Vettori wary of India backlash

New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori is expecting India to bounce back strongly from their two Twenty20 defeats when the one-day series starts tomorrow.

The Indians lost the opening two matches by seven and five wickets respectively, although it went down to the final ball of the match in Wellington on Friday.

And Vettori is expecting another tight affair when the five-game series begins at McLean Park.

"Heading into the one-day series it's going to be a close contest. Both teams have played well in the last two Twenty20 games and India have felt like they had their chances to win," Vettori said.

But the Black Caps skipper also believes his players will benefit from the winning momentum they have generated, particularly given that Nathan McCullum and Ewen Thompson are the only players from the Twenty20 squad not to feature in the one-day group, which also includes a returning Kyle Mills.

"I think our team will be feeling good, but in saying that, India have played some great cricket over the last year or so, so they will still be confident," Vettori said.

"They know they can bounce back from these performances (in the Twenty20s). We knew right from the start we had to play some very, very good cricket if we want to compete and beat India and that's the same mantra we will have throughout the one-day series."

India's captain MS Dhoni is not unduly concerned his team head into the five-game series winless.

"We know everyone is in good nick and each and everyone (of the batsmen) is playing his shots that he normally plays," Dhoni explained.
"Maybe we are over-aggressive or there's a lack of concentration. The problem comes when we are nicking loads of balls through slip or we are getting out lbw or the conditions are not suiting you.

"I feel we are batting in the right areas and hopefully the mistakes are quite easy to avoid (from now on).

"The good thing is we have played two Twenty20 games and guys have had time at the wicket and they now know how the wicket behaves so that will be a great help in the coming one-day series."