‘IPL definitely helped us as a bowling group’ – Tim Southee on New Zealand’s preparations ahead of the T20 World Cup

New Zealand are all set to lock horns with Scotland in their upcoming fixture of the T20 World Cup 2021. Ahead of the match, Black Caps’ pacer Tim Southee has credited the second leg of the 2021 Indian Premier League for acting as a great preparatory measure ahead of the multi-nation event. He had replaced Pat Cummins at Kolkata Knight Riders in the UAE leg of the IPL.

Southee has looked in fine touch in the World Cup so far, having picked up two wickets from as many matches at a healthy economy rate. However, it is to be noted that quite a few players, featuring in the marquee event, had played in the second half of the IPL. This has helped them understand the UAE conditions well. The speedster highlighted these points and stated that playing in the IPL has helped the Kiwis.

“A number of guys from different teams in the World Cup have played in IPL this season. It definitely helped us as a bowling group, knowing the conditions and playing on the same surface before the T20 World Cup started,” Southee said during a virtual interaction.

We learned from the mistakes we made in the defeat against Pakistan: Tim Southee

New Zealand lost their opening fixture to Pakistan. However, the team bounced back stronger against India, having registered their first win of the tournament. Their bowlers dominated the proceedings and restricted India to a below-par total of 110 runs. Southee, thus, stated that the team learned from their mistakes and tried to improve.

“Whenever you turn up at an ICC event, the preparations don’t change. You can’t look too far ahead. We learned from the mistakes we made in the defeat against Pakistan and managed to improve in the game against India. We have a busy week ahead of us now, with three games in the next five days. It was a great team effort to defeat a strong Indian side.

“We are looking forward to playing the next three-day games, which is going to be a different challenge. I have played Scotland a couple of times, but we have all seen that they are an improving and strong side,” Southee added.