Daniel Vettori is expecting his top-order batsmen to show a bit more aggression and take a few more risks when New Zealand face Zimbabwe in a potentially banana-skin game today.
The Black Caps got their World Twenty20 campaign off to a winning start when Nathan McCullum's heroics in the final over, from which they needed 10 runs, gave them a shock two-wicket win over Sri Lanka, last year's finalist.
It was sweet revenge for Vettori's men, who Sri Lanka knocked out of last year's T20 World Cup in England and the semi-finals of the 2007 50-over World Cup in the Caribbean.
However, the New Zealand captain was not pleased by the fact his No 9 batsman had to finish the job. The Kiwis were 96 for five in the 17th over chasing just 136.
"I think in the middle stages of the batting we've got to be a touch more aggressive," Vettori told the New Zealand Press Association.
"We need to make up more there. We know the bowling's difficult and the fields are set deeper, but with our batting line-up I think we can take a few more risks."
Mark Greatbatch, the New Zealand coach, was pleased to start off with a win and is now eyeing the top spot in the group with a win over Zimbabwe, although he has warned it will not be easy against a team who beat Pakistan and Australia in warm-up matches. "It was a really important game for us to really kick off this tournament on a positive note," he said.
"We're trying to work out a method to play on these surfaces. They're a bit slow and low and turning and they're not easy to score boundaries all the time. We've got a bit of work to do about playing spin.
"They're not going to be easy. They've got some really good cricket brains and [Dave Houghton, the former international who is the batting coach] is excited about the developing group they've got. It's really good to see Zimbabwe back and involved."
* Compiled by Ahmed Rizvi
New Zealand v Zimbabwe, 5.30pm on CricOne
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The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950