Chennai, February 16 New Zealand all-rounder Glenn Phillips said that the defeat against South Africa will not have any bearing on their final match against bottom-placed Canada, as the Kiwis aim to secure a place in the Super Eights from Group D here.
New Zealand are currently in second place with two wins from three games, behind South Africa, who have qualified for the Super Eights with six points.
The Kiwis will aim to address the weaknesses exposed by South Africa in the seven-wicket defeat and reaffirm their status as title contenders, and Phillips believes that the defeat shouldn't necessarily be seen as the "ultimate learning experience".
"When you look at T20 cricket, there are small margins between winning and losing. South Africa were very strong in all aspects of the game the other day. We have also taken on South Africa well, in different formats," Phillips said.
"But we have played our best cricket in recent times, so we don't necessarily look at one game as the ultimate learning experience. There hasn't necessarily been a pattern. If our top order has faltered, then our middle order has stepped up. Sometimes, it just happens that the top order gets off to a good start, and then the middle order struggles.
"That's just the nature of T20 cricket when you're trying to maintain momentum. But if you look at the options the players took, they are in a clear mindset."
Phillips emphasized that execution is crucial in T20 cricket.
"It all comes down to execution at the end of the day. With the ball, we are trying to make sure that we are hitting our targets as much as possible. Players are allowed to bowl good balls, and if we don't bowl well on a particular day, we can still improve on the next day, and that's fine.
"It's professional cricket at the end of the day, and sometimes you are good, and sometimes you are not. We just hope that the gap between the two teams is a little smaller each day."
If New Zealand progress to the Super Eights, which they are expected to do easily, they will travel to Sri Lanka, and Phillips said that adapting to the conditions will be key.
"I don't think it's about necessarily improving on any particular aspect. It's about adapting as much as possible to the conditions. The conditions in Sri Lanka will be very different from those here, so it poses a completely different challenge.
"There's no single factor in cricket that can guarantee good performances, so it's just about trying to be a little better and doing what we do best for longer periods of time, especially if the conditions dictate that we need to take a game a little longer," he said.
"Maybe scores of 150-160 will be different in Sri Lanka due to the spin, but you never know. We might get a really good score and still end up with 200. It's just about adapting to those conditions, regardless of who we're playing at any given time."
Canada wicketkeeper-batter Shreyas Movva feels that bowling was one area where they fell short in the tournament.
"New Zealand is a really good team, and we have seen how they have performed in the World Cup matches. We had two practice matches in Chennai, and we did well in batting. We just need to come up with good bowling plans," he said.
"It was not easy for the team to come up with those plans after the huge loss against UAE. We need to regroup as a team. In terms of bowling, as I mentioned, we need to have some plans to support the fielders and execute those plans.
"Yes, it's disappointing with the results. Individually, players are trying their best, and the staff is also doing their best to get the best results out of each game. The next two games are in Chennai, and we are used to this temperature, and we are hoping for the best results."
