The number of match-winners in the Pakistan side have the Black Caps wary ahead of their Cricket World Cup match tonight at Edgbaston, says assistant coach Luke Ronchi.
The unbeaten New Zealand side can secure their eighth semi-final spot with a win over a Pakistan.
The Black Caps have 11 points from six games while seventh-place Pakistan has five points with an outside chance of advancing to the last four after a 49-run win over South Africa, a result the Black Caps have been looking at closely
“The last game was brilliant, they did really well, they’ve got a lot of match-winners from top to bottom so the guys are doing their scouting and looking to what they need to,” Ronchi said.
Ronchi, who was behind the stumps for the Black Caps four years ago when the team reached the World Cup final, is enjoying the transition from playing to coaching.
“It’s been awesome, it’s completely different to playing, you obviously love playing and thing like that but now you’re at the backend of that sort of thing, you get to see it from a different angle.”
“You get to sit there and listen to Macca (batting coach Craig McMillan), Jurgo (bowling coach Shane Jurgensen), and Steedy (coach Gary Stead) do their things and sit back and watch it from a different viewpoint and I guess you get an overview of what’s sort of happening…it’s something I’m really enjoying."
New Zealand were forced indoors by rain in Birmingham today to prepare, although the forecast for the match is good.
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