After rugby final loss, New Zealand can give fans consolation win over South Africa

New Zealand’s stand-in skipper Tom Latham (left) with Kane Williamson during a practice session in Pune yesterday. Pic/PTI

If you just go by the results in the mountains of Dharamsala, you will see that New Zealand have lost both their games. But just plain statistics never tell you the full story.

The fact is that they came within a wicket of potentially turning the tables against a red-hot Indian team which is currently having a dream run. And they also came within a shot of potentially chasing down a record total in ODI World Cups against Australia.

Having had a chance to reflect for a couple of days after the high-octane Australia game captain Tom Latham at the pre-match press conference confirmed that the team had identified areas where they could have done things a bit differently, specially with the bowling, fielding, and field placements. He also said that as a unit they spend a fair bit of time scouting or identifying areas of strengths and weaknesses in their opposition before every game which has held them in good stead throughout this campaign.

Kane Williamson (thumb), Lockie Ferguson (Achillies), and Mark Chapman (calf niggle) were to be monitored during the pre-match training session. For the first time since his injury Williamson did some range hitting and didn't appear to be in any sort of discomfort, but I would be really surprised if we see him playing tomorrow.

After a superhuman effort in Dharamsala it will be hard to replace Jimmy Neesham even if Chapman is fit and Tim Southee will be looking forward to his first outing in this World Cup if Ferguson is unavailable for selection.

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To qualify comfortably for the semis New Zealand need to win two of their remaining three matches. The good news is that their net run rate is solid which means that if it comes down to that, they should be fine. South Africa will be a challenging opponent on a flat Pune deck. Who knows which Pakistan will turn up in Bengaluru and Sri Lanka are unpredictable too. Though the Black Caps lost both games in Dharamsala they have done the mahi (which means hard work in the Maori language of New Zealand), and I'm confident that the treats will follow.

Last Sunday was particularly disappointing if you were a New Zealand fan. The loss to Australia in cricket was followed by the All Blacks losing to the Springboks in the Rugby World Cup final.

As the fans of both nations shift their focus to World Cup cricket now, NZ's followers will be hoping the Black Caps can provide them some consolation by beating South Africa today.