HYDERABAD: New Zealand pace duo of Tim Southee and Lockie Ferguson are set to return for Monday’s World Cup match against the Netherlands but regular skipper Kane Williamson will continue to sit out, head coach Gary Stead said on Sunday.

Southee (thumb) and Ferguson (back) missed Thursday’s comprehensive victory against defending champions England after failing to recover from their respective injuries.

“Lockie Ferguson got through training really well so providing he is scrubbed up okay this morning, he will be available for this next game,” Stead said. “Tim Southee also got through the training really well. It was great to see him back at the bowling crease and also doing a little bit of fielding as well.

“He will just get a final x-ray done this morning and we will make a call after that but it is all looking good for selection from now on and into the rest of the tournament.”

Williamson will skip the match in Hyderabad to complete his recovery from a knee surgery and is expected to play against Bangladesh in Chennai on Friday.

“I think the fielding is still the element for him that he’s just got to get a little bit higher and get a little more trust in his body,” Stead said. “But he is progressing really well and we are pretty confident he will be playing the third match for us.”

Meanwhile, New Zealand all-rounder Glenn Phillips Sunday stressed that the Black Caps must keep their feet on the ground after the convincing win over England.

Runners-up in the last two World Cups, New Zealand upstaged England in Ahmedabad, riding on brilliant centuries from Devon Conway and Rachin Ravindra.

“We enjoyed the first win but obviously with the tournament having such a quick turnaround, we try not get too high when we win and not get too low when we lose,” said Phillips.

Phillips said New Zealand will not take the Netherlands lightly despite the Dutch being the only second-tier Associate team at the 10-nation event.

“We approach every game the same way every time, every team is strong in their own right, especially on any given day,” said the all-rounder. “The Netherlands have a lot of strong players, and we’re going to have to still put our best foot forward, as I’m sure they will.”

Netherlands spinner Roelof Van der Merwe said his team will not be over-awed by facing in-form batters Conway and Ravindra.

“Those two guys played a great partnership in the previous game but you know we’ve got our plans to get them out,” he said. “New Zealand are a very organised, skilful team so we know we’re up against a quality side.”

New Zealand have beaten the Netherlands in all of their four meetings, including one in the 1996 World Cup in India. Three of those wins have been by thumping margins of more than 100 runs.

“If we play the way we play and execute how we want to then we can put them under pressure and win the game,” added Van der Merwe, who backed batsmen Bas de Leede and opener Vikramjit Singh to be amongst the runs again on Monday.

De Leede scored 62 with Singh making 52 against Pakistan. De Leede also claimed four wickets. “Bas and Vicky played very well,” said van der Merwe. The Dutch had been well-placed in that game, standing at 120-2 in pursuit of a 287-run target.

“We have reviewed the Pakistan game and we understand where we need to improve.

“Obviously, the learnings from that are we’ve got to do it for longer and that’s been discussed and if you compare it to T20 cricket, it’s 30 overs longer. So, it speaks for itself and we need to do it for longer and put them under pressure for longer.”

Published in Dawn, October 9th, 2023