Brendon McCullum banks on warm-up match to help Kiwis secure Test series win – Cricket News Update
Following the drubbing they received at the hands of the West Indies during the limited-overs leg of their tour, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/BB-McCullum-c1129 has expressed the hope that his side will use their warm-up match against the West Indies Cricket Board
President's XI to get their act together as they attempt to emerge triumphant in the Test series.
The warm-up match is being played at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in North Sound, Antigua from July 20 to 22 – the same venue which will host the 2-match Test series, with the first match due to be played from July 25 to 29, while the second will take
place from August 2 to 6.
“The wicket is obviously a lot slower here in Antigua and it seems to spin a lot – the practice wickets have spun considerable amount, and they've also bounced as well,” McCullum observed. “They've obviously got some good spinners as well which is going
to pose a few threats as well but we've got to try and overcome those if we're going to be successful in this series.”
The limited-overs leg of their ongoing tour of the United States and the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/West-Indies-c760 proved to be a disaster for the Kiwis. They lost the T20I series 0-2, and were defeated 1-4 in the ODIs. Factors such as lack of match practice (they had played their last
series in March this year, and were unable to afford a preparatory camp), and the absence of experienced players such as McCullum and skipper http://www.senore.com/Cricket/LRPL-Taylor-c1849 (who sustained a shoulder strain during the first T20I) were offered as reasons behind the poor performances.
The Windies, however, rode to victory on the basis of stellar batting performances by http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Sunil-Philip-Narine-c91869. While the Kiwis managed a decent bowling performance,
with pacer http://www.senore.com/Cricket/TG-Southee-c2659 finishing as the series’ second-highest wicket-taker, the batting was appalling, with the batsmen struggling visibly against the Windies’ onslaught.
However, McCullum remained hopeful regarding the team’s chances in the upcoming Test series, claiming the warm-up match would enable them to tweak their performance.
“Hopefully if we can right the areas we didn't quite get right during this series [and] over the remainder of the summer then we'll be able to achieve some pretty good things,” McCullum said.
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