Kiwis aiming to 'right the wrongs' - Guptill

Jermaine Lannaman, Gleaner Writer

New Zealand top-order batsman, Martin Guptill, says correcting the wrongs of their Twenty20 international series defeat to the West Indies last weekend will be the main goal when both teams meet in the first match of their five-match Digicel one-day international series at Sabina Park today.

The Kiwis, who are ranked a spot above the West Indies on the International Cricket Council (ICC) rankings table, came away 2-0 series losers of the Twenty20 internationals after going down by 56 runs in first match and 61 runs in the second at Central Broward Park in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, the first time that an ICC-sanctioned event was being held in the United States of America.

"We see the series (ODI) as an opportunity to right the wrongs that happened in Miami and that is what we plan to do," said Guptill, who in the absence of injured captain Ross Taylor is expected to shoulder the team's batting, along with Jacob Oram.

"There was team meeting today with management whereby we looked at what went wrong in the Twenty20 series and clarified each player's role and responsibilities.

"You can therefore look forward to a team, which prior to the T20s had a break from cricket, growing from strength to strength as the tour goes on and close an exciting one-day series," added the 25-year-old, who averages 39.51 in one-dayers and 31.75 in Tests.

Taylor, who averages 43.52 in Tests and 34.47 in ODIs, picked up a shoulder injury during the first match of the Twenty20 series and according to New Zealand media manager, El Tappin, could be out for two weeks or even longer.

Kiwis disappointed

Tappin, however, explained that they will be watching him on a day-to-day basis to see how well he recovers, with an eye for both the ending of the one-day series as well as the two-match Test series.

"We are disappointed to lose Ross as he is a world-class player and he is our captain as well.

"But we have young Kane (Williamson), who did well in the last match as captain in the Twenty20 series, and have got other players who can step up, and who we are expecting to step up."

New Zealand squad: Ross Taylor (captain), Martin Guptill, Doug Bracewell, Dean Brownlie, Andrew Ellis, Daniel Flynn, Tom Latham, Nathan McCullum, Kyle Mills, Rob Nicol, Jacob Oram, Tim Southee, BJ Watling, Kane Williamson.