da apostebet： It doesn’t matter to New Zealand that this Australian outfit has lost itsaura over the past few months. The visitors remain desperate to beat theirtrans-Tasman rivals even though they are no longer world beaters, andtheir final opportunity in this seri
da lvbet： Peter English12-Feb-2009
Daniel Vettori wants to leave Australia with some silverware © Getty Images
It doesn’t matter to New Zealand that this Australian outfit has lost itsaura over the past few months. The visitors remain desperate to beat theirtrans-Tasman rivals even though they are no longer world beaters, andtheir final opportunity in this series occurs at the Gabba on Friday.Since taking a 2-0 lead in the Chappell-Hadlee Series, New Zealand havewatched the hosts regather strength and with one more strike will havemissed their chance. To Daniel Vettori’s men, this deciding game is themost important since the 2007 World Cup semi-final, only this time theydon’t have experienced campaigners in most corners.Both sides are regenerating, but New Zealand have the extra incentive ofending their streak of never beating Australia in a series in the hosts’backyard. “There’s a lot of motivation going around and that’s part ofit,” Vettori said of their past record. “It’s also the excitement ofplaying a final for us, getting ourselves up for that and enjoying theopportunity to beat Australia because they’re few and far between for alot of players.”This could be the start of something great for what is a very young team.So we’ll be using that as motivation and just try to get as excited aspossible for the game.”Vettori will remind the players of their performance in Adelaide onTuesday, when Australia levelled the series, and urge them to takeresponsibility in the big occasion. “All the guys that let themselves downwith the bat, and also with the ball and even in the field, need to knowthey have to lift for this game,” he said. “This is the most importantgame a New Zealand cricket team has played for a long time.”While the visitors crave a change of history, the Australians want toavoid an embarrassing defeat against opponents they consider inferior.Coming back from the couple of early defeats has given Ricky Ponting’sside extra energy, especially after the improved batting performances ofBrad Haddin, Michael Clarke and the Hussey brothers.”[This game] is everything, we want to finish the Australian summer off ona good note,” Ponting said. “If we do we we’ve got a Twenty20 game onSunday and then we head to South Africa with a fairly similar group ofguys that will probably have just a bit more of a spring in their step ifwe happen to win the game.”Australia have an injury concern over Clarke, who has a sore upper back,and if he misses out Ponting will consider adding Peter Siddle andplucking an opener from the middle order. “If Michael comes up I don’tthink there will be too many changes,” Ponting said. The weather inBrisbane is unsettled and the predicted showers may also have a say in theselections.Vettori said if Clarke was missing it would give them a slight advantage,but they also have a couple of worries. Ross Taylor left the field with ableeding mouth during the warm-up at the Gabba before the rain came onThursday. He appeared in only minor discomfort while Brendon McCullum, whowill play, will decide over the next day whether to have anotherpain-killing injection in his injured right shoulder.
