Crucial tie between hosts and title hopeful Kiwis

St Peter's, Antigua, Mar 28 (UNI) Having moved into the Super Eights with two points in their kitty, injury-marred New Zealand will start their campaign for the semi-finals taking on hosts West Indies at the Sir Vivian Richards ground here tomorrow.

One of the pre-tournament favourites, New Zealand are trying hard to put up a fully-fit team for this crucial game.

The West Indies too are also in a tight spot as they will now have to play for a theird day on the trot as their match against Australia spilled over to the reserve day.

Having already lost opener Lou Vincent with a broken wrist and all-rounder Daryl Tuffey to an arm injury, the Kiwis are being forced to seek continuous replacements.

They are also having a problem with their batting order, and Peter Fulton, who has only opened once before on his one-day international debut, will now take Vincent's place at the top.

New Zealand skipper Stephen Fleming however exuded confidence that his team will perform well against the hosts saying that the squad had enough reserve depth to cope, especially with Chris Martin coming in for Tuffey and Hamish Marshall taking Vincent's place.

Marshall is likely to play straightaway as he is slated to bat at number three position.

Talking to media persons after practice, Fleming said, ''This changes our plans a little bit. We now go back to the teams that we put out the last 12 months. And Hamish is part of that, and Pete (Fulton) has played up and down the order now.'' ''Pete's form is outstanding. To leave him out of the first couple of games was incredibly difficult. The positive is he gets a chance, and a consistent chance, to bat in one spot for a while.

Pete's played up and down the order knowing he was going to be a utility bat.'' He admitted that flying in and then being asked to play immediately would be tough on Marshall.

''It's going to be a big challenge for Hamish and certainly the team realises that. We'll do everything we can to make sure he's ready to go.'' West Indies Brian Lara too has his share of worries, particularly the manner in which strike bowler Jerome Taylor and economy man Corey Collymore were trashed by Matthew Hayden and later, by Shane Watson in the rain-hit game yesterday.

He simply cannot afford to let his bowlers bleed, especially when literally every game is life and death matter.

UNI