New Zealand seek to save grace at Wellington
The Black Caps would be going into the second and final Test against Pakistan at Wellington in a bid to redeem their lost stature in the cricket world after they suffered a humiliating defeat in the first Test played at Hamilton.
However, it’s not just the Pakistan team that the Kiwis have to worry about it’s the poor track record in Wellington that may also be on the minds of everyone in the New Zealand dressing room.
Since 2000, the hosts have won just three out of the thirteen Test matches that have been played at the Basin Reserve, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Wellington-c864. This is definitely not a favourable hunting ground for the hosts.
Daniel Vettori, the New Zealand skipper, while talking about the prospects of the game at Basin Reserve said, “I can’t really say, I think the reason for loving it is that it’s a pure cricket ground, you usually get a good crowd, the facilities are great,
and it just has that feeling you’re here to play cricket and nothing else”.
While the odds are against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/New-Zealand-c754, Vettori, was adamant that under the coaching of John Wright, the hosts would put up a better show in the second Test and would try to win the game.
He said, “I think what coach John Wright said was crucial. He’s hit the nail on the head on a number of occasions, we understand it was a poor performance but if we get too down in the dumps then we’re not going to rectify it here. Wright has brought in
that nice balance between tough words and building guys up”.
On the other hand the Pakistan outfit looked confident after their commendable performance in the first Test in Hamilton, where they won by 10 wickets, pulverising the hosts on the third day of the match.
Pakistan skipper, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Misbah-ul-Haq-c1972, said, “Confidence is the key in cricket, if your confidence is up you tend to perform well. Hopefully we can continue like that. We are determined to perform well and we just want to improve on our performance”.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 team coach, Waqar Younis, also seemed happy by the efforts of his squad. He said, “It's a new year and it's a new set up. I would definitely like to say the team is a lot hungrier than what I've seen in the past. It's a good unit so hopefully this
year will bring us good results".
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