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No let-up from NZ

No let-up from NZ

02/02/2012 03:11:39 AM

Captain Brendon McCullum want New Zealand to continue with their ruthless attititude in the one-day series against Zimbabwe which starts in Dunedin on Friday.

New Zealand is fresh from hammering Zimbabwe by an innings and 301 runs in the one-off Test in Napier and McCullum wants a 3-0 clean sweep in the 50-over series.

"We've got too win," he said. "We're giving new guys opportunities but at the same time the expectation is that we win the series, and win it well.

"We want to build up some momentum, learn a bit more about this team and continue the ruthless attitude the test team has displayed of late.

"We know that if we perform to our optimum level we should get the results we're after. It's not often a New Zealand team plays with expectation but it's exciting as we have an obligation to perform.

"It's good to have some youth in the team to keep the older fellas on their toes. It's a pretty healthy mix at the moment. The test team has been going well but this is a different form of cricket."

Paceman Michael Bates and spinner Taren Nethula have been omitted from the squad of 14 for the match. Newcomer Tom Latham will bat at No.4 or 5 and fellow rookie, all-rounder Andrew Ellis will bat at No.8 and bowl some overs in the middle.

McCullum, who will lead the team on his home ground, will bat at No.3 behind Martin Guptill and Rob Nicol and will also keep wickets.

"That's fine by me," he said. "It's good to have an active involvement and, with Martin and Rob being form players in the HRV Cup, they get their opportunities at the top of the order."
McCullum did not think complacency would be an issue.

"We haven't won enough games to be complacent," he said. "We're enjoying the ride of being able to put some performances together but complacency is certainly not an issue, especially under Wrighty [coach John Wright]. He wouldn't let that sneak into the team.

"We've got to be clinical and strong enough in our minds to deal with the expectations."

McCullum said his captaincy style was similar and yet slightly different to that of injured regular captain Ross Taylor.

"It's always going to be slightly different, just as Ross's leadership is different to that of Dan [Daniel Vettori] and Flem [Stephen Fleming]. We're both attacking players and we both have the same outcome in mind, which is to win."

McCullum said the forthcoming series against highly-ranked South Africa was a big challenge but New Zealand had to deal with Zimbabwe first.

"South Africa is a big carrot but we have to perform in this series first to go in against South Africa with some momentum."

McCullum said he would probably bowl first if he won at the toss at the University Oval.

"I played a few HRV Cup games for Otago here and it was a pretty good deck," he said. "It looks like it's got a bit more grass on it but hopefully there will be some sun and that grass will die off a bit. At this stage it looks more like a bowler-friendly wicket.

"Given the preference, we would probably bowl first but, if we have to bat, we know we've got enough depth in our lineup to be able to counter the conditions."

McCullum said Zimbabwe

 
Photograph Copyright : Getty Images
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