Thaindian News

Wellington, Feb 13 (ANI): New Zealand is seeking inspiration from their near-miss at the ICC Champions Trophy, termed as mini World Cup, 16 months ago.

The Black Caps against the odds in South Africa in October 2009 reached finals beating Sri Lanka, Pakistan and England on their way to the Champions Trophy decider.

They were beaten at the final hurdle by Australia, but ended the tournament ranked the fourth-best one-day team in the world.

Since then, their slide backwards has been overt to say the least and in the 28 one-day appearances that have followed, the New Zealand team has won just 10 and lost 16, Stuff.co.nz reports.

New Zealand is now ranked seventh in the world and will head to World Cup having only won two of their last 16 matches.

Fast bowler Kyle Mills said: “At the last major international tournament we made the final against Australia. We were unlucky in the final and if a bit of luck had gone our way it could have been a different result.”

“That was only 14 or 15 months ago so we need to call upon those strengths that we’ve had in the past, put in some good performances and play as a team,” he said.

Vice Captain Ross Taylor, while admitting 2010 was a year to forget for the Black Caps, was as equally confident as Mills about the side’s chances.

“It wasn’t that long ago that we made the final of the Champions Trophy. That was only 12 to 13 months ago. It hasn’t been a good 12 months since then but it wasn’t that long ago that we played in a knockout tournament and did very well,” he said. (ANI)