JOHANNESBURG - New Zealand's cricketers are confidently eyeing three wins out of three in the Super Six -- including Australia and India -- after their World Cup Houdini escape.
New Zealand returned to the staunch Afrikaner city of Bloemfontein today with a three-day build-up before their match on Saturday against surprise
qualifiers Zimbabwe -- who got there courtesy of a washout against Pakistan in Bulawayo yesterday.
The Black Caps were just as fortunate, though, as rain in Durban on Monday saw them sneak past South Africa, whose match against Sri Lanka ended in a rain-affected tie.
The self-belief in the New Zealand side appears as strong as ever, if the players' comments were anything to go by.
Allrounder Scott Styris, who featured again in Monday's pool match against Canada with an innings of 54 off 38 balls as New Zealand raced after their winning target, said no team would hold fears for them.
"In the end there's a lot of relief and the guys were able to relax a lot more and know that in some ways the hardest part has been done. We can just focus on playing good cricket against good teams again," Styris said.
"If we win two out of three that should be enough for the semifinals. But we've had recent success against India, even Australia, so three out of three isn't out of the question."
The tournament's form team, Australia, at least showed they were fallible on Sunday when England reduced them to tatters in Port Elizabeth before another heroic innings from Michael Bevan saw them home by two wickets.
New Zealand also play Australia in Port Elizabeth next Tuesday and a rejuvenated India at Centurion -- on one of the best batting pitches in world cricket -- next Friday.
A second or third-placed finish would be best for the New Zealanders, who start the Super Six on just four points -- one each for their wins over non-qualifiers South Africa, the West Indies, Bangladesh and Canada.
Australia, meanwhile, start with 12 points, four each for wins over fellow pool B qualifiers India and Zimbabwe, and four for beating non-qualifiers England, Pakistan, Holland and Namibia.
They are likely to finish top Super Six qualifiers and their semifinal in Port Elizabeth will be against the fourth-placed side -- something New Zealand would want to avoid.
Styris said the side were all eyeing a flight home midway through South Africa's match against Sri Lanka.
"It was very tense, very emotional, there was a lot of abuse towards the umpires for not calling the game off earlier when it was raining.
"It would have been a travesty to go home having lost only one game. No other team in our pool had done that.
"When it was confirmed it was fantastic, a great moment. The guys were ecstatic we could celebrate some success. We made it ahead of some very good teams but we deserve to be there."
Fellow allrounder Andre Adams, who kept his career strike rate above 100 with an innings of 36 off 20 balls but was hammered by Canadian opener John Davison, said the side had experienced all the emotions in a few days.
"Everything goes through your mind. We've been through hell the last few days, it's been massive.
"It's the biggest thing you go through as a cricketer and you don't even want to entertain the thought of going home."
New Zealand will today check the status of batsman Lou Vincent's dislocated thumb and pace bowler Kyle Mills' strained hamstring, which ruled both out of the match against Canada.
The temptation, though, may be to play an unchanged side against Zimbabwe, with Chris Harris likely to be effective on the slow pitch that undid New Zealand in their opening match against Sri Lanka.
Harris also did the job with the bat against Canada with 38 off 29 balls.
- NZPA
JOHANNESBURG - New Zealand's cricketers are confidently eyeing three wins out of three in the Super Six -- including Australia and India -- after their World Cup Houdini escape.
New Zealand returned to the staunch Afrikaner city of Bloemfontein today with a three-day build-up before their match on Saturday against surprise
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