History doesn't augur well for New Zealand

<div class="section1"><div class="Normal"><span style="" font-weight:="" bold="">PUNE:</span> History doesn’t augur well for New Zealand. But that’s not deterring them to take a crack for a bright future. As their coach Ashley Ross said: "We’d like to be a champion team, rather than a team of champions." <br /><br />Historically, for Kiwis it’s been “all’s well that begins well�.After the reverse in Faridabad at the hands of Australia their lucky charm isn’t quite there but they seemed hell bent to reverse that practising on Sunday under a pleasant cloud cover. <br /><br />Let’s refresh our memories as to how New Zealand have performed in certain One-day tournaments:— <br /><br />1992 World Cup: NZ reached the semis riding on captain Martin Crowe’s form and innovative tactics. Lost to Pakistan in the semis. <br /><br />1996 WC: Surprised England in the first game. Then lost a high-scoring match to Australia. <br /><br />1999 WC: After beating Bangladesh in their first tie, they accounted for Australia. But then lost to Pakistan in the semis. <br /><br />2000 Mini World Cup: The only big tournament Kiwis have won. Starting with a win against Zimbabwe they beat Pakistan and India in semifinal and final respectively. <br /><br />2001-02 VB Series: Started it with a 23-run upset of Aussie and then played a moral poser by giving a bonus point to South Africa which blocked Australia’s final berth. Eventually, lost in the finals. <br /><br />Here they had a creditable draw in the Test series then the series opener against India was washed out.</div> </div>