Trendsetter of the day Tim Southee’s first delivery of the day, to England’s overnight stalwart, Stuart Broad. Broad’s 42 had helped rescue England from their mid-innings nadir of 147 for 6, but in a portent of collapses to come, he was unable to push on when play resumed. Southee found the perfect line and length, and a hint of away movement, and Brendon McCullum did the rest. Twenty-four balls later, England’s innings was all over, and the teenaged Southee led his side from the field with figures of 5 for 55, the best by a New Zealand debutant for more than 50 years. As he did so, he was thrown the match ball for safekeeping, which he rammed deep into his pockets. As well he might after that sort of effort.Misjudgement of the day There is a bet doing the rounds among the Kiwi journalists that Matthew Bell will not pass 30 at any stage in the series. Today he batted as if he was in for a cut of the winnings, with the most ludicrously awful misjudgement since the England media manager losthis middle stump to Matthew Hoggard on the eve of the Test. The ball did swing appreciably, but quite why Bell thought it wise to shoulder arms to a straight one is anyone’s guess. In the event, he was cracked on the kneeroll plumb in front of middle, and sent on his way for a second-ball duck.Flighty fifty of the day Stephen Fleming’s fifty-to-hundred conversion rate has been a source of wonder, frustration and bemusement all throughout his 14-year Test career. He’s somehow managed to pass 7000 Test runs (and rack up three big double-centuries) without taking his centuries tally into double figures. Today’s innings, however, showed just how this could be possible. For the best part of a session, Fleming was invincible. He cut and drove the new ball with disdain, and threatened single-handedly to carry New Zealand to an impregnable total. But then, just as thoughts began to drift to a fairytale finish, Fleming wrenched the situation back to reality. A half-cocked waft outside off stump, and off he ambled for a microcosmic 59.Bowling spell of the day Amid the mayhem, one man stood tall like a beacon of rectitude. Ryan Sidebottom has been the stand-out seamer on either side in this series. Defiant in defeat in Hamilton, quietly competent while the young guns starred in Wellington, and now the indisputable leader of the line in Napier. He bowled without a break all the way from lunch to the close of the innings, taking 6 for 37 in 14.4 overs, and 7 for 47 all told. They were the best figures by an England bowler since a certain Steve Harmison took 7 for 12 in Jamaica four years ago, and they carried his series tally to a remarkable 23 wickets at 14.21, more than double the next most prolific bowler, Chris Martin (10).Catch of the day It was an unremarkable lob to mid-off from an unremarkable tailender, Jeetan Patel, but the man beneath the catch was relieved nonetheless. Monty Panesar has had nothing less than a shocker in the field this series, and the roar that greeted his achievement was not merely English excitement at another wicket falling. Even in his moment of triumph, however, Monty managed to mess it up a touch. As his long fingers closed around the ball, he somehow managed to cut the tip of his left index finger – which could prove troublesome when his turn comes to bowl. Off he sprinted to the dressing-room to see the medics, almost before the batsman had managed to leave the crease.Swipe of the day England’s positive intent was their downfall in the first innings, but Michael Vaughan wasn’t about to let any such bad vibes cloud his judgment. This pitch was a belter when he assessed it on the first morning, and despite a five-session scoreline of 421 for 20, a belter it remained. So when Chris Martin banged in a good-length delivery just outside off stump, Vaughan had a monstrous mow at it, and almost swung himself off his feet as he aimed towards the midwicket floodlights. Unfortunately for him, the ball zipped a little quicker off the track than he’d expected, and brushed the shoulder of the bat to complete an underwhelming Test for England’s captain.
For the second time in five days, New Zealand’s well-oiled bowling attack turned in a clinical bowling display, beating Bangladesh by nine wickets, and giving their team a foothold in the semi-finals of the World Cup. A target of 175 was never going to pose too many problems, not with Stephen Fleming sealing the nine-wicket win with an assertive century, his second in World Cups and eighth overall.Carrying on from where they had left off against West Indies, New Zealand’s varied pace attack refused to let up. Shane Bond’s incisiveness was complemented by Jacob Oram’s awkward lift and Scott Styris’s dibbly-dobblies as they snaffled ten wickets between them. Bangladesh’s batsmen came unstuck for the second match in a row – a frenzied collapse against Australia was followed by a lacklustre capitulation today – despite enjoying their best opening stand of the tournament. None of the top four converted their starts, giving it away when set, and left the underbelly exposed to the incisive New Zealand attack.Javed Omar, making his World Cup debut 11 years after his first ODI, and Tamim Iqbal, the youngster, provided Bangladesh the unhurried start they required, adding 55 in 16.4 overs. But Oram’s double-strike instigated a steep slide. Oram stuck to a back of a length, extracted uncomfortable bounce and hardly gave the batsmen room to maneuver. Tamim was once struck on the chest, being followed by a short one after trying to charge down the track, and, barring one aggressive crack across the line, couldn’t break free that often. He fell trying an overambitious scoop-paddle, dragging his back foot out of the crease and watching Brendon McCullum, standing up, whip off the bails in quick time. Omar edged a short one a couple of overs later and all their good work began to come apart.Bond opened up the floodgates with a couple of wickets on returning for his second spell before Styris, who bowled Mason’s quota of overs after he was injured, mopped up the tail with his nagging seamers. Aftab Ahmed’s dismissal typified Bangladesh’s day: mistiming a loft off Styris when well set, and holing out to long-off. Habibul Bashar joined in operation surrender, attempting a non-existent second run and being beaten by a direct hit from Oram, a sharp flat hit from deep third man.Saqibul and Mushfiqur had no answer to Bond detonators, losing their stumps by playing around full deliveries, before Mohammad Ashraful and Mashrafe Mortaza fell to Styris. It took a 34-run tenth wicket stand between Mohammad Rafique and Syed Rasel to lend the total some respectability.A target of 175 was always going to be within New Zealand’s range and they went about hunting it down with the ease associated with a stroll in the park. Fleming went about his business in a composed manner, putting away the wayward deliveries, clipping effortlessly off his pads and handling the left-arm spinners with ease. He shimmied down the track towards the latter part of his innings, lofting three sixes with minimum fuss.Giving him support was Hamish Marshall, in the side for the injured Lou Vincent. He took some time to get into his stride, especially against the fastish left-arm spin of Abdur Razzak, but finished with a flurry of fours. He grew in confidence as his innings went on and completed the match with a big six off part-time legspinner Ashraful .Their 134-run partnership had taken just 20 overs and was similar to the hammering Bangladesh received at the hands of Australia just a few days ago.
England’s bowlers, Simon Jones in particular, cranked up the pace andspectacularly turned an impending draw into a 238-run victory by routingCCI President’s XI in only 26.2 overs on the final day at the BrabourneStadium in Mumbai. Their effort came after Marcus Trescothick and IanBlackwell notched up fifties to boost England’s second-innings score to265.After playing most of the game with a practice-match attitude, Englandwere confident that 36 overs were enough to wrap up a win and bowled withdefinite intent. Jones, who in the first innings bowled with a MarkEalham-esque run up and pace, shared the new ball with Matthew Hoggard,bowled at a much faster clip and extracted appreciable bounce. He struckin his first over, trapping Robin Uthappa on the crease and snared VinitIndulkar with one that rose, to finish with 2 for 9 from five overs.Andrew Flintoff induced an edge off Sahil Kukreja’s half-hearted prod andat one stage bowled with four slips and two gullies. Hiken Shah took threeboundaries off Liam Plunkett before he played down the wrong line and losthis off stump.The President’s XI folded without a fight, losing their lastfive wickets for eight runs. They were no match for Stephen Harmison’ssteep bounce. Both Wilkin Mota and Kshemal Waingankar edged deliveriesthat got big on them from just short off a length to slip to 71 for 8.Monty Panesar and Ian Blackwell chipped in with two wickets apiece asEngland completed a very satisfactory victory after getting all thebatting practice they were looking for.The early-morning atmosphere was relaxed and the intensity was almost zeroas the batsmen approached the game with little more purpose than a netsession. Having missed the first innings due to illness, MarcusTrescothick made his recovery count. He had signed off in style on thesecond day, carting Aniket Redkar for four consecutive fours off the finalover, and he carried on in the same vein on the third day, lookingcompletely at ease against the fast bowlers. He pulled Abid Nabi forconsecutive fours to get going and followed up with crisp back-foot punches off Waingankar.On 44, he had a stroke of luck when Vinayak Samant dropped an edge offWaingankar but Trescothick didn’t let it faze him. He had a couple ofuncertain moments against Hitshu Bachani – surviving a bat-pad appeal andmissing a couple of sweeps – but replied with authority by lofting himover long-on for six and following up with a sweep for the same result.Blackwell followed up his four-wicket haul on the second day with ahalf-century and if he didn’t have a foot in the Test eleven before, hecertainly has one now. Blackwell treated Swapnil Hazare with disdain,slapping him to the point and midwicket fence and not bothering withanything wide. Hazare had a lot of aggression in his body language but waswoefully short of it in his bowling and was soon taken off. Blackwellswept the spinners powerfully to and over the midwicket boundary andshowed that he could hit straight as well with three hoicks that cleared theropes comfortably. But he tried one too many and holed out to long-on offHitshu Bachani on 59.Apart from Trescothick, Blackwell and Geraint Jones, who scored 30, none of the others got going. Kevin Pietersen, Michael Vaughan and Flintoff were all out to soft dismissals. Jones was stumped trying to charge down the track to Redkar in the first over after lunch and Trescothick holed out soon after. Blackwell and Plunkett, who made 26, posted 65 runs forthe ninth wicket and pushed the score to 265.How they were outCCI President’s XI Robin Uthappa lbw Simon Jones 4 (6 for 1) Vinit Indulkar c Andrew Flintoff b Simon Jones 0 (6 for 2)Sahil Kukreja c Geraint Jones b Andrew Flintoff 12 (35 for3) Hiken Shah b Liam Plunkett 21 (38 for 4)Hrishikesh Shende c Marcus Trescothick b Monty Panesar 8 (59 for5) Wilkin Mota c Geraint Jones b Stephen Harmison 17 (67 for 6) Vinayak Samanth c Shaun Udal b Monty Panesar 6 (71 for 7) Kshemal Waingankar c Geraint Jones b Stephen Harmison 0 (71 for8) Abid Nabi c Marcus Trescothick b Ian Blackwell 0 (75 for 9) Swapnil Hazare c Shaun Udal b Ian Blackwell 0 (75) England Kevin Pietersen run out Munish Ansari 10 (36 for 2) Michael Vaughan c Vinit Indulkar b Kshemal Waingankar 13 (67 for3) Andrew Flintoff c Samant b Munish Ansari 5 (79 for 4) Geraint Jones st Vinayak Samant b Aniket Redkar 30 (147 for 5) Marcus Trescothick c Hitshu Bachani b Aniket Redkar 88 (162 for 6) Ian Bell c Robin Uthappa b Nilesh Kulkarni 15 (194 for 7) Shaun Udal lbw Aniket Redkar 0 (199 for 8) Ian Blackwell c Wilkin Mota b Hitshu Bachani 59 (264 for 9) Liam Plunkett c Wilkin Mota b Hitshu Bachani 26 (265)
Yuvraj Singh, who was the 12th man in the ongoing second Test between India and Pakistan, will now turn out for Punjab in their Ranji Trophy semi-final at Mumbai, starting on March 18. Mohammad Kaif will fly to Kolkata to replace Yuvraj and would take the field if necessary.This is the first time Punjab have entered the semi-finals since 2001 and face a stern test against the defending champions Mumbai at the Wankhede Stadium. Mumbai have not lost a single game at home since 2001, when, fittingly, they lost to Punjab in the quarter-finals. Mumbai, though, have been unstoppable in the last three years and barring a minor blip against Madhya Pradesh earlier this season, where they conceded the first-innings lead, they have cruised through without any trouble.Yuvraj, though, has consistently shown the ability to lift sides that he turns out for – both Punjab and North Zone – and his presence would surely be a boost for a much-improved Punjab. Gagandeep Singh, Amit Uniyal and VRV Singh comprise a potent pace attack and Mumbai’s batting brigade might just be put to test for the first time this season.Hyderabad take on Railways in the other semi-final in Delhi. Hyderabad will be without the talismanic presence of VVS Laxman, who boosted them to the knock-out stage, but Ambati Rayudu and Daniel Manohar, two talented youngsters, may just pick up the baton. Railways, though, start as favourites with a number of their players leading Central Zone to the Duleep Trophy triumph earlier this month. Their fortunes will hinge on Jai Prakash Yadav and Sanjay Bangar, both capable of tilting the scales with both bat and ball.The semi-finals of the Plate Group also gets underway on the same day. Haryana play Jharkhand in Chandigarh while Himachal Pradesh host Services at Dharamsala. The finalists will be promoted to the Elite Group next season.
Rahul Dravid came to England intent upon doing justice to his role as one of Scotland’s overseas professionals, which was evident in his visible disappointment when he was out for 25 in his first game in the National Cricket League, against Hampshire. He made a first-ball duck in a tour game against Pakistan, but then unleashed a majestic 120 not out against Somerset. Scotland still lost that match, a scenario which was repeated a few days later against Nottinghamshire, when Dravid’s 129 not out wasn’t enough to earn them an upset victory. Dravid remained in sublime form, but the quality of his team-mates meant that his back was against the wall throughout the season. Scotland averagesAugust 28 National Cricket League Scotland lost to Sussex by 1 wicketDravid’s superb season with Scotland ended in disappointment, as Scotland batted first and Dravid made just 1. His fellow overseas pro, Jon Kent, also failed to reach double figures, and Scotland ended up with 191 in their 31 overs. Sussex won by the Duckworth-Lewis method after rain stopped play, though they were precariously placed at that stage, with just one wicket in hand and 19 runs to get. Scorecard ReportAugust 26 National Cricket League Scotland lost to Northamptonshire by 8 wicketsDravid made 24 off 45 as Scotland batted first and were skittled out for 119. Northamptonshire got there easily, for the loss of just two wickets. ScorecardAugust 6 National Cricket League Scotland lost to Northamptonshire by 75 runsDravid scored a magnificent 114 – his third century of the season – but, like his two previous hundreds, this one was in a losing cause as well, as Northamptonshire triumphed by 75 runs. Dravid knock was laced with eight fours and a six, and came off just 102 balls, but with little support from the rest of the batsmen, the target of 320 was way beyond Scotland’s reach. Scorecard ReportAugust 4 National Cricket League Scotland lost to Hampshire by 7 wicketsJust the previous day Dravid and Jon Kent had won Scotland a game, and here again they added 103 runs to lift Scotland to 225 for 5 in their 45 overs. Dravid made 81 off 99 balls, with eight fours. John Crawley’s 83 not out won Hampshire the match, but Scotland’s overseas pros had, once again, gained them some respect.. Scorecard ReportAugust 3 National Cricket League Scotland beat Sussex by 6 wicketsA magnificent victory for Scotland, fashioned by its overseas pros, Dravid and Jon Kent. Chasing 270, Scotland added 57 for the first wicket, before three wickets fell without the addition of a run. Dravid and Kent then added 167 runs before Dravid was out for an efficient 69, off 79 balls, with seven fours. Kent stayed unbeaten with 115 as Scotland won by six wickets. Scorecard ReportJuly 9 National Cricket League Scotland lost to Lancashire by 10 wicketsScotland sank to yet another defeat, with Dravid making a bright 26 off 30 balls before being caught behind off fast bowler John Wood, who took 4 for 22 as Scotland laboured to 168 in their allotted 39 overs. Lancashire got there with ten overs, and as many wickets, to spare. Scorecard ReportJuly 7 National Cricket League Scotland lost to Durham by 114 runsShoiab Akhtar blew Scotland apart with four early wickets after Durham made 267. Dravid evaded Shoaib’s menace, but made only 5, the fifth man out with Scotland’s score on just six. Scotland’s lower order salvaged some pride by taking the score to 153, but all in all, it was an awful outing for both Dravid and Scotland. ScorecardJuly 6 National Cricket League Scotland lost to Nottinghamshire by four wicketsDravid played a sublime innings of 129 not out, but like his previous century for Scotland, this too went in vain. Coming to the crease at 7 for 2, Dravid paced his innings masterfully as wickets fell around him. At 40 for 4, Scotland were in dire straits, but Dravid, hitting 14 fours and four sixes, counter-attacked magnificently on a wicket that offered generous assistance to the fast bowlers. Scotland finished on 222 for 7 in their 45 overs, and were in the hunt for a while, until Chris Cairns took the game away for Nottinghamshire with an unbeaten 65. Scorecard ReportJune 17 National Cricket League Scotland lost to Middlesex by 112 runsMiddlesex made 255 and Scotland was never in the game, slipping to 36 for 5. Dravid was lbw to Ashley Noffke for 6. None of Scotland’s top five made it to double figures. Scorecard ReportJune 15 National Cricket League Scotland lost to Somerset by 1 wicketDravid made a magnificent 120 not out off 97 balls to take Scotland to a commanding 296 for 4 in their allotted 45 overs. The quality of their bowling was appalling though, and Somerset overhauled the target with five balls and one wicket to spare. Dravid’s innings was magnificently paced: his first fifty came off 57 balls, his next fifty off 34, and he reached his hundred with a six. In all, Dravid hit 10 fours and three sixes.Scorecard ReportJune 7 Tour match Scotland lost to Pakistan by 1 wicketDravid made a first-ball duck – caught behind of Shabbir Ahmed, as Scotland, asked to bat after Pakistan won the toss, made 169. Pakistan made a meal of the chase, eventually squeaking through by just one wicket. Scorecard ReportJune 1 National Cricket League Scotland lost to Hampshire by 7 wicketsDravid seemed upset with himself when he was out for 25, off 41 balls, and with good reason. With his dismissal, Scotland could make no more than 201 in their 45 overs, which was not enough to hold off Hampshire. Robin Smith made 82 not out as Hampshire won with two overs to spare. Scorecard Report
Chasing a nigh-impossible 469 for victory, Jammu & Kashmir foundthemselves at 128/3 on Day Three of their Ranji Trophy league matchagainst Delhi at the Feroze Shah Kotla grounds in Delhi.The home side, overnight on 46/1, were propelled to a good total of316/4, a score that enabled them to declare and push for a win.Skipper Mithun Manhas, batting first with Pradeep Chawla (52) and thenwith Sohail Rauf (81) made 128 off just 132 balls, with 18 fours andone six.The Delhi batsmen scored their runs in a hurry, with the 316 comingoff 59 overs in just 242 minutes, leaving the visiting bowlinghapless. Jammu & Kashmir were, at the close of play, staring down thebarrel at 128/3. Kavaljit Singh on 54 and Guru Pratap Singh on 6 werethe batsmen at the crease.
Ricky Ponting has spoken out strongly against the looming day-night Test match to be played in Adelaide between Australia and New Zealand, reckoning that the experimental format and pink ball will have to stand up to the scrutiny of the players involved if it is ever to have the credibility of the existing five-day game.On the night he was inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame in Melbourne, Ponting said the Cricket Australia-driven concept was something he had always opposed. This was largely due to his belief that Test match cricket should be kept as the purest possible contest between bat and ball, while the game’s two other formats served as greater vehicles for entertainment and night-time events.”I’ve actually been against it the whole time,” Ponting said. “I mean I understand the reasons behind wanting to innovate and wanting to be different, but at the same time I think Test cricket is all about history and tradition as far as I’m concerned.”But I guess the game has to go on and move forward. It will be interesting to see what the players make of it all and how much they enjoy the occasion. That’s what it comes down to at the end of the day, the players have to want to enjoy it and have to want to be a part of it and want to make it something extra special and let’s hope it works out that way.”‘I think Test cricket is all about history and tradition as far as I’m concerned’ – Ricky Ponting•Getty Images
Earlier this week, Ponting gave evidence via video link in the perjury trial of Chris Cairns. While unwilling to comment any further on the trial, he said Australia had been a leader in educating players about the murky world of spot-fixing and that he was eager to ensure the game continued to be closely monitored for any evidence of impropriety.”The way the game is it maybe does open itself up to more of that kind of thing because there is so much spot betting and so many things that you can bet on,” Ponting said. “Don’t worry, everyone is doing their absolute utmost to keep on top of that stuff, but as we know at the end of the day it’s the players, it comes down to the players.”I know that everything that’s been done within Cricket Australia has been absolutely first class, we’d be leading the world in so far as that sort of education is concerned so all we can do is make sure that we keep doing the right thing and make sure we keep our players out of it all.”As for the summer ahead, Ponting predicted that the captain Steven Smith would drop down to No. 4 in the batting order, with Usman Khawaja at No. 3 and the young West Australian batsman Cameron Bancroft slotting in alongside David Warner at the top of the order.He spoke with some pride at his induction into the hall of fame, which also features the likes of fellow Tasmanian David Boon, Richie Benaud and Dennis Lillee. “Something like this once you are retired it gives you a chance to sit back and think about all the things you were able to do and wins you were able to have and things like that,” he said.”Even just coming here and sitting at the stands now and thinking about some of the great things that happened out there is nice. And I’ve done a little, I wouldn’t say research, but I’ve read up on the Sports Australia Hall of Fame and the history behind it and it’s a pretty select group of people or members that I’ve been inducted into.”
Fabio Paratici and co apparently have a €13 million (£11m) option to buy Gollini but Corriere della Sera’s print edition (via Sport Witness) say this isn’t an option for Spurs due to his lack of playing time.
As such, they now claim he will ‘almost certainly’ leave N17 and return to parent his club Atalanta in June.
Backing this update and sharing news of their own, Goal have brought a development.
The Latest: Gollini talks held…
According to their information, Serie A giants Lazio have already moved for Gollini ahead of the summer – meeting with the player’s agents and the club holding talks in ‘recent days’.
It is believed they are focused ‘above all’ on signing Tottenham’s current shot stopper who Goal also back looks certain to leave.
They claim Gollini is highly unlikely to reach the 20 appearances needed to trigger an obligation-to-buy clause in his deal and add that Spurs aren’t willing to exercise another option to buy him outright.
The Verdict: Unfortunate…
While Spurs supporters won’t be losing sleep over Gollini’s exit due to his lack of playing time, it is unfortunate that the Italian has spent so much of this season on fringes.
The former Aston Villa man hasn’t been handed many opportunities to prove himself by Antonio Conte despite his terrific form at Atalanta over the past few seasons.
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Serie A football journalist Carlo Garganese lauded Gollini as a ‘big’ and ‘imposing’ shot stopper at the Gewiss Stadium but Tottenham’s faithful have hardly got to capture a glimpse of those labels.
Tottenham defender Eric Dier also called the 26-year-old ‘amazing’ whilst praising his energy in Hotspur Way training, leaving some to maybe wonder why Conte has never given his compatriot the opportunity to impress more regularly.
In other news: Tottenham official sent to club as Conte now eyes ‘monster’ player who wanted to join in 2020, find out more here.
The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) is planning measures, including staging additional Twenty20 internationals, to keep the country’s top players from being lured towards the Indian Premier League (IPL). England’s stars earn basic salaries of approximately ₤ 400,000, in addition to endorsement deals, but stand to gain enhanced win bonuses and appearance fees from additional Twenty20 internationals that the board plans to arrange, the reported.It is also believed that the 18 counties and leading venues, who have also been warned against hosting unofficial events, stand to gain financially. In an attempt to prevent players from flocking overseas to profitable Twenty20 tournaments the ECB has urged the counties to put their players on 12-month contracts rather than season-long ones. The ECB may also accept an offer from Allen Stanford, the American billionaire and brains behind the lucrative Stanford 20/20 in the Caribbean, who is reportedly willing to pay big bucks for a match between England players and his all-star XI.The ECB chairman, Giles Clarke, arrived in New Zealand after a meeting of the 12-man management board in London on Wednesday and is expected to brief the touring party on the details of the plans.The news came a day after Lalit Modi, the IPL chairman, indicated that dates for future events could be altered to accommodate England players. Nobody from the country has joined the IPL yet because it clashes with their domestic season. The ECB however, has decided to prevent that scenario from cropping up.Another idea under consideration is that the ECB changes the one-overseas-player-per-country rule to four for the next year, where Twenty20 matches are considered.Kevin Pietersen has reiterated his commitment to England and Matthew Hoggard, who said the IPL was a topic of discussion within the team, followed suit. “There’s a lot of stupid money flying about and I understand why a lot of people have gone to India to ply their trade,” he said. “If you are getting four or five times your salary for six weeks’ work, it can’t be a bad job.”But I want to play for England and play as many Tests as I can. Most of the guys want to play as much as they can for England, so I don’t think it’s going to be a massive draw on talent. But the IPL has got a lot of clout and maybe the International Cricket Council has realised that fact.”
Stephen Fleming said New Zealand’s task of remaining in form for six weeks would be a challenge but the length of the World Cup meant no side would go through undefeated. Bangladesh upset New Zealand in their opening warm-up game but Fleming and Lou Vincent led the team to a good win over Sri Lanka three days later.Fleming said following on from New Zealand’s unprecedented 3-0 victory over Australia in the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy, the loss to Bangladesh served as a wake-up call. “What it does show is we can’t afford to have a good week here and there – we have to be on song for two months and that’s always been a challenge for this side,” Fleming told .”You have to come down a little bit to come back and the Bangladesh loss did that,” Fleming said. “If we hadn’t bounced back and beat Sri Lanka, who are close to favourites, I’d be concerned, but we did so I’m looking forward.”Fleming said the Super Eights format would mean it was even harder for a team to win the tournament without dropping a game than in 2003. However, in that World Cup, Australia won all of their 11 matches and this year, a side would also need to win 11 to have a perfect record.”The winner here is going to lose games,” Fleming said in . “Form at the right time, winning key moments and key games will be crucial.”He said Australia’s five straight losses leading up to the Caribbean proved there were “no clear favourites”. “[The Chappell-Hadlee series] gave us the confidence that we needed,” Fleming said. “We were doing a lot of things both on and off the field which were spot-on but the performances on weren’t reflecting that.”New Zealand begin their World Cup campaign on Friday when they meet England in St Lucia. Peter Fulton, the batsman who broke his little finger in the warm-up game against Sri Lanka, was optimistic he could play on Friday if required.