MUMBAI – New Zealand are brimming with new-found confidence after three wins on the trot took them into the quarter-finals of the World Cup, says opener Brendon McCullum.
New Zealand hammered Canada by 97 runs at the Wankhede Stadium on Sunday to become the second team from Group A to sail into the last eight. “We are slowly starting to play how we want to play and we move into the next game knowing that we have played well over the last couple of games,” McCullum said.
“The confidence is starting to seep into the team. That is something we desperately need. “We are proud of what New Zealand teams have been able to achieve in past World Cups — they consistently gave themselves the opportunity.” The Black Caps made it to the semi-finals twice in the last three World Cups in 1999 and 2007 despite starting as underdogs.
Their build-up to this edition was far from encouraging as they suffered series defeats at the hands of Bangladesh, India and Pakistan.
Before Sunday, they had defeated Kenya, Zimbabwe and Pakistan but lost against holders Australia. The manner of their triumph against Canada has now put them in good stead ahead of their last league outing against a strong Sri Lanka side on Friday.
“It was a key victory (against Canada),” said wicketkeeper-batsman McCullum who posted his first World Cup century to set up his team’s emphatic win. “We were able to play to roles we were trying to play to and execute the kind of skills we were hoping to achieve.
“Anytime you win, anytime you perform well, anytime that you get some confidence out of the game, that certainly helps. “When we came here we had gone through a pretty tough time back home (a 3-2 defeat to Pakistan). But none of that mattered once we arrived here. “It was a matter of making sure this team was able to go out and play its best cricket, each of us understood our roles.”
McCullum said new coach John Wright had been a huge influence behind the scenes. “Wright has been instrumental. He has been able to offer that experience and confidence to each player. We have seen this New Zealand team operate with a clear role which you can’t say about some New Zealand teams in the past. “The biggest turnaround is that we are going in with more confidence.”
