HAMBANTOTA, Sri Lanka: Sri Lankan skipper Kumar Sangakkara vowed Saturday not to take minnows Canada lightly as the 1996 champion look to get its 2011 World Cup campaign off to a flying start. Sunday's Group A clash at the newly built stadium in Hambantota is tipped to be a one-sided affair but Sangakkara said his team would need to play well against the Canadians. “You can't take Canada lightly,” said Sangakkara after a practice session at the stadium. “If you take the warm-up game it played against England, it lost only by 16 runs. Every team raises its game when the World Cup comes and we need to raise our game and if we do that we can do well.” Rizwan Cheema's quickfire 93 gave England a major scare after Canada was set a 244-run target in a warm-up match in Dhaka this week before it squeaked home, thanks to five wickets from paceman Stuart Broad. Sangakkara admitted Canada were capable of springing surprises. “I think our job is to more than try and win the tournament, first to try and win the opening game. It's important to build it up step by step. You have to take it game by game and we are not thinking beyond that,” said Sangakkara. Sri Lanka will be without middle-order batsman Chamara Silva, whose elder sister died on Thursday, making way for all-rounder Thisara Perera to bolster both bowling and batting. “We will go out and give it our best try,” said Cheema. “We are here to play our best cricket and that's what we will do on Sunday.” New Zealand optimistic New Zealand will look to make a fresh start at the World Cup after a harrowing run in recent one-day internationals, skipper Daniel Vettori said Saturday. The Black Caps have lost 14 of their last 16 one-dayers, leading to doubts about their ability to lift their game in testing sub-continental conditions. “We have lost a lot of games and had some disappointing performances particularly in the sub-continent,” Vettori told reporters ahead of their opening clash against Kenya in Chennai Sunday. “But I hope we can look at the World Cup as a fresh start.” As the leader of the side, Vettori faces an enormous task of pulling his team out of the misery, compounded by a heavy 117-run defeat to India in their warm-up game in Chennai last week. “Certainly it was a wake-up call before the tournament,” said Vettori, who did not play that match because of a hamstring strain. But our guys have the ability to bounce back. I prefer to look ahead rather than dwell on the past.” Vettori hinted that all-rounder Nathan McCullum could be rested for the Kenya game as a precaution. “Nathan was discharged from the hospital this morning and joined us for a light session. He is a lot better and confident that he can take part in the match tomorrow. But I don't want to take a risk with him since he is required for the full tournament.” A loss ahead of later group games against subcontinent heavyweights Sri Lanka and Pakistan, along with defending champion Australia, could prove disastrous to any hopes of an appearance in the knockout stage. Kenya ended its buildup with successive losses, first to West Indies and then, in a worrying result for the Africans, to fellow ICC Associate nation Netherlands. Kenya has been on a steady slide since it made history with its run to the semifinals in 2003 and victories against smaller nations, let alone major shocks, are no longer guaranteed. Kenya does have two players in their fifth World Cups, but away from allrounders Steve Tikolo and Thomas Odoyo there's a young and untested team. It will rely heavily on 20-year-old Seren Waters, the team's inform batsman, and 21-year-old fellow batter Rakep Patel against a vulnerable New Zealand outfit. Left-arm spin bowler Shem Ngoche, also 21, is one of four specialist spinners in the squad, where the Africans hope to have the edge if Nathan McCullum misses out and the Kiwi pace men keep misfiring.
