Blackcaps In Bangladesh: Mid-Series Notes
Three games down and Aotearoa's Blackcaps clawed their way back into this series with a win overnight after two T20I losses to Bangladesh. All of which started with the glorious all out for 60 in the first game, which Bangaldesh chased down fairly easily and then the kiwis hit a minor nek level in reaching 137/5 chasing 141/6 to win. Two losses there, although the progression through this series is laid out clearly and it culminated in the win last night where the kiwis put up 128/5 before rolling Bangladesh for 76.
This is a five-gamer and Bangladesh will be eager to rectify that performance in the third game. Both teams have had their poo-poo games, as well as games in which they executed what they wanted to and while the Blackcaps will be chasing a series win, the general funk here revolves around who in this group leads the way as the games increase in pressure.
The presence of Finn Allen will help Aotearoa. Allen cruised back into the line up with 15 runs @ 150sr and while that's not a huge score, this is a glimpse and what Allen is capable of. Allen ran it straight up the guts in last summer's Super Smash, then cleared out plenty of rucks over in England to give him a career T20 strike-rate of 171.26 and I get the vibe that the presence of Allen helps the other batsmen relax into their mahi.
Tom Blundell opened alongside Rachin Ravindra in the first two games. Both Blundell and Ravindra had their best knocks in the third game with Allen opening alongside Ravindra as Ravindra cruised to 20 runs @ 100sr, while Blundell was bumped down the order into his more familiar finishing roll where he held the fort with 30* @ 100sr.
Blundell had scores of 6 and 3 in the opening slot, providing a clear selection move as Allen returned. Tom Latham and Henry Nicholls are leading the team nicely, using their experience and batting craft to battle through each innings. These two are the only blokes from either team with over 55 runs and while they aren't blasting boundaries like Allen, they are both a nudge over 100sr which is perfect for the conditions and their roles.
The hole in this batting line up to keep tabs on is Colin de Grandhomme. With 9 runs in 3inns, de Grandhomme has continued his T20I slump that is in direct contrast to his ODI mahi. De Grandhomme had his best year of T20I cricket in 2019 and has backed that up with his two worst years, while averaging mid-20s with 100+ strike-rates in his last three years of ODI cricket.
When we think of CDG we think bigguns ... maximums ... your mate who doesn't show up to net sessions and bangs sixes on Saturdays. That's kinda happening in ODI cricket, but definitely not happening in the format best suited to de Grandhomme's batting style.
As for the bowlers, it's all pretty simple...
Ajaz Patel: 12ov, 6w @ 7.16avg/3.58rpo.
Rachin Ravindra: 12ov, 5w @ 11.20avg/4.66rpo.
Cole McConchie: 12ov, 5w @ 11.60avg/4.83rpo.
Colin de Grandhomme: 0.4ov, 1w @ 3avg/4.50rpo.
Scott Kuggeleijn: 3ov, 1w @ 14avg/4.66rpo.
Hamish Bennett: 4ov, 1w @ 32avg/8rpo.
Blair Tickner: 1ov @ 9rpo.
Ben Sears: 1ov @ 11rpo.
Jacob Duffy: 5ov @ 3.4pro.
Doug Bracewell: 4 ov @ 8.20rpo.
Aotearoa has taken 19 wickets across the three games, 16 have been taken by the spinners. For Ajaz Patel this is massive as he finally has favourable conditions with a chance to flex his fingers, having been pigeon-holed as a red ball spinner and only getting sporadic opportunities in Aotearoa. While this is fantastic experience for Ravindra and McConchie, they are both further down the spin ladder and I'm more curious as to how they perform in less favourable conditions.
That's the flipside of easing up on celebrating batsmen or seamers who have only played international cricket in Aotearoa. Patel has proven himself to be a monster in favourable conditions such as Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and United Arab Emirates while also dominating Plunket Shield cricket in Aotearoa and doing a job in home Tests. Patel was also solid in England earlier this year.
Should Ravindra and McConchie sustain this mahi over the next two games, it sets up a low key wrinkle to track moving forward as I'll be eager to see how they perform in Pakistan then back in Aotearoa. Bangladesh will have their footage of the three kiwi spinners, they'll be chatting through plans and how to pick them apart so this will be a fun point to hit once the series is done.
Hit an and if you had enjoyed the yarn.
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