Series results matter and winning games obviously matters, my perspective revolves around winning a World Cup and Champions Trophy. That's a bit of a public service announcement I guess, so if that ain't your buzz there are other jokers who will help you come to conclusions on why the Blackcaps lost this series to India, or competed valiantly and almost won the series. What concerns me is how this Blackcaps ODI team is shaping up, fresh off of a reasonably crap performance in the CT. 

Now we're working our way towards a WC and most of my thoughts centre around the core of the batting unit and its design, which I'm positive about. In any sport there is a key group of players with a immense influence on the performance of that team and Tom Latham's move down to No.5 gives the Blackcaps a spine of Aotearoa's three best batsmen in the most important positions. The reliance on all-rounders has completely shaded how crucial these batting spots are and how difficult it is to be mentally and technically prepared to come to the crease in the first 15 overs, the 25th over or the 42nd over. 

ODI cricket means that each stage has a different job required of the batsmen, then there's the variable of what has happened in the innings so far. To expect an all-rounder - who has been selected because they can bat and bowl a bit - to be able to first and foremost assess the situation and then have the skill to execute the adaptation, isn't wise. Kane Williamson, Ross Taylor and Latham are capable in all aspects of dealing with all the situations that batting No.3-5 in ODI cricket throw up and if Aotearoa is building around this spine, we should all be low key excited.

Latham exposed how incredibly silly it is to pigeon-hole players (shout outz Neil Wagner). The best batsmen are able to adapt to any format and any situation and our Test opener who has built his game around leaving, defending and pouncing, finished this series with a strike-rate of 95.37. Latham's two notable innings came with strike-rates over 100 and his 2nd ODI 30-odd pulls his overall strike-rate down as he knocked it at 61.29sr.

Lesson celebrated their selections of batsmen who oozed 'power' before the CT. An idea that was flawed because that power came at the expense of ya know, good batsmanship. The best batsmen can hit boundaries, there's absolutely no need to worry about that (how easy does Prince Kane stroke a boundary!?), but the best batsmen can hit boundaries and craft an innings in any situation. Power hitters lack the craft and this is yet another error made my Lesson, we should give them a chur for adjusting their strategy though.

Is Virat Kohli a power hitter? No, he's one of four Golden Children and finished this series with a strike-rate of 101.15. The best batsmen don't stress about boundaries, they can hit boundaries in their sleep, they can consistently tick their score over as well and earn their stripes by adjusting their game to suit the situation.

Is Henry Nicholls a power hitter? No, he had a strike-rate of 95.40 though. Aotearoa rolled out a Latham/Nicholls combo and they both finished with 95sr. Middle order ODI batting requires a strike-rate over 90, that's borderline mandatory and we leave this series know that Latham at least, is simply an all-round good international batsman who has skills to adapt. Nicholls isn't quite on that level yet, he and Latham have however made life extremely difficult for those all-rounders, or power batsmen who didn't do the job at the CT.

The importance of this ODI spine (I'll include Nicholls in it for now) is amplified when the Blackcaps are playing Colin Munro as an opener. The pinch hitter role is fine when you've got the spine and especially when Munro is joining Martin Guptill in India, against India; Guptill averages 29.16 against India which is his lowest batting average against Test playing nations. Guptill's average in India of 29.43 is well below his career average of 42.71 as well and Guptill averages over 40 in Australia, England, Aotearoa and 33.40 in South Africa.

So, chill on Guptill. He's earned the right to work his way out of this hole and it's a bit of a hole right now as Guppy hasn't scored 40+ in his last seven innings, stretching back to the third ODI vs South Africa and through the CT. 

I'm still skeptical about Munro and the work of Latham/Nicholls isn't good news for Munro either. Granted, Munro did his job in the third ODI with 75 @ 120.96sr and if Munro's going do that once every third innings, I can definitely accept that, no dramas. My gut feel is that Munro won't do that and I'm more than happy to see how this plays out, for Munro to prove me wrong and dominate in all his B-Mac 2.0 glory. Do it Manu! Please.

My prediction, is that this won't happen. 

Munro's average isn't overly important, neither are his scores - his average is more important than his scores. His career ODI average of 26.95 isn't flash (most of his career has been in the middle order), yet if Munro is consistently scoring with a strike-rate over 100, he's doing his job. For Munro, 30 off 15 is brilliant and then the spine can get busy in taking over. With a few big knocks of 50+ with a hefty strike-rate sprinkled on top, Munro will hold on to his opening gig through to the WC and we'll be looking at a mighty Blackcaps batting unit.

Is Munro good enough to grind away when it's not his day? This is a low key narrative to ponder as it's fine and dandy to judge Munro on his scoring, but what is he doing when he wakes up on the wrong side of the bed, the stars aren't aligned and he can't middle his shots? Can Munro rotate the strike, adapt (see the theme here) to the fact that it's not his day and do a slightly different job for the team? 

Playing as Munro does, brings greater risk, thus increasing the chances of Munro being dismissed for 30-40. That's when other batsmen are starting to settle in, so we need to accept that Munro's style is risky and as long as he's scoring swiftly, a 30-40 is all good. 

If Munro isn't cracking boundaries, his job changes and he's got to rotate the strike, lay a platform and support the spine.

Best-case scenario is that Munro consistently goes bang and the spine can come to the crease with runs on the board.

Munro should be given this job all summer long and my greatest concern is that the Blackcaps ODI team will be regularly tinkered with this summer. We've seen how Lesson didn't do any planning for the CT, so it would be nice to see this top-six given ample opportunity to build towards the WC and they have to play themselves out of the team through elongated lean-spells. Munro has been given something he's never had as a Blackcap; clarity. What he does with it is a super-deluxe funky yarn for the summer ahead.

Peace and love 27.

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