Fitness concerns on Latham’s Mind as New Zealand Targets South Africa

New Zealand’s ODI World Cup 2023 campaign began strongly with 4 consecutive victories. However, the team has faced setbacks in recent matches losing against India and Australia. Ahead of tomorrow’s New Zealand against South Africa match at Pune, New Zealand’s player Tom Latham tries to see positives from the team’s narrow defeat to its Trans-Tasman rival.

“It was an amazing game of cricket, obviously disappointing to come out on the wrong side of it. But I think if you look at the game as a whole, we did a lot of good things well.”

“We were put under pressure by the way Australia came out to bat. But I think we were able to pull ourselves back into the game and put ourselves in a position to win the game,” said Latham. The Kiwis and Kane Williamson are now sweating over the fitness of key pacer Lokie Ferguson due to a fractured thumb.

“We’ve got a few guys who need to get through a few fitness tests and I guess once we train, we’ll have a clearer idea of what the 11 looks like. So, fingers crossed that all of them can get through a bit of work today at training and be ready to go tomorrow,” added Latham.

He also spoke about how his side will look to counter South Africa’s batting unit. The Proteas have scored 6.88 runs per over in this tournament, 0.45 more than second-placed New Zealand while smashing the most boundaries in the competition.

“Like every team, we do our scouting, trying to find weaknesses from a batting point of view from South Africa, but as you said they’re a team that’s running pretty hot at the moment. Certainly, wickets are going to be important. And I guess it’s just trying to understand the match-ups as best you can. It’s going to be another great challenge,” said Latham.