KEY POINTS:
GROS ISLET, St Lucia - Ross Taylor is moving more freely but it is still too soon to gauge his recovery time from a hamstring strain he suffered while top scoring against Kenya in yesterday's group C cricket World Cup mismatch.
Taylor has already been ruled out of
New Zealand's final group match with Canada tomorrow (Fri 1.30am NZT start) but is hopeful he will be available to return against the West Indies in Antigua on March 29 -- the first of six games the Black Caps will play in the Super Eights format to determine the semifinalists.
The 23-year-old looms as a key component of the second phase of the campaign, underlining his status as a long term mainstay of the top order with a man-of-the-match winning 85 before Kenya were thrashed by 148 runs at Beausejour Stadium yesterday.
Coach John Bracewell was confident Taylor's strain was at the lower end of the severity scale and took heart from the Black Caps' schedule allowing a fairly long recuperation period once they arrive in Antigua on Friday (Sat NZT).
"We've got a six-day lead in to the next game," Bracewell said.
"We're hopeful his improvement continues -- he's walking quite freely -- and the injury is not as harsh as some of these things can be."
Meanwhile, Mark Gillespie will again be unavailable as he makes a painstaking recovery from a viral infection that affected the nerves in his right arm.
Gillespie has been confined to net bowling since his arrival in the Caribbean, with throwing the one aspect holding him back from coming into contention for selection.
There are still no plans to call in a replacement ahead of the Super Eights stage, although the Black Caps are effectively carrying him -- a situation that could be complicated if another seam bowler breaks down in what looms as a tough programme of matches before the top four is settled late next month.
Gillespie was prescribed steroids to cure the debilitating bout of brachial neuritis which was diagnosed after the team landed in Barbados on February 28.
"He's seeing a doc again today," Bracewell said.
"He bowled for a little while (yesterday) but his shoulder started to ache. He's on anti-inflammatories."
Meanwhile, Bracewell said it was vital for New Zealand to continue their "uncompromising" approach against a Canadian side poised for the trip home.
"You need to be quite uncompromising in the way you go about your business. It'll be another measure of that for us tomorrow."
Counterpart Andy Pick, whose year-long tenure effectively ends tomorrow, also had a simplistic goal: "I'd like to get 200 at least, that will be three decent scores on the board."
Canada scored an insufficient 199 against Kenya and posted 228 for seven in their other loss to England.
- NZPA
