<p class="title">Former New Zealand star Daniel Vettori insists his country are still World Cup contenders despite their recent stumbles.</p>.<p class="bodytext">New Zealand suffered their second defeat of the tournament against Australia at Lord's on Saturday, losing by 86 runs against the holders after a defeat to Pakistan in their previous game.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The Black Caps are not assured of a semi-final berth with one game left against title rivals England next week.</p>.<p class="bodytext">But Vettori remains confident the 2015 World Cup runners-up will stay calm ahead of the England clash and should be capable of advancing to the knockout stages.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"I still definitely feel that this New Zealand side can make history and win it all," Vettori said in an ICC Media column.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"Two losses at this stage will be tough to take but they have been so good for so long and have so many experienced players that I am sure they will pull through.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"It is a bit tighter now, but I still think they will feel pretty confident. Even if every result goes against them, their net run rate should still put them into the semi-finals.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"The nature of this New Zealand team for an extended period of time now has been to stay pretty constant, to not panic."</p>.<p class="bodytext">Vettori says New Zealand have been playing well enough not to lose faith in their game-plan.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"They will understand that they have played some really good cricket in this tournament," he said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"They will need to call on all their nous to get through against the hosts.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"But even if they don't win against England and go through via net run rate, or other results going their way, I still think they will walk into the semi-finals thinking they can beat anyone on their day."</p>.<p class="bodytext">Vettori's main concern is New Zealand's ability to score enough runs to put opponents in trouble on slow pitches, with the Black Caps yet to reach 300 in the tournament.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"The only question mark for them will be the surfaces they were playing on. It looks like across the board the surfaces are getting lower and slower," he said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"That makes it more difficult for batting and those partnerships are going to become more important, I am sure that will be a big focus against England."</p>
<p class="title">Former New Zealand star Daniel Vettori insists his country are still World Cup contenders despite their recent stumbles.</p>.<p class="bodytext">New Zealand suffered their second defeat of the tournament against Australia at Lord's on Saturday, losing by 86 runs against the holders after a defeat to Pakistan in their previous game.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The Black Caps are not assured of a semi-final berth with one game left against title rivals England next week.</p>.<p class="bodytext">But Vettori remains confident the 2015 World Cup runners-up will stay calm ahead of the England clash and should be capable of advancing to the knockout stages.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"I still definitely feel that this New Zealand side can make history and win it all," Vettori said in an ICC Media column.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"Two losses at this stage will be tough to take but they have been so good for so long and have so many experienced players that I am sure they will pull through.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"It is a bit tighter now, but I still think they will feel pretty confident. Even if every result goes against them, their net run rate should still put them into the semi-finals.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"The nature of this New Zealand team for an extended period of time now has been to stay pretty constant, to not panic."</p>.<p class="bodytext">Vettori says New Zealand have been playing well enough not to lose faith in their game-plan.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"They will understand that they have played some really good cricket in this tournament," he said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"They will need to call on all their nous to get through against the hosts.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"But even if they don't win against England and go through via net run rate, or other results going their way, I still think they will walk into the semi-finals thinking they can beat anyone on their day."</p>.<p class="bodytext">Vettori's main concern is New Zealand's ability to score enough runs to put opponents in trouble on slow pitches, with the Black Caps yet to reach 300 in the tournament.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"The only question mark for them will be the surfaces they were playing on. It looks like across the board the surfaces are getting lower and slower," he said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"That makes it more difficult for batting and those partnerships are going to become more important, I am sure that will be a big focus against England."</p>