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NEWS ICC Champions Trophy 2006>New Zealand top order short on skills: Fleming 02nd Nov 2006 14.49 IST By Agencies New Zealand captain Stephen Paul Fleming attributed his team's loss in the Champions Trophy semi-final against Australia to the lack of class in the top order. "Our top order was not good enough. We could not provide the platform for the later batsmen to chase the target," Fleming said after the team's 34-run loss at the PCA stadium in Mohali on Wednesday.
"We kept fighting till the end, which is good. But we need to develop more skills as top order batsmen against swing bowling to beat teams like Australia," the left-hander said. Fleming praised his bowlers to get the team off to a good start, but said more needed to be done. "We created pressure, but lost the initiative when a partnership took root," he said. Fleming added that his batsmen were "out skilled at the top order". Asked whether it was good Australian bowling or bad batting which resulted in the defeat, Fleming said, "It was a combination of both." "The Australians bowled very well while our batting was just the opposite. We knew the first 15 overs will be difficult but our batsmen did not have the skills to survive. "Batting has been a concern for us. We have to develop the skills of our batsmen at the top. We have too many bad days on the field." On the positives drawn from the Champions Trophy, Fleming said: "What we need is consistent performances. We did well to reach the semi-finals but we need to win the big tournaments. "We managed to take two early wickets but lacked the penetration to consolidate our position from there. Probably we also lost a little bit of intensity in the middle overs to allow the Aussies to come back into the game". Asked to comment on Andrew Symond's knock, he said: "He is a dangerous player. It could have been worse if he had stayed longer". Fleming also did not agree that the wickets for the Champions trophy were not ideal for one-day cricket. "I have no problems with the tracks. The wickets are a bit different. The low scoring matches encourage aggressive captaincy". Also View In-Depth Coverage: ICC Champions Trophy 2006 Team Page: New Zealand Team Page: South Africa | LIVE CRICKET COVERAGE NEWS ~ Gilchrist has no plans to retire after World Cup ~ Ganguly's new batting approach may cost him sixer record ~ India 'squash the Orange' in World Cup warm-up game ~ Symonds gets a new hairdo for World Cup ~ Dhoni readies himself for stand-up act at World Cup (more in NEWS) FACE-TO-FACE ~ 500-mark a possibility in World Cup: Hayden ~ Minnows add charm to World Cup: Dravid (more in FACE-TO-FACE) COLUMNS ~ Will Sri Lanka replicate 1996 World Cup success? (more in COLUMNS) OFF-THE-FIELD ~ Ganguly again the darling of corporate world ~ Ganguly roped in as brand ambassador of Puma (more in OFF-THE-FIELD) PLAYERS Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, Anil Kumble (more PLAYERS) TEAMS India, South Africa, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Australia, West Indies, Zimbabwe, England, New Zealand, Bangladesh, Kenya, Holland | 
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