"It reminds me of the conditions for the day games in the TVS tournament in India a few years ago, when the wickets were still damp from the overnight dew and offered a lot of help to the team bowling first."
Vettori, who reckoned 250 would more often than not be a winning score, said if his assessment was correct it would place a massive bearing on the toss, and provide more opportunities for the so-called lesser teams to cause upsets.
He predicted more shock results like New Zealand's warm-up defeat by rank outsiders Bangladesh if any of the eight major nations let down their guard.
The World Cup has enjoyed its share of surprises over the years, including Zimbabwe's win over Australia and England in 1983 and 1992, respectively; Bangladesh's win over Pakistan in 1999 and Kenya's triumph against Sri Lanka in 2003.
Vettori said if the conditions stayed similar around the region, New Zealand's Group C match against Kenya would be much tougher than many assumed.
"Kenya's one of the more decent teams going around in that second tier and there's no way you can underestimate them. On these sorts of wickets there's going to be some dire scraps and we've just got to make sure we come out on top.
"With the games starting at 9.30am, there's still a bit of overnight moisture around ... for the first 20 overs. Then [the pitches] dry out and start to turn, so it could mean a real challenge for the batsmen."
New Zealand begin their campaign proper against England in St Lucia on Saturday (NZT), after which they will square off against Kenya on the following Wednesday, and against Canada two days later.
Vettori, who joins coach John Bracewell and skipper Stephen Fleming on the tour selection panel, provided the first hint of New Zealand's thinking in terms of the most effective bowling combination, saying the slow bowlers could be critical in the conditions.
"My role won't change but the need to combine well with Jeetan Patel and Scott Styris through the middle stages of the innings will be crucial," he said.
"The guys who turn the ball or who bowl the cutters and change-ups are the ones who could be a real handful."
New Zealand were to fly to Kingston tomorrow to join the other 16 teams at the opening ceremony, before flying back across most of the Caribbean to St Lucia, where Canada and Kenya will begin the Group C hostilities on Thursday.
