World Twenty20 Cricket: Black Caps hoping key duo recover

Captain Ross Taylor is hoping key bowlers Tim Southee and Daniel Vettori will be fit for their opening Twenty20 World Cup Group D match against Bangladesh this morning.

Fast bowler Southee and spinner Vettori along with all-rounder Rob Nicol have been suffering from sickness.

“We still won’t know until the end of the day whether we will have a full quota or 15 or not,” Taylor said when asked if all the Black Caps squad were available. “The weather outside currently is bit colder than what was yesterday. So, hopefully, they can still have a lot of energy if they are to play,” Taylor added.

With no such problems, Bangladesh have a settled T20 side at last and their modified top order will see Mohammad Ashraful continue as Tamim Iqbal’s opening partner and Shakib Al Hasan at No 3.

Shakib’s promotion would leave the middle-order with the task of finishing games, with Mushfiqur Rahim leading the way and Nasir Hossain and Mahmudullah for company

The Tigers’ build-up included a defeat by Scotland and Bangladesh admit it wasn’t ideal.

“If we had played some of our build-up matches against top teams, preparations would have been a little better,” fast bowler Mashrafe Mortaza told www.espncricinfo.com.

“Still, with us playing together for quite some time now, I believe this is our best Twenty20 team.”