Blackcaps In UAE: T20 Thoughts For ODI Series
Two T20I against Pakistan in their United Arab Emirates cauldron and two losses for Aotearoa's Blackcaps. The third and final fixture goes down tomorrow morning NZT and while the kiwis may be able to snap their five-game T20I losing streak, snapping Pakistan's 11-game winning streak in the process, performances in these types of games when the series is already decided can be a bit meh.
With the World T20 tournament not coming around the corner until 2020, the performances of the Blackcaps T20 team also see context drift away into the oblivion. It's hard for me to wrap the efforts of the Blackcaps in the blanket of the World T20 when it's so far away and with a fair amount of T20I coming this summer, as per New Zealand Cricket's mission to exist as slaves to money, we are in a weird spot where there is little context around T20I but a lot of T20I cricket scheduled.
I say all of that to set the scene for how I approach any Blackcaps T20 analysis. We have a few funky wrinkles here, led by the coach Gary Stead leading the Blackcaps for the first time and as this is an almighty time for ODI cricket, some performances and trends can flow into the Blackcaps ODI group. Then we have general notes about Blackcaps players and ideas around the Blackcaps; breaking down the performances of the Blackcaps T20 team though feels a bit futile right now.
One idea that smacks me in the face after losing the series, is that Aotearoa look to be short of a spinner and that spinner is Mitchell Santner. This points to another reason as to why we shouldn't buzz too much about this T20I series loss because Santner's not playing and the ODI World Cup is in England, while that World T20 in 2020 is in Australia; both are very different to UAE.
Without Santner, I was interested in how the dibbly dobblers of Colin Munro and Colin de Grandhomme would go and while being service-able, they don't offer much beyond that. Then again, Adam Milne is the only kiwi with more than a wicket from 2inns (4w @ 7.95rpo) and yes that means that Munro, de Grandhomme, Ajaz Patel, Tim Southee and Ish Sodhi all have 1 wicket in 2inns.
In Sodhi and Patel, there are two decent spinners, however neither offers the experienced nuance of Santner. Patel's in his first Blackcaps tour and while Sodhi's a gun T20 tweaker, for whatever reason he and Pakistan's leggy Shadab Khan haven't been overly influential as they both have 1w in 2inns. If leggies aren't taking wickets, by nature they can be scored off kinda easily. Santner is most similar kiwi bowler to the likes of Imad Wasim and Mohammad Hafeez, who are all finger spinners that don't turn the ball a whole lot and keep it tight.
This intrigues me leading into the ODI series as the Blackcaps need a steady bowling option, near-guaranteed 10ov of economical bowling with a wicket or two. The idea is that Patel builds into that role, however to expect the new lad to do such a niggly job is a tough ask and as Sodhi is that attacking option - the yin to Santner's yang. Just keep this in mind as we move through the UAE tour, a seed that has been planted during this T20I series and whenever you find yourself pondering bowling performances or team balance, remember that Santner will be a factor moving forward.
Two youngsters haven't dealt with the challenged laid down by an expert Pakistan T20 bowling line up are Glenn Phillips and Tim Seifert. Phillips has been incredibly inconsistent in the UAE, as you would expect from a young blaster and the general vibe I get from Phillips is that he can whack the weaker bowlers but gets stuck when it matters most. Phillips hit a 69* and 53, to go with a 4 in three T20 games for NZ A, then came a trio of ducks in the one-day A series, then a 48 vs UAE and now scores of 12 and 5 for the Blackcaps.
That's a whirlwind of wtf, plus we all know that Phillips was sizzling in the Caribbean Premier League before the UAE tour. The idea with Phillips is that he's doing an incredibly tough job and as Martin Guptill's currently a living injury, we must acquaint ourselves with Phillips being a serious ODI opening option. I don't know how Phillips' batting translate to ODI cricket, but for a young lad who is still trying to suss his craft out, expecting Phillips to be consistently successful as a blaster at the top of the order is only going to leave you disappointed.
Look how Colin Munro has had to develop with experience ... and I'm not even convinced that Munro will open the batting at the World Cup. I don't know what Phillips is and I don't know what coach Stead wants in that ODI opening slot, yet I do hope that Phillips can showcase his batsmanship if given an opportunity in the ODI team.
Creeping under the radar was Stead's decision to roll with Seifert as the wicket-keeper. As much as I view Seifert as one of the best batting prospects in Aotearoa, Seifert has 11 runs in 2inns with a duck and an 11. Granted, his knock of 11 came with a strike-rate of 137.50 which is nice and I'm more curious than anything about the move to play two young wicket-keeper/batsmen.
Remember that I've been celebrating the abundance of wicket-keeper/batsmen in Aotearoa and will again throw up the idea of multiple w-k/bats playing in the same Blackcaps team - yes more than the two we've got here. Hence, the curiosity. Unfortunately, Phillips and Seifert haven't truly snapped up their opportunities in this series and the Blackcaps have lost both games, which then raises questions about the balance of the team.
Take this into the ODI arena, where BJ Watling has been selected and wants a World Cup spot. Tom Latham ain't keen to give up his spot though and then Phillips could play a role in opening the innings over the next week or so as we slide into the ODI series. What we've seen in the T20 series is two young w-k/bats squeezed into the same team and this morphs into two established international w-k/bats as we move into the ODI series; Phillips/Seifert into Watling/Latham.
What Stead does with Watling and Latham will have a huge impact on the balance of the Blackcaps ODI team, especially when we then consider the variables of Santner and Guptill who are both absent. Santner's absence impacts the all-rounder equation, thus Latham/Watling batting around that #5/#6 spot and Guptill's absence opens the door for Latham, Watling or Phillips to open.
And all of what I've wrote here, falls on the shoulders of the new coach Stead. Kane Williamson will offer his thoughts on the team he wants and maybe it's mainly Williamson, either way I'm curious (word of the day) as to how Stead juggles selections moving into ODI cricket. We have already seen the influence of Stead on a low key level in the UAE; Patel ahead of Todd Astle, Adam Milne given the nod along with Corey Anderson and Seifert sliding into regular T20 game time.
I'm not suggesting that Stead has to make complicated decisions for the ODI series and they could be rather simple decisions. However, when you have Phillips, Seifert and de Grandhomme all scoring less than 20 runs in 2inns and only one bowler (Milne) taking more than 1w in 2inns, as you lose a T20I series, those selection decisions get a tad funkier. Moving into the ODI series, Stead may be forced to go down different routes than otherwise planned and then we will see his influence grow.
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Peace and love 27.