BLACKCAPS Hosting Australia - That First ODI
Boult, into the wound goes the salt, demolition's the result
It doesn't get much better than that folks (maybe such a performance in a World Cup final), starting with Guppy and B-Mac and finishing with a stellar bowling display. The BLACKCAPS beat Australia up in the first ODI at Eden Park, out-playing the Aussies in every aspect including the field, bar Glenn Maxwell's run out, most importantly the kiwis out smarted the dingoes.
Steve Smith wanted to bat second because apparently 80 percent of the chases at Eden Park have been successful, Brendon McCullum knew better. Our skipper knew that Eden Park's wicket had been used a few days before and had displayed a tendency to slow up and get a little funky as the game wore on, something which I'm sure Smith would have pondered as his bowlers got Australia back in the game with their slower-balls/variations. It wasn't just the pitch though as McCullum and his bowlers executed well thought out plans nicely, playing on the strengths of Smith for example while also showing their own bag of tricks; Boult rolling his fingers across the ball to get it to nip away from Mitch Marsh.
Australia will be filthy. Their bowlers survived a McCullum/Guptill onslaught by the skin of their teeth and then went to work on the BLACKCAPS' middle-order who once again failed to make the most of a great start, Australia's bowlers get some credit for this though. Australia's batting effort was horrible, perhaps they were the victim of fresh conditions which actually offer the bowlers something instead of the flat decks in Australia. Play with the same level of reckless abandon in Aotearoa and you'll lose your wicket, which I'm sure the Aussies will learn.
This was also evident in the BLACKCAPS batting performance as instead of knuckling down to get a real big score, they opted to keep hitting and why not? McCullum could have defended a good yorker from James Faulkner on 44 (off 29), Guptill could have not tried to run a crazy single on 90 (off 76) and Henry Nicholls didn't need to swing at that short one on 61. There was a touch of softness about this batting display and the ruthlessness to go on and get 350+ from very solid beginnings is the next level.
Guptill's golden summer continues, McCullum is going to die by the sword (all power to him) and Nicholls, well doesn't Nicholls look like a gem. His 50 came off 51 balls and he's already an expert at knocking the ball around, ticking the scoreboard over like Kane Williamson (who got a duck, wtf) while also having the class to hit important boundaries. I love Nicholls at No.4.
A bit of an issue at the moment is the middle-order of Grant Elliott, Corey Anderson and Luke Ronchi. Elliott's last three innings are 0, 10, 21, Anderson's are 10, 35, 10 and Ronchi's are 5, 20, 16, which is fine when three of the top-four get runs and they come to the crease already up around 200, but at some stage this series these lads will be required to guide the team over 200. At least Elliott scored his runs quickly (21 off 18 @116.66), Anderson's strike-rate was 50 and Ronchi's was 61.53 which is where our innings stalled.
Oh, you're as excited as I am about the prospect of having Nicholls and Mitchell Santner (2/0 off 0.2 #yeow) in the same team for many years to come? Fine young cricketers those two.
The bowling effort was wizardry in the flesh, led by Trent Boult's 3/38 off 7 overs and Matt Henry's 3/41 off 6 overs. What stands out for me about these two is that they both attacking the batsmen, or more specifically, the stumps which funnily enough gives them a greater chance of a catch, hitting the stumps or an LBW. They are both looking for any swing which means they pitch it up, more importantly they can hit tight lines consistently.
In his last seven ODIs, Henry has taken 18 wickets, yeah. As for Boult, well he wasn't good enough for ODI cricket just over a year ago and here he is, sharing a bowling average of 22 with Henry. Two opening bowlers who both average 22 with the ball and have strike-rates of 24 (Henry) and 28 (Boult)? Damn skippy I want some of that.
This makes the second ODI on Saturday that much more interesting because we will see whether Australia can bounce back in typical dingo fashion, or if it's our lads, the BLACKCAPS who show off their ruthless side. I want that nail in the coffin.