Having dispatched West Indies in both T20I and Test cricket without much resistance, Aotearoa's Blackcaps rode the wave of a more challenging Pakistan outfit and at this stage of the T20I sorting period, that's exactly what the bush doctor ordered. Throughout both T20I series, we have seen a variety of different players stand up stake their claim and one would be wise to maintain an open mind as to how this Blackcaps T20I unit look as these two T20I series have served up all sorts of possibilities and combinations.

First though, chur to Pakistan.

Pakistan are my favourite non-Aotearoa/non-greatest-sporting-nation-in-the world cricket team and the combination of a higher intensity than Windies, funky batsmanship and a bowling group that is skillful and routinely sitting in the 145km/h range was simply fun. Hopefully that carries into the Test series where someone like nibbly seamer Mohammad Abbas (Test average of 21.70) is coming off 5 wickets vs Aotearoa 'A'.

Everything about Pakistan is fun.

And chur to PSO Carient Motor Oil.

When India play in Aotearoa, a recent trend emerged of cricket grounds in Aotearoa are covered in 'Ultra Tech Cement' or 'Byju's' advertising. No surprises then that Pakistan State Oil's Carient Motor Oil is a Pakistan company and for a series in Aotearoa, a Pakistan company were graced with as much advertising as the NZC sponsors such as 'Ford' or 'Gillete'. We've heard bits and bobs about the finances of NZC and I'll let you come to your own conclusions about how all of this comes together; I just find it strange that kiwis in Aotearoa are seeing Indian and Pakistan brands plastered around cricket grounds and coverage.

Also strange that when you pay for pay-tv or a subscription service, the broadcast is also then peppered with regular advertising. That means you are paying the broadcaster for the product and then the broadcaster also has ads at every little break possible; broadcaster is cashing in on your subscription and the ads they run.

Also strange that right when I was thinking about the Blackcaps fielding unit and how good having Martin Guptill, Glenn Phillips, Mitchell Santner etc roaming could be, Guptill leaves the field injured. Guptill did well to get his mits on the first powerful stroke sent his way at point, although he didn't get his palm to the ball and the next one that came his way had the same result, only more brutal as it munched Guppy's finger.

Then Daryl Mitchell comes on and swallows everything. For hearty kiwi cricket fans, they would have seen Mitchell catching everything that came his way in the slips for Northern Districts Knights and then Canterbury to start this season. Mitchell has a genuine case as the best catcher in Aotearoa, with a minor nek level in the third T20I being his movement across the turf.

All up, the Blackcaps are a top-tier fielding team. I noted one time when the ball was hit to the off-side where Guptill and Phillips were lurking, then there are three blokes backing up on the leg-side. Later on in the game, Tim Southee fielded a ball and that was followed by a grizzle from Southee that no one was backing up on the other side as Pakistan ran a single. Good hands, anticipation, athleticism and well-drilled fielding basics ensure that Aotearoa's baseline level of performance is solid as their fielding is always on point.

Tim Seifert and Devon Conway were the most notable kiwi batsman.

Seifert did well to bounce back from a quiet series vs West Indies where he scored 35 runs in 2inns @ 134.61sr to lead all run-scorers in the Pakistan series with 176 runs in 3inns @ 139.68sr.

Conway is a wee bit more intriguing and I don't know how youz felt watching Conway bat in either series, but when Conway first appeared at Eden Park vs Windies I felt as though I was wrapped up in a warm kiwi cricket korowai feeling excessively snug.

Everything is smooth and crisp with Conway, who isn't exactly a 'power hitter' and all it takes is a quick dance down the wicket for a lofted drive sixer. Conway smokes everything, the ball flies off his bat and that warm snug feeling is rooted in how easy Conway appeared to adjust to international cricket.

Conway had 106 runs in 2inns @ 160.60sr vs Windies, then 68 runs in 2inns @ 138.77sr vs Pakistan. Conway's T20I career has started with 174 runs in 4inns @ 58avg/151.3sr and on top of that, Conway is the one batsman in Aotearoa who has the same skillset as Ross Taylor in the middle order for T20I cricket. Conway doesn't have the experience and nous, although he has played a lot of cricket since debuting in South Africa back in 2009. What Conway does have is the ability to score runs all around the park, without over-extending or taking any hefty risks.

I wasn't annoyed that Taylor was dropped. I was super annoyed at the disrespect shown towards Taylor and more to the point, that it's not the first time. I still believe Taylor has immense value and we'll see how he progresses through the rest of the summer, at the very least the Aotearoa T20I team has two of these type of batsmen. Chuck in Kane Williamson and there are three batsmen who ooze batting craft, capable of wiggling through the scenarios T20 cricket throws up and their so good at batting that it's nothing for them to up the ante and whack boundaries.

Guptill's form is the most pressing issue in the batting.

Guptill scored 39 runs @ 19.5avg/150sr vs Windies, then 46 runs @ 15.33avg/24.32sr vs Pakistan. After a century, four half-centuries and 41avg/146.95sr in 2018, Guptill has one 50+ score in the last two years (17inns) and we can stretch this out further to the Plunket Shield where Guptill had 127 runs in 5inns @ 25.4avg, then the Ford Trophy where Guptill was alright with 76 runs @ 25.33avg/93.82sr. Guptill's 65 in the Plunket Shield is his only 50+ score of the kiwi summer thus far.

That's where we have to stay open minded about how this team looks moving forward. Guptill may dominate the Super Smash and it's all good, or there may be further rotation in the batting unit around players such as Williamson, Conway, Seifert or Phillips who either have Blackcaps equity or having earned further opportunities.

Best bowler of the series? Tim Southee.

Southee was handy vs Windies with 3w @ 23.66avg/10.14rpo/14sr, then Southee took 6w @ 7.66avg/5.75rpo/8sr. Remember that while the Blackcaps are only playing cricket in Aotearoa, Southee is in the midst of his best year of Test cricket (26w @ 15.73avg) and his year of T20I cricket is also impressive with 12w @ 25.33avg/8.81rpo/17.2sr. Here's how Southee's last three years of T20I cricket looks...

2018: 11inns, 12w @ 25.58avg/7.87rpo/19.5sr.

2019: 12inns, 12w @ 27.08avg/7.47rpo/21.7sr.

2020: 9inns, 12w @ 2.33avg/8.81rpo/17.2sr.

Hmm, how does that compare to low key 2020 Indian Premier League beast Trent Boult?

2018: 8inns, 11w @ 25.27avg/9.31rpo/16.2sr.

2019: 2inns, 2w @ 35avg/10rpo/21sr.

2020: 2inns, 0w @ 9.5rpo.

Aotearoa's two premier seamers, two of the best bowlers to grace Aotearoa cricket and extremely different T20I situations. Southee is playing a lot of T20I cricket, while having the same or similar workload across the formats as Boult and that is working well for Southee. Boult's played four T20I games in two years and that's not working well for Boult - who has a good record under Kane Williamson's captaincy of 23.68avg/8.82rpo/16.1sr.

Boult was 3rd in IPL wickets with 25w @ 18.28avg/7.97rpo/13.7sr and like most of Aotearoa's best Test/ODI players, Boult is a world-class across the formats. Moving forward, Boult probably needs to stack up T20I games and align himself with Southee who is clearly enjoying his consistent game time in T20I cricket. Boult's done too much in T20 cricket to brushed aside and I still view Boult as a key figure in all formats.

I believe the T20I core for Aotearoa is some combination of Williamson/Taylor/Conway, then Southee and Boult leading the seam group, while Mitchell Santner and Ish Sodhi handle the spin. Around the core, you put the likes of Seifert and Phillips with regards to funky batting and how the rest of the bowling unit is built around Southee, Boult, Santner and Sodhi is a key aspect of Blackcaps T20I cricket to ponder over the Super Smash.

Scott Kuggeleijn took 5w @ 20avg/9.09rpo/13.2sr to put his hand up for more opportunities after not playing vs Windies - remember Hamish Bennett took 0w @ 17.64rpo vs Windies.

Kyle Jamieson had the opposite split as he took 2w @ 20.50avg/5.85rpo/21sr vs Windies, then 1w @ 65avg/9.75rpo/40sr vs Pakistan.

Blair Tickner took 1w @ 8.75rpo in his lone appearance.

Jacob Duffy took 4w @ 8.25rpo in his lone appearance.

Lockie Ferguson is the missing piece.

When strictly pondering T20 matters, the Super Smash starting tomorrow will be crucial for organising some of these T20 matters. Daryl Mitchell and Kyle Jamieson are in the Test squad so they'll miss the start of the Super Smash. Then we have Seifert, Phillips, Guptill, Conway and Jimmy Neesham will look to dominate and build from these recent series, while the group of fringe seamers will do battle for those fourth/fifth seamer spots. Even then, someone may explode with runs or wickets in the Super Smash and shake things up even further - keep that noggin' nice and open to all the possibilities.

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Peace and love.