Bracewell rings the changes

John Bracewell has confirmed that Brendon McCullum will open the batting during the Twenty20 World Cup with Gareth Hopkins taking the wicket-keeping duties while Jacob Oram will bat three.

Bracewell told the New Zealand Press that “We want to use a left hander in the top order and that’s going to be Jacob Oram – the angles a left hander gives you in Twenty20, in my observations, can be useful in terms of hitting through the field rather than concentrating only on hitting over it.”

“If he gets in, we know the power he can hit with, as sides go into the death quarter early in the matches,” Bracewell added.

Bracewell hinted that both Daniel Vettori and Jeetan Patel would be likely to play saying “I think quality spin bowling through the middle periods and the raw nature of Twenty20 that they will hold the key for the team that wins this competition.”