NZ move to third but Fleming worried

New Zealand has moved to third in the latest ICC one-day international rankings after making the semi-finals of the Champions Trophy.

The Kiwis are nine points behind South Africa in second place who are a further nine points behind Australia in first place.

Hamish Marshall managed only 10 runs in three innings, Peter Fulton 11 runs in three innings and Lou Vincent 34 runs from four innings in the Champions Trophy.

New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming told media that all the batsmen have problem areas and technical deficiencies but it came down to how well mentally the player was feeling when in the middle.

John Bracewell commented to the English and Wales Cricket Board website that he was considering the option of moving Brendon McCullum to open the innings and said:

“Brendon is a guy who can give us an injection at the top of the order but we also have to make sure we have somebody down the order to finish the innings.”

“Jacob Oram and Daniel Vettori are starting to lift in that role so we might not be as light as we once were in those last 15 overs”.

“Dan hasn’t got the same raw power as Brendon or Jacob Oram but he is proving very effective in what he does,” Bracewell added.

The New Zealand players are now preparing for the visit of Sri Lanka in December, January when they come for two Tests, two Twenty20 internationals and five one-day internationals.