Black Caps Black Book ... /Diary - Glory To The Ginger
3-2, an ODI series loss and yeah it's a bummer. But it's a bummer that the Black Caps needed to deal with as Jonny Bairstow smacked around the winning runs, not just because it's always nice to come back down to earth.
Coming back down to earth is nice though as I think we've drawn a bit too much from the Black Caps efforts in the World Cup. We haven't over-enjoyed the Black Caps, but I think we've all extended the World Cup, we've all expected things to just roll on but this series has shown what a foolish act that is.
I once again can't really find fault with the batting as 283 off 50 overs is a decent score in anyone's books. Sure, it's not quite pushing the limits of what teams can now score in an ODI but the batsman put the runs on the board. Guptill finished off a solid ODI series with 67 and his value as the rock at the top of the order was once again evident with Brendon McCullum continuing to pinch hit.
Williamson got his mandatory half century and Ross Taylor almost did the same but was dismissed for 47. Both these two lads scored at a much slower rate than they had done previously, but their ability to stick around for more than a few overs and endure the hardships of being a new batsmen kept the Black Caps in the contest. This is an overarching idea from the entire ODI series as the Black Caps haven't collapsed like we're all accustomed to. They have enjoyed plenty of runs, but the top four who also double as our best batsmen have been able to stem the flow of an early wicket or two and get things back on track.
It was a collective batting effort from the kiwis and it was good to see what Ben Wheeler can do with the willow, he scored 39 off 28 balls.
Grant Elliot Watch: 35 off 36 in another middle order cameo and one over for 16 runs, capping off an underwhelming effort from Elliot. I'll come back to this in my tour debrief tomorrow.
The bowling was the issue though as England chased down a Duckworth-Lewis revised total, 192 off 26 overs. England still needed to score at 7.38 runs an over and we got off to a flyer.
The two bowlers who helped put the Black Caps in a strong position were Mitchell Santner and Ben Wheeler which, despite loosing a decider, should fill kiwi cricket fans with glee. Santner picked up three of the top four English batsmen; Alex Hales, Joe Root and Eoin Morgan (quite some list) and he's unquestionably our go to limited overs spinner. He has emerged from this tour ahead of Nathan McCullum, they both offer a bit with the bat but Santner probably has the advantage there and he looks to pose a greater threat with the ball as well.
Wheeler took two wickets and much like Santner he has shown that he's more than capable at this level.
When push came to shove and Bairstow started to gain some confidence, the Black Caps largely crumbled. There's been a lack of accuracy with our bowlers all series as they don't seem to be able to bowl enough dot balls, tight lines and a good length which are difficult to hit. That changes for each batsman, but we were a bit all over the show with short balls lacking any sort of spice and no one was able to really execute a good yorker, it barely looked like anyone tried the ol' yorker either.
Andrew Mathieson kind of sums up this ODI series loss for me and could be why I'm not too down in the dumps about the loss. Mathieson was called into the squad as cover for the bowlers which could have been because he had nice Ford Trophy campaign, but it's far more likely that he was in the right place at the right time. He's been playing in England for Sidmouth as their overseas player and there wouldn't have been much point in bringing injury cover across from the other side of the world as the tour winded down.
Mathieson was a bit erratic and I don't think he is going to be a long term option, he went for 40 off four overs and took a wicket with a delivery best described as short and wide. Sometimes being in the right place at the right time works out for you, sometimes it doesn't.
I appreciate that we lost which always sucks, but it's hard to dwell on this result when the Black Caps weren't close to resembling a full strength team. I don't know if this is relevant to that argument, but we were also pretty shabby in the field, well below our usual standards and we didn't look like the team who pride themselves on their fielding.
I'll be back tomorrow with more of a run down of the tour, there's the T20 which I'll breeze over - you expect me to care for a single T20 game? Fuck out of here.
Ponder this though - what does Luke Ronchi's future in coloured clothing look like?
See ya soon folks.