Fleming confident of 2000 repeat

New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming is going in to next week’s ICC Champions Trophy opener confident that his side can go a long way in the tournament they won six years ago in Kenya.

Fleming believes he has an extremely strong team at the moment and one whose quality is often overlooked, perhaps because of the team’s light schedule in recent seasons.

But with Scott Styris declared fit for the tournament New Zealand has a full-strength lineup for the first time in what seems to New Zealand supporters to be an eternity.

The bowling attack sees a fully fit Shane Bond, Jacob Oram, Daniel Vettori and Kyle Mills, all of whom have missed international matches earlier in the season through injury.

New Zealand have a tough pool, with South Africa, Pakistan and one of the likely qualifiers West Indies and Sri Lanka, but Stephen Fleming is excited about the side he is bringing into the tournament and believes they have an excellent chance of progressing to the semi-finals.