The T20 series decider between the BLACKCAPS and Pakistan saw the kiwis dominate, in conjunction with Pakistan putting their volatile cricketing nature on display. A series win and an impressive performance in a game with a little bit more pressure, which doubles as the last T20 International before the T20 World Cup, should fill everyone involved with confidence.

A few quick notes before we move on to the ODI series which gets underway tomorrow...

Corey Anderson's knock (82 off 58) was timely. Anderson showcased his brutal power as well as his general batsmanship, the same batsmanship that saw him earn a First Class Debut as a teenager and has me thinking that Anderson could find a home in the top five of this BLACKCAPS batting line up.

Returning to the national side after a lengthy injury lay off, Anderson reminded us of his class but I'd encourage y'all to allow your minds to ponder Anderson's ceiling as an all rounder. Anderson's 82 came with bowling figures of 2/17 off 3 and to have a lad who can bat in the top five and bowl close to/if not his full allotment of overs is a huge asset.

All this talk of the middle order 'needing' a bat really confused me; Ronchi batted in two of these three T20s and scored 1 run (0 off 4 and 1 off 2)

Who was the best bowler from either team through this series? Adam Milne with 8 wickets, an average of 10.25 and an economy rate of 7.34 runs per over. Only Shahid Afridi and Imad Wasim bowled more deliveries than Milne.

Alright, how about these ODIs yeah? Coach Mike Hesson has served up the funk with his ODI squad with BJ Watling to take over from Ronchi for the last two games, Munro earning the call up via solid T20 form, Henry Nicholls getting another opportunity and the Brendan McCullum/Tom Latham see-saw looks set to continue.

And there's no Todd Astle. Playing with two spinners in Aotearoa is unnecessary, especially in ODI cricket and especially when coach Hesson highlights Munro as being an extra bowling option. Astle's failure to make an impact means that we're looking at Mitchell Santner, Nathan McCullum and Ish Sodhi as being in the frame for the World T20 squad. The success and growing responsibility of Elliott (and Munro) could mean that only two spinners are picked for India and if that's the case then we could very well see the Santner/McCullum combo rolled out. That's an issue for another day though.

This was a very weird experiment by the Hesson and company as Astle was destined for failure against a Pakistani batting line up who are familiar with spin and face the best leg-spinner in the world (Yasir Shah) in the nets regularly.  

Not to mention that Astle's form that earned him the call up came in 50-over cricket, not T20 cricket so in essence he was thrown to the wolves. 

The wolves devoured Astle and spat him back out into Ford Trophy cricket where he was smacked for 0/84 off 10 overs as Jesse Ryder hit 4/7 of his sixes off Astle.

This is where the allrounders are crucial with Corey Anderson and Elliott picking up plenty of bowling slack. Mitchell Santner will hold down the spin-bowling spot while Trent Boult, Mitchell McClenaghan, Matt Henry and Milne are rotated in and out of the bowling attack. 

By the way, the best thing that Colin Munro the bowler could do would be to follow Grant Elliott and learn the craft displayed by Elliott time and time again.

Remember when Henry was a beast against Sri Lanka? Henry had a lean T20 series, only playing one game (1/31 off 4 overs) and is still competing for a spot on the plane for the World T20. Milne and McClenaghan have been great while Boult is Boult so Henry needs another big series to shake things up.

As for the batting crew, I'm happy that Ross Taylor is absent via injury as we get to see Henry Nicholls in action after his stint in the Big Bash. Nicholls - as I've said a few times - simply looks like an international batsman and it's going to be interesting to see how this batting line up is organised.

If Tom Latham opens, there's not much room for Nicholls and Munro (Latham, Guptill, Williamson, Nicholls/Munro, Anderson, Elliott, Watling). I'd love to see the Williamson/Guptill opening partnership rolled out in ODI cricket, although Williamson at No.3 is a thing of beauty so expect to see some shuffling in that batting line up throughout the series.

Watling's inclusion is funky. As I said, Ronchi is out of touch but I also think that Watling offers a skillset that balances out this batting line up nicely as his ability to graft/rotate the strike could work well with the hitters. This could see Watling float as he's not much use coming in with a few overs left to have a whack, Watling is better used coming in if there's a few early wickets where he can save the day/build into his work.

Don't get me wrong, it would be great to see the likes of Taylor, McCullum and Southee in action, however this is international cricket and injuries don't have any sense of occasion/timing. This offers us a look at a BLACKCAPS team who need to show off their depth which is equally, if not more interesting than a full strength kiwi team.

I guess I'd sum that thought up by saying while McCullum's swansong is possibly what the public want to see, the future of the BLACKCAPS beyond McCullum is what gets me going. I have a feeling it's going to be very good so I'm enjoying these little glimpses of life after McCullum.