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Gillespie: No Ill Feeling

Fri 27 Jun, 12:09 AM


New Zealand bowler Mark Gillespie insists there will be no lingering ill feeling when the sides meet again in the fifth NatWest Series match at Lord's on Saturday following the run-out controversy that soured the one-day clash at the Oval on Wednesday.

England captain Paul Collingwood went through with the decision to appeal after Grant Elliott collided with Ryan Sidebottom and failed to complete a run.

The tourists, who went on to claim a one-wicket victory off the final ball, were initially furious but changed their tune after Collingwood apologised.

Black Caps captain Daniel Vettori also felt the need to say sorry for his team's wild celebrations, and Gillespie admitted the victory was special.

He said: "People ask if there will be any ill-feeling on Saturday and we can beat on about this until it is completely dead.

"It is over. It has happened. If you ask 100 people, 50 may see it one way, 50 may see it the other way.

"There is no point even worrying about it. We know it is going to make headlines and everyone will be talking about it. But we move on.

"The mood in the dressing room after we had won is something you wake up in the morning wanting to be part of.

"The mood before I went out to bat after Grant was out was tough. I was trying to prepare to bat and the guys weren't happy.

"I saw the replay for the first time myself when I was padding up and I was getting quite angry.

"I had to sit down and keep calm. I went out there feeling very nervous and it was a good feeling to pull off the win."

The victory gave the Kiwis a 2-1 lead in the series with only the final match to come on Saturday.

And despite Gillespie's insistence the Elliott incident will not be an issue at Lord's, the visitors are keen to end the tour on a high and underline their status as the number three one-day side in the world following their Test and Twenty20 defeats.

Gillespie said: "I have not been part of the squad for the Test matches so I don't have that baggage.

"When myself and Scott Styris came into the side after the Tests, the guys were hurting, you could tell that.

"Even after the Twenty20 match and the first one-dayer, it looked like things weren't going to get better.

"But the management and our skipper Daniel Vettori kept hammering into us that we were a good one-day side.

"We've had reasonable success of late and we've had to dig deep and look within. We've had a couple of meetings and, from a personal point of view, I found myself putting in that extra bit."

Gillespie has formed a potent attack in the last two games with Kyle Mills and Tim Southee and believes the combination can get even better.

He said: "I am happy with my bowling, Tim is keen on learning one-day cricket and this experience will do him the world of good.

"It's going to get better and better and his ability to take wickets in the middle order is a massive bonus for us.

"Kyle was a little bit out of sorts at the start but he is getting better and better and is leading us well."

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