As Colin de Grandhomme did what CDG does upon his Blackcaps return, Todd Astle's chances of settling into any sort of Blackcaps role diminished. While Astle had been part of the first three games, keeping de Grandhomme out of the team as the series was still on the line, the immediacy and intensity of de Grandhomme's impact in Hamilton was undeniable - also typical of de Grandhomme.

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Yet it wasn't just de Grandhomme's performance that murkied Astle's pond, it was the fact that de Grandhomme blasted boundaries in the second innings, after Kane Williamson had bowled a full 10 overs with 2 wickets @ 3.20rpo. Williamson bowled in just five games last year (of 14) and took 2 wickets, this was also the first time Williamson had bowled since the Champions Trophy; resisting the urge to bowl in India.

We all know Williamson can roll the arm over as good as most and he doesn't even need to rock through 10 overs of tight offies as he did in the fourth ODI. Colin Munro bowled a few overs in this recent ODI and now has 13 overs for the series, which is more than Astle's 12 overs and between Williamson, Munro and de Grandhomme, the Blackcaps now have three bowlers who can either make up the last lot of 10 overs, or pick up overs from the four front-liners who may be having an off day.

Not only has Munro bowled more overs than Astle, Williamson also passed Astle in one game (10ov) and as both Munro and Williamson have 2w each, they may finish the series with more wickets than Astle (3w). Astle also bowled in dominant wins for Aotearoa (limiting his overs), yet he still conceded 6.58rpo and that's the highest economy rate of any bowler in this series. Williamson has only bowled in one game so his 3.20rpo is whatever, Munro though has the lowest rpo of any bowler in this series and has chipped in with overs throughout the series @ 3.15rpo.

I'm always happy to see a player given time to suss out ODI cricket and Astle's no different, I just can't quite see how he fits in now that de Grandhomme is back in action. De Grandhomme is better at that batting job and the 5th/6th/7th bowler role can be done by de Grandhomme, Munro and Williamson. That leaves Astle relying specifically on his leggies to earn selection and shout outs to Rahul Dravid for being one of the greats at life, but I'm yet to see whatever Dravid saw in Astle over in India.

Time will tell if Astle's leggies are worthy of selection or if there is a better leg-spinning option in domestic cricket, or even a general spinning option. The battle Astle will have is getting enough game time to state his case and he's now the victim of circumstance where he didn't dominate with his chances, then saw Williamson make cricket look easy with his offies and then saw de Grandhomme slot straight back into ODI cricket.

After this series we move into a low key funky T20I series where the spin duties will fall to Mitchell Santner and Ish Sodhi, thus presenting Sodhi with an opportunity to make an irresistible case for ODI selection. Astle will get some 50-over Ford Trophy cricket during this time though and will likely keep himself in the frame by typically strong all-round performances, which could see him maintain his place in the squad.

Right now, Astle's slid out of the 1st XI and those windows of opportunity get smaller and smaller when you're in a competitive set up like Aotearoa currently has.

Peace and love 27.