Daryl Mitchell mentions ‘Black Caps method’; what is it and can New Zealand find it against Pakan? | Cricket-world-cup News

Dark Bangalore clouds with a cool breeze wafting around can make the New Zealand players feel at home. Except they really can’t be. This scenic city’s undulating roads mirror their world cup campaign. After starting off with four successive wins, a run of three consecutive defeats has stuck New Zealand in the middle of nowhere, just like the city’s frenzied traffic, alongside Afghanan and Pakan, their opponents on Saturday.
Since the defeat to India, they lost a thriller to Australia before South Africa drilled a few new holes. The mounting injuries aren’t making it any easier. But unlike their opponents Pakan, who too endured a three-match losing streak before getting back on track against Bangladesh and still find themselves in a sea of chaos, there is a certain calmness in the New Zealand ranks.
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Despite being the most consent team in World Cups, New Zealand know that there won’t be any tremors if they miss out on a last four spot. For the outside world, they seem to reside in a never-never land where outcomes hardly matter and emotions remain in check.
“One thing we do as Kiwis is we stay pretty grounded,” says their in-form middle-order batsman Daryl Mitchell. “We stay where our feet are, and injuries are things that we can’t control. All I know is that the 11 guys that will take the field tomorrow will be very proud to represent our country and get stuck in a World Cup. And yeah, we won’t make it bigger than what it is. It’s another two points for this tournament, which is important for us in the big scheme of things, but we’ll just keep playing like Black Caps and Kiwis do, and I’m sure we’ll come a long way to winning the game,” he added.
But at times, they haven’t really been playing like Black Caps. Despite running Australia close, their fielding at Dharamsala was asmal. Against South Africa, they chose to bowl first against an opponent whose biggest strength has been to bat first. Their week in Bangalore would decide their fate – if they win two of their remaining matches against Pakan and Sri Lanka, they should make it through on a better NRR, even if Afghanan also end up on 12 points.
But they are without Matt Henry, the seamer who would have been pretty handy on this track with some live grass. Four others, including skipper Kane Williamson, Jimmy Neesham, Lockie Ferguson and Mark Chapman, are in the injury ward, even as Kyle Jamieson joined the squad as a replacement for Henry. While the injured four were scheduled to undergo fitness tests on Friday evening, a heavy downpour cut short New Zealand’s training session. The Kiwis might know about some of these players’ availability only on Saturday morning, which makes their preparations even more challenging.Most Read
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Somehow, just as the spotlight never shines on them when doing well, their chaotic losses too go unnoticed. now, it’s almost expected that they would reach semifinals of ICC tournaments.
Mitchell chose to invoke the method – the Black Caps way of playing — that has brought them success.
“Look, we’re a small country, down at the bottom of the earth, and for us it’s fighting for every ball, chasing every ball to the boundary, and doing the little things that we can control. The big stuff will look after itself if we’re clear on our roles, very detailed with how we go about our business, and you can work out our blueprint and our plan from that,” Mitchell said. They will have to find the missing blueprint on Saturday against Pakan; else things can quickly go to the bottom of the earth.