11.08.10
So good to see the Black Caps win last night. Full credit to Ross Taylor (who is now two from two as captain) for playing an absolutely pitch perfect ODI innings. He took his time getting set, picked off the ones and twos and never tried too hard to force the pace (no ugly cross-batted hoicks to the onside here.) His record partnership of 190 with Scotty Styris rescued New Zealand from an ominous looking 28 for 3 and took them (us) to an incredibly respectable total of 288 – though it should’ve been a fair bit more, as they lost wickets in quick succession towards the end.
Taylor’s captaincy too seemed on the money. He cleverly chose to take the batting powerplay when both he and Styris were well set after 30 overs and promoted Jacob Oram up the order as a pinch hitter when Styris departed. Taylor’s only blemish was getting out within spitting distance of a well-deserved hundred. One of my main criticisms of the New Zealand team is that they too often fail to convert fifties (Taylor in particular has been guilty of this over the last couple of seasons.)
Now, the inevitable talking point: Kane Williamson. A rather inauspicious debut given the hype (this is a comment leveled at myself more than anything. I’ve been raving about this guy for close to a year.) Picture this: He walks in on debut with the team struggling at two down for not much. He has been touted as New Zealand’s Boy Wonder, the Next Martin Crowe. Anticipation is palpable. He faces eight balls of pretty impressive bowling in useful conditions before receiving the death knell: a full ball on middle which moves wildly through the air before beating him all ends up and careening into his off-stump. In some ways it is the absolute antithesis of Martin Guptill’s international entrance, a year and a half earlier. Guptill was brought into the team to cover an absent Jesse Ryder. No one, barring a handful of die-hard domestic followers, had ever heard of him. He came in as a total unknown and left with the second highest score for an ODI debutant EVER, 122 not out. Back to Williamson though. I don’t think his first international innings is any indication of the sort of player he is likely to be. In fact, I’m still picking him to score big runs at some point in this series.
Two more points before I finish.
I was really impressed with both Guptill and Oram during their brief stays at the crease last night. Guptill batted with more confidence than he has in quite awhile and unfurled a couple of very attractive shots, a sure sign he’s in good form. Runs are not far away. Equally, Oram looked in great touch, timing it well from ball one and using his wrists really well.
My last point is a question: Why is Peter Ingram playing ahead of BJ Watling? Ingram (the concrete-footed one) has done nothing in the lead up and has a technique suited only to french cricket. That he was eventually dismissed caught-behind after playing an awful waft outside off-stump was largely inevitable. It’s a wonder he makes runs even in domestic cricket. Watling, on the other hand, has made three fifties in five innings and looks more than ready to make the step up.
So good to see the Black Caps win last night. Full credit to Ross Taylor (who is now two from two as captain) for playing an absolutely pitch perfect ODI innings. He took his time getting set, picked off the ones and twos and never tried too hard to force the pace (no ugly cross-batted hoicks to the onside here.) His record partnership of 190 with Scotty Styris rescued New Zealand from an ominous looking 28 for 3 and took them (us) to an incredibly respectable total of 288 – though it should’ve been a fair bit more, as they lost wickets in quick succession towards the end.
Taylor’s captaincy too seemed on the money. He cleverly chose to take the batting powerplay when both he and Styris were well set after 30 overs and promoted Jacob Oram up the order as a pinch hitter when Styris departed. Taylor’s only blemish was getting out within spitting distance of a well-deserved hundred. One of my main criticisms of the New Zealand team is that they too often fail to convert fifties (Taylor in particular has been guilty of this over the last couple of seasons.)
Now, the inevitable talking point: Kane Williamson. A rather inauspicious debut given the hype (this is a comment leveled at myself more than anything. I’ve been raving about this guy for close to a year.) Picture this: He walks in on debut with the team struggling at two down for not much. He has been touted as New Zealand’s Boy Wonder, the Next Martin Crowe. Anticipation is palpable. He faces eight balls of pretty impressive bowling in useful conditions before receiving the death knell: a full ball on middle which moves wildly through the air before beating him all ends up and careening into his off-stump. In some ways it is the absolute antithesis of Martin Guptill’s international entrance, a year and a half earlier. Guptill was brought into the team to cover an absent Jesse Ryder. No one, barring a handful of die-hard domestic followers, had ever heard of him. He came in as a total unknown and left with the second highest score for an ODI debutant EVER, 122 not out. Back to Williamson though. I don’t think his first international innings is any indication of the sort of player he is likely to be. In fact, I’m still picking him to score big runs at some point in this series.
Two more points before I finish.
I was really impressed with both Guptill and Oram during their brief stays at the crease last night. Guptill batted with more confidence than he has in quite awhile and unfurled a couple of very attractive shots, a sure sign he’s in good form. Runs are not far away. Equally, Oram looked in great touch, timing it well from ball one and using his wrists really well.
My last point is a question: Why is Peter Ingram playing ahead of BJ Watling? Ingram (the concrete-footed one) has done nothing in the lead up and has a technique suited only to french cricket. That he was eventually dismissed caught-behind after playing an awful waft outside off-stump was largely inevitable. It’s a wonder he makes runs even in domestic cricket. Watling, on the other hand, has made three fifties in five innings and looks more than ready to make the step up.
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