Nerves played a part in defeat, admits Fleming

New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming believes his side could still make the Super Sixes, even though they lost their opening World Cup match Sri Lanka by 47 runs at Bloemfontein.

Sri Lanka set a target of 272, before reducing the Black Caps to 225 all out in their reply.

"The loss was disappointing, the manner of it was disappointing," admitted Fleming. "A loss is a loss and we now have to look forward to winning our next two games, which is no tall order.

"We hoped there would be a little more pace in the wicket and we thought after watching Sri Lanka that we could expose them with the pace and make good inroads.

"If we did that, we thought we could give ourselves a target and the results on this ground have favoured teams batting second. "But we didn't get that advantage from the start that we had wanted.

"It was nerves today, as it was a pretty big day, and part of controlling the day is controlling your nerves and I didn't think we did that well. We had a hesitant start, it was one that we needed to get away well, but they took wickets throughout."

Sri Lankan coach Dav Whatmore believes the win is vital, and almost like claiming double points.

"The victory is extremely important, we all agreed that the first match is a very important game for both sides and it is almost a double pointer," he said. "It now gives us a couple of more matches to play before we strike our next big game.

"The one against the West Indies might be another one when one of the two sides might go through.

"It's the first time we're smiling after a game of one-day cricket with no no-balls. It's something that the bowlers are painfully aware of and painfully they are starting to show that they are concentrating more than in months before."

Sri Lanka meet Bangladesh on Friday in Pietermaritzburg, while New Zealand have a date with the West Indies on Thursday.