Cricket: NZ 'can win' Champions Trophy

Daniel vettori. Photo / Herald on Sunday

The Black Caps have arrived in South Africa insisting they can win the Champions Trophy despite performing poorly in Sri Lanka this month.

New Zealand opens its campaign against the hosts in Centurion next Thursday.

Skipper Daniel Vettori says they have to be confident they can win the tournament.

He says whilst they did not play well in Sri Lanka, they know they are a good one day team and if they can play well in their warm-up games, hopefully some confidence will return to the camp.

Batting continues to be New Zealand's biggest problem. The Black Caps currently have four bowlers ranked in the world's top 20 for one day cricket, but Ross Taylor is the highest ranked batsman at the lowly 22 in the world.

Vettori says while several individuals have good batting averages, they have not been able to put it together as a team. He says they have not had partnerships of late in all formats and partnerships rather than individual performances will win the tournament.

The Black Caps have a warm-up game against a club side in Pretoria tonight and play another practice match against India on Sunday.

- NEWSTALK ZB