SYDNEY: New Zealand and Australia have both put off naming their teams for their Twenty20 World Cup opener because of the rainstorms forecast for Sydney Cricket Ground around the time of Saturday’s re-run of the 2021 final.

Australia skipper Aaron Finch confirmed only that he would open the batting for the hosts and reigning champions and that all-rounder Cameron Green would not play after coming into the squad on Thursday as a replacement for the injured Josh Inglis.

“If there is rain around and the game is shortened, that can dictate what you do with your team,” he told reporters on Friday.

“It’s about shuffling your batting, we’ve got some power all the way through our order so we feel we can map out how an opposition is going to use their resources, and try and get the match-ups in our favour.”

New Zealand captain Kane Williamson was taking a similar approach to the Super 12, Group 1 clash, confirming that all-rounder Daryl Mitchell was the only player in the squad unavailable because of his fractured finger.

“Everybody else is fit or fit enough,” he said.

“We haven’t seen the pitch yet because it was covered all this morning so we won’t confirm an XI yet because if it’s shortened, that’s likely to change.”

The Black Caps have not beaten their neighbours in Australia in any format since 2011 and Williamson put that down to the strength of their hosts in home conditions.

“It certainly doesn’t stop us from trying to do our best and win, regardless of what records are behind us,” he added.

“We’ve got a number of match-winners throughout and the team’s looking forward to the (competition).”

Finch conceded that Australia had taken a gamble by bringing in Green rather than a back-up wicket-keeper for Matt Wade after Inglis was injured in a “freak accident” while playing golf.

“We went through the numbers and it’s 0.05% chance that something’s happened in the past to a ‘keeper that’s ruled him out on the day of the game,” he said.

“It’s definitely a risk but it’s one that we’re prepared to take.” Finch said he was feeling bullish about Australia’s title defence.

“What we learned from the last World Cup is that if the team’s got real good belief, that goes a long way,” he said.

“It’s immeasurable in terms of stats, but the belief in the group was unbelievably high last year when nobody gave us any chance at all. We feel as though we’ve still got that belief.”

Published in Dawn, October 22th, 2022