MUMBAI: New Zealand will look to make most of its last World Cup league match against Sri Lanka Friday after captain Daniel Vettori and key fast bowler Kyle Mills were ruled out over fitness issues. It is an important match for the Black Caps as a positive result could assure it a top-two finish in Group A and a potentially more comfortable quarterfinal opponent from Group B. New Zealand has emerged as the tournament's dark horses, winning its past three matches, including an emphatic 110-run victory against the talent-packed but unpredictable Pakistan, its fourth success out of five. The Black Caps have stumbled only once, against four-time champion Australia, but they appear to have put that blip behind them. Sri Lanka vice captain Mahela Jayawardene said his team could not take the Kiwis lightly despite them not being at full-strength for the day-night clash at the Wankhede Stadium. “Those two guys (Vettori and Kyle) probably are the senior-most bowlers in their line up,” said Jayawardene. “But we can't take things lightly. What I have seen of New Zealand is that they always play as a unit. “Especially with Daniel and Mills not being there, they might get together and have a different gameplan against us. That's something we have to look out for. For us it's all about making sure we execute our plans well.” New Zealand stand-in captain Ross Taylor tried to play down the absences. “It's disappointing not to have them for the match but their absence gives an opportunity for someone else to step up and perform their role,” said Taylor. Veteran fast bowler Daryl Tuffey has been called up to the squad as cover for Mills. Taylor said the Black Caps would have to choose whether to go in with an extra bowler in left-arm spinner Luke Woodcock or an extra all-rounder. Ireland, Dutch ready for battle Ireland and the Netherlands will hope to capitalize on one last chance on the big stage in their World Cup clash at the Eden Gardens Friday. With the World Cup set to be downsized to 10 teams from 2015, and with Ireland and the Netherlands out of quarterfinal contention already in this edition, it is an opportunity for players to grab attention with individual performances. The likes of Kevin O'Brien of Ireland and Ryan ten Doeschate of the Netherlands have already produced superb performances, and both teams will be looking for more. Ireland has two points so far from a shock win over England, while the Netherlands is winless in five matches. Ireland also put up a spirited display against India at the same venue before losing by five wickets, then ran the West Indies close at Mohali but went down by 44 runs. Ireland captain William Porterfield said after his team's l31-run loss to South Africa in Calcutta Tuesday that his squad had a lot of positives to take back home. “The win over England was the highlight. We also bowled and fielded well and got ourselves to winning positions in the matches against the West Indies and India,” he said. “We will go back with a lot of positives.” The Dutch started well, too, giving England a tough time in its first match. Ryan ten Doeschate's all-round effort of 119 and 2-47 surprised England, which won by six wickets but with only eight balls remaining at Nagpur. The Netherlands also gave a disciplined performance in a five-wicket loss to India at New Delhi, but terrible batting failures resulted in losses by more than 200 runs to both the West Indies and South Africa. Dutch captain Peter Borren conceded after the team's six-wicket loss to Bangladesh at Chittagong Monday that his batsmen had failed to adjust to the conditions on the subcontinent. “It takes time to get used to spinners on such wickets,” he said. “We can't get used to it if we don't stay long enough on it. We kept losing wickets at crucial times.” Borren said the inability to build partnerships had cost the team. “The guys were trying to play shots but there was no pace on the ball. We just could not deal with it as well as we should have,” Borren said.
