New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum has said that his team is still right on track for the ICC Champions Trophy despite some costly lapses against England.
The Black Caps collected their ODI cricket series victory medals at Trent Bridge, despite losing the third game by 34 runs, for a 2-1 series result, Stuff.co.nz reports.
Stating that they are still going good as a team on the back of their last two wins in the ODI series, McCullum said that although he is disappointed that they did not win the third game, he insisted that the Kiwis were excellent for a major part of the game.
According to McCullum, the Champions Trophy is an open tournament, with every team having match winners amongst them, adding that both they and England have good chances at the mega event.
Cutting some slack to his pacemen Kyle Mills, Mitchell McClenaghan and Tim Southee who suffered at Jos Buttler's hands at the end of the game, McCullum further said that they were not as accurate with their plans as they should have been, adding that there should have been no room for error in a ground like Trent Bridge and with a destructive player like Buttler.
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Praising Buttler, who was awarded with Man of the Match trophy, McCullum also said that he played magnificent innings and had a reasonable influence on the game.
McCullum was also optimistic about having a full squad of 15 to choose from, including spinner Daniel Vettori (Achilles tendon) and Grant Elliott who was rested as a precaution with a tight calf muscle.
New Zealand now move to Cardiff where they face Sri Lanka in their Champions Trophy opener on Sunday. England and Australia kick off group A the previous day, the report added.
