World Cup 2023: Fitness issues on Latham’s thoughts as New Zealand targets South Africa’s red-hot batters

New Zealand started this ODI World Cup in stupendous vogue, successful its first 4 video games fairly comprehensively. But the Kiwis have since hit a roadblock, dropping to India and Australia, with the latter coming a high-scoring thriller.

Kiwis skipper Tom Latham selected to see the positives from his aspect’s slim defeat towards its Trans-Tasman rival, on the eve of New Zealand’s match towards South Africa on the MCA Stadium in Pune on Wednesday.

“It was an amazing game of cricket, obviously disappointing to come out on the wrong side of it. But I think if you look at the game as a whole, we did a lot of good things really well.”

“We were put under pressure by the way Australia came out to bat. But I think we were able to pull ourselves back into the game and put ourselves in a position to win the game,” stated Latham.

The Kiwis, who’ve been with out Kane Williamson – as a consequence of a fractured thumb – at the moment are sweating over the health of key pacer Lockie Ferguson, who suffered an Achilles harm towards Australia.

“We’ve got a few guys who need to get through a few fitness tests and I guess once we train, we’ll have a clearer idea of what the 11 looks like. So, fingers crossed that all of them can get through a bit of work today at training and be ready to go tomorrow,” added Latham.

The 31-year-old additionally spoke about how his aspect will look to counter South Africa’s batting unit, which has taken the World Cup by storm with its hard-hitting method. The Proteas have scored 6.88 runs per over on this event, 0.45 greater than second-placed New Zealand, whereas smashing probably the most boundaries within the competitors.

“Like every team, we do our scouting, trying to find weaknesses from a batting point of view from South Africa, but as you said they’re a team that’s running pretty hot at the moment. Certainly, wickets are going to be important. And I guess it’s just trying to understand the match-ups as best you can. It’s going to be another great challenge,” stated Latham.