September 23 Monday 2002
Fleming wants NZ to make amends

COLOMBO: New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming wants his team to make amends for their disappointing performance against Australia with a convincing win over Bangladesh in the Champions Trophy on Monday.

New Zealand won the event in Kenya in 2000 but saw their chances of retaining the trophy disappear in a 164-run loss to Australia, their heaviest defeat in 85 one-day internationals against their arch rivals.

"I can't stress enough how disappointed we were with that first game," Fleming told on Sunday. "Now it's a case of getting back to business with guys keen to put things right and head home with at least one good performance under their belts." Bangladesh are the minnows of pool one and senior international cricket with just three one-day wins.

But Fleming said New Zealand would not be taking them lightly. "It's a case of getting the job done here," he added. "We've experimented a lot over the past 12 months and learnt a lot so now it's time to cement players in their areas.

"We've got a tour here next year so we've been trying to develop our ability to play spin on Sri Lankan wickets." said Fleming. "It's not often you have eight days together as a group on foreign territory so we've tried to make the most of it."

New Zealand's one injury doubt is seamer Paul Hitchcock. He was not risked against Australia because of an elbow injury picked up in a practice match against South Africa, but Fleming said he was in contention to face Bangladesh.

Bangladesh coach Moshin Kamal is optimistic his players can compete despite their poor record. Just three wins and a nine-wicket hammering by Australia illustrate the gulf between them and the leading international teams.

"The boys in the middle order showed some ability...and we showed we could go higher if we hadn't lost early wickets," said Kamal. "We had a target of 200 or 210 against Australia but losing those wickets to the new ball, that's our biggest problem."

Kamal took over early in 2002 after a disastrous run of results. He has replaced senior players with youngsters and firmly believes they will eventually be competitive at the highest level.

"It's been 3-1/2 or four months since I came in and we've identified a couple of players like Alok Kapali, Talha Jubair and Tushar Imran," he said. "The talent is there, you can't deny it, but it's a long-term investment." Teams:

New Zealand (from): Stephen Fleming (captain), Nathan Astle, Shane Bond, Chris Harris, Paul Hitchcock, Kyle Mills, Chris Nevin, Jacob Oram, Mathew Sinclair, Scott Styris, Glen Sulzberger, Daryl Tuffey, Daniel Vettori, Lou Vincent.

Bangladesh (from): Khaled Mashud (captain), Alok Kapali, Al-Sahariar, Fahim Muntasir, Habibul Bashar, Javed Omar, Khaled Mahmud, Manjural Islam, Mazharul Haque, Mohammad Ashraful, Mohammad Rafique, Talha Jubair, Tapash Baishya, Tushar Imran.

Umpires: David Shepherd (Eng) and Asoka de Silva (SL). TV umpire: Srinivas Venkataraghavan (Ind). Reserve umpire: Steve Bucknor (WI). Match referee: Gundappa Vishwanath (Ind).