FLEMING: Warns team against complacency

Benoni: Stephen Fleming’s New Zealand go into Monday’s World Cup match against Canada knowing even a huge win in their last league outing may not secure them a place in the Super Sixes.

Even as the Black Caps take on the minnows, their attention will be focussed on another key game the same day between Sri Lanka and South Africa in Durban.

New Zealand will want the Sri Lankans to win, otherwise it could be an early flight home for Fleming’s men if the rest of the games don’t go their way.

As if the race for the next round from group B was not close enough, Kenya complicated it further by qualifying for the Super Sixes.

That leaves Sri Lanka, South Africa and New Zealand battling for the other two spots and the final placings are unlikely to be known before the last league match is over Tuesday.

With each team having a game in hand, Sri Lanka lead the table with 16 points, followed by South Africa and New Zealand on 12 each. The Black Caps, who lost their opening game to Sri Lanka, played their best cricket to defeat both South Africa and the West Indies.

That should have been enough to see them through to the next round, except the decision to forfeit the game against Kenya in Nairobi on February 21 has returned to haunt them.

“All we can do is try and win our last game because we’re just passengers now,” Fleming said. “There are some scenarios, including run rates, that we can try and improve but, like everyone else, we’ll just have to sit back and watch events unfold.”

New Zealand are almost certain to field first, if they win the toss, to secure a big win over Canada and improve the run rate.

New Zealand will be without batsman Lou Vincent and seamer Kyle Mills, who were injured during training on Friday.

Vincent dislocated his left thumb while Mills suffered a torn hamstring, almost certainly ruling both players out of the Super Sixes if the Black Caps qualify.

TEAMS

New Zealand (from): Stephen Fleming (capt.), Andre Adams, Nathan Astle, Shane Bond, Chris Cairns, Chris Harris, Brendon McCullum, Craig McMillan, Kyle Mills, Jacob Oram, Matthew Sinclair, Scott Styris, Daryl Tuffey, Daniel Vettori, Lou Vincent.

Canada (from): Joseph Harris (capt.), Ashish Bagai, Ian Billcliff, Desmond Chumney, Austin Codrington, John Davison, Nicholas de Groot, Nicholas Ifil, Davis Joseph, Ishwar Maraj, Ashish Patel, Abdool Samad, Fazil Sattaur, Barry Seebaran, Sanjayan Thuraisingam.

Umpires: Brian Jerling (SA), A. Jayaprakash (Ind).

Match Referee: Denis Lindsay (SA).