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New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming believes Peter Fulton is ideally placed to fill the gap left by the injured Lou Vincent when the Black Caps begin their World Cup Super Eight campaign against hosts West Indies on Thursday (today).

Opening batsman Vincent’s World Cup ended on Sunday when his wrist was broken while batting in the nets by a delivery from fast bowling teammate Shane Bond. Fulton, normally a middle-order batsman, is now set to open alongside Fleming.

Fulton has played in just one of New Zealand’s three matches at this tournament — the 114-run victory over Canada last Thursday that saw the Black Caps complete a hat-trick of wins in Group C where he made 47.

But the 28-year-old, whose only previous experience of opening at this level saw him score nine on debut against Bangladesh in November 2004, has been in fine form of late.

His last five One-day Internationals (ODIs) innings have featured three fifties and Fleming told reporters: “Pete is a different type of player (to Lou) and if anything his form is outstanding”.

“To leave him out of the first couple of games was incredibly difficult. The positive is he gets a chance, and a consistent chance, to bat in one spot for a while,” he added.

“Pete’s played up and down the order knowing he was going to be a utility batter,” Fleming explained of Fulton, who averages over 35 in his 29 One-day Internationals (ODIs).

New Zealand are set to be without another batsman in Ross Taylor, who sustained a hamstring injury against Kenya, against the West Indies although the talented shot-maker is still with the squad.

“It’s been a dramatic week with Lou going and ‘Rossco’ working hard on getting back, it has changed the balance of the side,” Fleming said.

“But the core is still there and the bonus has been we’ve had six days to adjust — it hasn’t been thrown on us the day before a game so we’ve been able to prepare mentally for it,” he explained.

“The best thing is the (first-choice) bowlers are still intact, they’ve been the usual suspects,” explained Fleming of an attack where Bond’s fitness in particular has proved fallible in the past.

New Zealand have drafted in Hamish Marshall as an additional batsman and he is now set to face the West Indies in the absence of both Vincent and Taylor.

“It’s going to be a big challenge for Hamish and certainly the team realises that. We’ll do everything possible to make sure he’s ready to go,” Fleming insisted.

“These are pretty important 36 hours but I guess knowing he’s going to play, coming off some runs at home and being back in the team will give him some energy and adrenalin,” he added.

West Indies are set to play three days in a row after their match against world champions Australia, which started at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium on Tuesday, was carried over into Wednesday’s reserve day because of rain.
Source:The News