Black Caps wary of dew factor in T20 World Cup opener against Afghanistan

Wednesday, 5 June 2024

Twenty20 World Cup, group C: Black Caps v Afghanistan. Where: Providence Stadium, Guyana. When: 11.30am Saturday (NZT). Coverage: Live on Sky Sport 1 and Sky Open, live updates on Stuff.

Black Caps coach Gary Stead believes the difference between day and night matches at the T20 World Cup will be like … well, the difference between day and night.

New Zealand will start their Cup campaign on Saturday (NZ time) with a match under lights against Afghanistan in Guyana, as they chase the NZ$3.95 million on offer for winning the tournament.

Stead was a keen watcher of the night match at the same venue on Tuesday afternoon NZ time, which saw their first-up opponents hammer newcomers Uganda by 125 runs after making 183-5 batting first.

While the Black Caps brains trust predicted prior to the tournament beginning in the West Indies and United States that scoring would be on the low side due to slower pitches, Stead believes the ‘high dew factor’ could hinder bowlers and help batters.

“I do think the difference between day and night can be quite vast here.

“I suspect there’ll be a high dew factor here in the evening - that’s certainly the news we’re getting,” Stead said from Guyana on Tuesday morning (NZ time).

“We’ll get a bit more of an indication tonight of whether that does help the ball slide on a little bit more. That’s what we’re being told, that’s what we’re predicting might happen.

“We’re trying to gather as much information as we can at the moment, and certainly taking note of the three matches that are before us at the same venue. That’ll help us get the intel we want that will finalise our XI going into that first match.”

While this year’s Indian Premier League produced an explosion of run-scoring, Stead said before the New Zealand team departed “that 140 could be a very good score” in some matches.

After a high-scoring night game in Dallas - won by the host nation over Canada - to start the tournament, scores were notably low in the following three encounters before Afghanistan’s opening batters flourished against one of the tournament minnows.

“We’ve tried to select a group of guys that are adaptable and can adapt to the different roles and situations in the match,” Stead said of the conditions they’ll expect while playing their group matches in Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago.

“I think when you look at our squad, it’s been the strength of a number of our players in the past - working out what par is on any given pitch.

“We’ll look very closely at the match-ups that we think are right against Afghanistan before we finalise that XI.”

Stead said opening batter Finn Allen has completely recovered from a back injury and will have a fully fit squad of 15 players to select from - although there are currently some tired team members.

“Jet lag probably hits you a bit harder with the flight paths and flight routes we’re on to get here,” Stead said.

“I know a number of people have been up in the middle of the night, which isn’t great for your preparation, but thankfully we’ve got enough time I think leading in, being the 14th game of the tournament that guys can sort that out.”

The ICC announced this week that the winners of the 20-team tournament will earn at least NZ$3.95 million - the highest prize money in the history of the tournament.

The runners-up will receive at least NZ$2.07m, while the losing semifinalists will gain NZ$1.27m each.