St John`s (Antigua), March 30: Despite his team`s second successive loss in Super Eights, the West Indies captain Brian Lara remains confident of clinching a semifinal berth at the World Cup.
"I know what we have to do. We have to four out of four matches next to qualify. We can do it," Lara said after a seven-wicket thumping by New Zealand at Sir Vivian Richards
stadium on Thursday.
Put in to bat, the hosts were bundled out for 177 in 44.3 overs before the black caps overhauled the target with more than 10 overs to spare.
Lara said the toss made some difference but only so much.
"It did play a small part but at 60-1 we were in a strong position. Then we lost three wickets and that set us back. It was a good toss to win," he said.
"A total of 250-plus would have been nice on the wicket. But if you can`t get there, 225-230 should be the minimum," Lara said of the pitch that offered abundant help to the new
ball bowlers.
Winning skipper Stephen Fleming credited the victory to his bowlers - Shane Bond, Jacob Oram and Daniel Vettori all picked up three wickets each.
"The bowlers created the pressure and that set up the innings," Fleming, who made a valuable 45, said.
"Oram is a tall guy and extracts bounce unlike others. The first 10-20 overs was crucial for us and then we concentrated on putting pressure to take wickets."
Fleming was wary of their next opponents, Bangladesh.
"It is a tricky game. They beat us in the warm-up match," he said.
New Zealand lost Peter Fulton and Hamish Marshall cheaply but Fleming was happy with the batting performance.
"We took a pretty conservative approach," he said.
Scott Styris, who hit an unbeaten 80 to see his team past the finish line, was happy with the way he overcame a rusty start.
"I`m not sure why (I struggled initially). But chasing 177 we had a lot of time. There was no need to take any risk," he said.
Man of the Match Oram was happy that his bowling was beginning to get into a groove.
"I am happy with my batting but bowling had not been so good. It came good today. With Shane bond piling the pressure at the other end, I was able to take wickets."
Bureau Report
