Extinguishing the fuse lit by Australian opener David Warner, who insisted that Brendon McCullum's was susceptible to an early brain explosion, ahead of their trans-Tasman World Cup tie, New Zealand coach Mike Hesson has side-stepped the issue by insisting that the 'skillful' Black Caps' focus would be to force their opponent's into making some mistakes.
New Zealand and Australia would go head to head in the trans-Tasman World Cup clash on Saturday at the Eden Park and Warner had lit the fuse early by insisting that McCullum was susceptible to an early brain explosion at the crease, which was supported by teammate Shane Watson.
Speaking about the in-form New Zealand opener, Warner said that if Australia bowl the right line and lengths they would get McCullum out, adding that he's a player who can come down the wicket, use the off side well, insisting that they have got to back their strengths, Stuff.co.nz reported.
Watson backed Warner in a more diplomatic way, saying that McCullum is a very aggressive player and there's no doubt the Australians know he's going to take a few risks.
Watson claimed that McCullum is a high-risk batsman but added that also means he can be extremely devastating because he can hit their best ball to the boundary.
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McCullum set the tone for New Zealand's campaign by smashing 65 off 49 balls against Sri Lanka then went up another step in the eight-wicket win against England in Wellington, their third successive victory to move them atop pool A. He hit seven sixes in his 25-ball knock of 77, which included the fastest World Cup half-ton off 18 balls.
Taking the McCullum comments on the chin, Hesson resisted the temptation to fire back at Warner, and instead he claimed that if one is able to put anyone under pressure through their skills hopefully they try to make them make some poor decisions, adding that that's obviously what their focus would be on Saturday.
The coach claimed that New Zealand scout their opposition as they do everybody else and added that Warner is obviously a decent player and the Australians have plenty of other guys who are good players as well.
Hesson said that they have done some work behind the scenes to prepare themselves as best they can.
