Black Caps must 'adapt' to T20

Guyana - New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori has told his side they must be ready to adapt and possibly make changes after they eased through to the Super Eights phase of the ICC World Twenty20.

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The Black Caps booked their place in the second round with a seven run victory under the Duckworth/Lewis method after they shot out Zimbabwe for just 84 and were 36 for one after 8.1 overs in reply when rain terminated the match.

Zimbabwe were well-placed at 58 for one in the seventh over but then lost their last nine wickets for just 26 runs, a slump that effectively sealed their exit from the tournament.

Off-spinner Nathan McCullum, with three wickets for 16 runs and medium-pacer Scott Styris (three for five) did the bulk of the damage, with both men taking their wickets in quick succession.

"We have played the same team in both games so far, but we know we will face tough opposition, probably South Africa first up, so we have to adapt and be ready," Vettori said after Tuesday's victory.

Turning to his chief wicket-takers against Zimbabwe, the left-arm spinner added: "After a tough start it was good to fight back in those middle stages particularly with Nathan McCullum and Scott Styris, those two three-wicket overs really helped us.

"I think we knew it would be a difficult wicket to bat on later on with Zimbabwe having so many spin bowlers but the confidence in the middle stages, which we have shown in a number of Twenty20 games, was there and we were pleased with it again."

Zimbabwe beat both defending champions Pakistan and Australia in the warm-ups but the tournament proper was a different story.

It left their captain, Prosper Utseya, feeling frustrated but he hoped his side would become more match-hardened as a result of their experience in the Caribbean.

Utseya was particularly annoyed by the way in which Zimbabwe collapsed spectacularly against New Zealand.

"We are disappointed, we had a good start but didn't make use of it," he said.

"I think it was a bit of inexperience, in the two warm-up games we had been struggling up front and I thought the guys in the middle order tried not to play themselves in," the off-spinner added.

"The potential is there it is just consistency that's lacking at the moment.

"If you want to play at the highest level you have to mature as a cricketer."