Suzie Bates Photo: Andrew Cornaga/www.photosport.nz
Veteran White Ferns batter Suzie Bates is expecting some upsets at the Women's Cricket World Cup in India and Sri Lanka.
New Zealand open their tournament against defending champions Australia in the Indian city of Indore tonight.
India enjoyed a 59-run win over Sri Lanka this morning in the opening game of the tournament in Guwahati after scoring 269 for 8 in 47 overs.
Bates believes the team that adapts the quickest to the variety of pitch conditions expected, will give themselves a great chance of winning the tournament.
She told Morning Report they need to make sure they get as much information as they can about the different grounds they will play on.
The White Ferns play their first two matches in Indore, a flat pitch that she expects could produce lots of runs.
"We spoke to [Black Caps batter] Tom Latham before we came away and he said I think India nearly got 400 in a one-dayer so I think this ground potentially is going to be pretty flat and not your typical Indian wicket, where it's slow and turning, especially in the first game," Bates said.
"We're sort of prepared for a high scoring match ... but I think it's going to depend on where each game is."
She believes the contrast in pitches across Sri Lanka and India opens up the number of contenders for the World Cup.
"It's one of the tournaments that I genuinely believe that anyone could beat anyone ...if you are not on on the day you could lose to anyone so that really excites me.
"You might see some upsets ...in the past you identify games that are really important to win whereas I don't think you can label any game more important than the other. If you don't turn up and you're not prepared I think you're going to be on the end of a result that you don't like."
Coming off the back of last year's T20 World Cup triumph, Bates said the White Ferns will benefit from having a core group of players who experienced that.
"When you've had that success as a group at a world cup and know you can perform under those pressure moments, which is what world cups are all about, all the teams come here to win and it's those moments in the game when you're under pressure that you come out on top.
"...just take heaps of confidence knowing that under the big lights and with lots of people watching and the game on the line we know as a group that we've had different people step up at different times.
"Fifty-over cricket is a bit of a different beast and being able to do that for a longer period of time but we've had a really clear plan from our coaches in how we want to go about things."
With several matches to be played before the 2 November final, Bates said staying fresh will be crucial.
"It's about keeping this group as physically and mentally fresh as we possibly can over that time because we can't have a day off over here."
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