Hesson says opening England match to determine how Kiwis fare in World T20

New Zealand coach Mike Hesson has said that he believes their opening match against England in the upcoming World Twenty20 will determine how they fare in the rest of the tournament.

New Zealand is grouped with England, South Africa, Sri Lanka and a still-to-qualify associate nation - which is likely to be Ireland - for this month's World T20 tournament in Bangladesh.

According to Stuff.co.nz, although New Zealand is a strong contender to progress to the semi-finals of the tournament given their improvement in the domestic winter, Hesson is keeping his focus firmly on the match against England.

Hesson said that they should not go too ahead of themselves despite their successful performances in the winter, adding that the England game on March 23 at Chittagong will determine their outcome in the remaining tournament.

Stating that they need to win three out of four matches to get to the semi-finals, Hesson said that if they win their first match against England, then it makes the way quite easier, adding that they need to work hard to pave their way to success in the tournament.

The report mentioned that England has the advantage of coming from a series played in the West Indies, where the pitches are not dissimilar to what they would confront in Chittagong, with New Zealand and South Africa coming in fairly cold.

Hence the pre-tournament training camp, where the Black Caps will also have practice matches against English counties Worcestershire and Derbyshire, the report added.