DHARAMSALA: New Zealand skipper Tom Latham on Saturday said hosts India have been playing “fantastic cricket” and the Kiwis will need to adapt quickly to win the battle of World Cup table-toppers.

Both teams come into the contest unbeaten in their four matches and now meet in the Himalayan hill town of Dharamsala to get ahead of each other in the race to the semi-finals.

New Zealand have an edge over India in World Cup match-ups with a 5-3 advantage and knocked out the much-fancied team in the semi-finals of the last edition in 2019.

“I’m not sure to be honest,” Latham, who is leading the side in the absence of the injured Kane Williamson, said on his team’s good record against India at the 50-over showpiece.

“They’re a fantastic team. They’ve been playing some great cricket for a long period of time. We’ve had some great contests in ICC events, but also in bilateral series, whether that be home or away.”

New Zealand reached the final of the last two World Cups but lost to Australia in 2015 and then England four years ago.

“Being adaptable is probably one of the most important things for us as a group and trying to do that as quick as possible,” Latham told reporters.

“Obviously with this format you play everyone once which is unique to 2015 where it was pool play.”

Latham, a wicket-keeper/batsman, added: “So yeah, again we’re in India, we’re offered different conditions that we’re used to. So, adaptability, sticking to our plan as best you can.”

New Zealand’s previous two matches have been in hot and humid Chennai but the action now shifts to the winter capital of the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh.

New Zealand have bowling depth and their seamers including Trent Boult, Matt Henry and Lockie Ferguson shared six wickets in the last win over Afghanistan.

“I think there’s many factors that lead into a game. I don’t think it’s one specific area that you can nail down,” said Latham.

“But as you said, India’s top order have been fantastic this tournament.

“And again, our bowling attack has done a really good job up front as well. So that’s going to be a great contest with bat and ball and obviously vice versa with Indian seamers in our top order.”

Latham confirmed speedster Tim Southee will be available for the key match.

Left-arm spinner Mitchell Santner, who leads the bowling chart in the tournament so far with 11 wickets and Latham said the team will “lean” on his experience.

‘BALANCE NOT THE SAME WITHOUT PANDYA’

Meanwhile, Indian coach Rahul Dravid said his team may not have the same balance they had in their first four World Cup games due to Hardik Pandya’s injury but

it gives the hosts a chance to experiment with a different combination against New Zealand.

Pandya will miss the game in Dharamshala after injuring his ankle in their seven-wicket win over Bangladesh.

“He is an important all-rounder so he helps us balance our squad out really well. But he is going to be missing this game, so we will have to work around that and see what is the best combination,” Dravid told reporters.

“We’ve got to work with the 14 that we’ve got... We will have to see what works best for these conditions and these wickets. But yeah, probably might not have the kind of balance that we used in the first four games.”

A key factor in Dharamshala could be the toss with the cold temperatures in the foothills of the Himalayas leading to an earlier onset of dew in the outfield.

Published in Dawn, October 22th, 2023