Sydney, Oct 21: The Super 12 stage of the Men’s T20 World Cup will open up with the re-match of the 2021 final at Dubai between Australia and New Zealand at a full-house Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) on Saturday.
As another chapter of the trans-tasman rivalry awaits cricket fans, the eyes of both Australia and New Zealand will be on the skies apart from the pitch and on-field conditions with 90% rain forecast threatening to disrupt the proceedings.
“We haven’t seen the pitch either. It was covered all this morning. We won’t confirm an 11 just yet because, if it’s short, then it will be likely to change. So we just have to wait and see tomorrow much closer to the match and have a look at the pitch,” said New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson on rain being a factor at a conference.
As per Australia skipper Aaron Finch, the defending champions’ and hosts’ might have to rejig their batting strategies. “Probably it’s just more shuffling the batting order. We’ve got some power all the way through our order, so we feel as though you can probably map out how an opposition’s going to bowl or use their resources a little bit more so you can try and get the matchups in your favour as much as you can.”
“You do put so much time and effort into planning for all scenarios. So, you have to be flexible. And the thing about rain affecting the game, how much is it affected? If it’s two overs, it doesn’t make that much of a difference. If it’s a five over game, that makes a huge difference.” (IANS)
