Vettori promises to stay ‘casual’

Veteran spinner says he has featured in bigger games than this clash Tomorrow’s match the tourbetween nament co-hosts at Auckland’s Eden Park promises to be a high-class contest.

Veteran spinner Daniel Vettori said yesterday that New Zealand would stick with their tried and trusted “casual” pre-match routine rather than let the enormity of tomorrow’s World Cup clash against Australia overwhelm them.

Tomorrow’s match between the tournament co-hosts at Auckland’s Eden Park promises to be a high-class contest, with two title contenders battling for pole position in Pool A, a finish which would mean they faced the relatively weaker fourth and final qualifier from Pool B in the last eight.

But Vettori, a veteran of 289 One Day Internationals (ODIs), with 57 against Australia, was trying to keep a lid on all the hype surrounding the match.

“The casual build-up has worked pretty well for us. I don’t think there’ll be much difference with the way we’ll go about things,” Vettori told reporters during a New Zealand training session yesterday.

“We will look forward

to Saturday rather than fear it,” added the left-arm spinner, who stressed he had featured in “bigger” games than the latest trans-Tasman clash,

“World Cup semi-finals are the biggest games I’ve played in,” said Vettori, who featured in New Zealand’s defeats by Sri Lanka in the last four of both the 2007 and 2011 editions.

“Which is not to say there’s a keen sense of anticipation of what lies ahead,” added Vettori, also a member of the New Zealand side that lost to Australia in the 2009 Champions Trophy final in Centurion, South Africa.

“That won’t change the New Zealand philosophy going into the game,” said Vettori, with he Black Caps the form team of this World Cup so far after three wins in as many pool matches.