Blackcaps vs India ODI Series Debrief (Tom Latham, Adam Milne & Bowling Options)
Aotearoa's Blackcaps wrapped up an ODI series win over India and despite winning one of their last six games, the kiwis blasted up to second (12-4) on the Cricket World Cup Super League ladder. Blackcaps are one of five teams with 12 wins and their tour of Pakistan will be especially funky as Pakistan are sixth with a 12-6 record. That tour features three CWCSL games and a win or two will ensure Aotearoa's qualification for next year's World Cup.
Aotearoa is fourth for net-run-rate in CWCSL with 0.731 sitting behind India's 0.782 and Australia's 0.785. England lead all 13 nations with 1.219.
Matt Henry is the best Blackcaps bowler in CWCSL: 13th - 24w @ 21.58avg/4.4rpo.
Tom Latham is the best Blackcaps batter in CWCSL: 8th - 686 runs @ 62.36avg/99.13sr
Tom Latham also leads Aotearoa for ODI runs this year. Latham is the only kiwi batter who has scored 500+ runs in both CWCSL and 2022 ODIS, plus he continues to showcase his attacking strokes that have made him a low key batting monster. Across 13 innings of ODI batting this year, Latham has a strike-rate of 101.27 and any time Latham dips down to play Super Smash or Ford Trophy, he is brutally delightful.
Last summer Latham played five games of Super Smash and cracked 161 runs @ 178.88sr. Latham played just one Ford Trophy game last summer, so we'll slide back to the prior summer when Canterbury won the FT with Latham hitting 280 runs @ 113.82sr. Despite his ODI career strike-rate sitting at 86.18 after 107 innings, Latham has been above 90sr for his last three years of ODI batting and over 100sr in two of these last three years.
Dive deeper for Latham holding a 40+ average and 90+ strike-rate for each of the last three years. This is the only phase of Latham's carer in which he has consecutive years of 40+ averages and/or 90+ strike-rates.
Tom Latham in 2022 ODIs: 13inns, 558 runs @ 55.8avg/101.27sr, 2 x 100, 2 x 50.
Adam Milne enjoyed his first dose of ODI cricket since 2017 and the two games against India amount to Milne's best pocket of ODI bowling. Milne took 4w @ 31avg/6.2rpo with 3w @ 5.7rpo in the third ODI in Christchurch where favourable seam conditions helped the kiwis, but probably won't be replicated in their upcoming tour of Pakistan. Milne didn't play at the T20 World Cup and is unlikely to feature in the CWCSL games against Pakistan coming up, but his presence sums up the depth on offer in kiwi cricket.
Milne didn't deliver 150km/h rockets against India and Matt Henry had moments of bowling faster than Milne. This is understandable given Milne's injury history and his skill development will dictate future playing opportunities. Milne could find a way to thrive as a late-innings bowling option, he might develop some swing/seam tricks to go with his slower deliveries. Whether Milne is sitting behind Ferguson as a hostile seamer or commanding selection by executing plans and his role, there is a chance for Milne to embed himself in the Blackcaps top-15
Next up is Ford Trophy and maybe a bit of Super Smash. Milne took 9w @ 19.33avg/4.83rpo in FT last summer, finishing as one of the best bowlers in a Central team that made the final. Milne is yet to play for Wellington this summer and the prospect of him bowling alongside Ben Sears is fabulous.
Here are the bowling stats for Blackcaps ODI all-rounders this year...
Michael Bracewell: 79ov, 10w @ 41avg/5.18rpo
Daryl Mitchell: 11ov, 4w @ 9.5avg/3.45rpo
Colin de Grandhomme: 15ov, 3w @ 16.66avg/3.33rpo
Glenn Phillips: 12ov, 3w @ 27.66avg/6.91rpo
Jimmy Neesham: 30ov, 1w @ 181avg/6.03rpo
Colin de Grandhomme has slid out of this mixer with his retirement. Kyle Jamieson last played ODIs against Netherlands at the start of this year (6w @ 18.33avg/4.85rpo) which shouldn't be overlooked when pondering Blackcaps bowling workloads. Neesham didn't play in the series against India and his absence was a non-factor, not only in the sense of not noticing Neesham's absence; Neesham had two ducks in the T20Is against India and five of his last six batting innings were below 10 runs.
Neesham has alternated between good and bad years of ODI bowling, averaging 70+ in three of the last five years and below 21 in the other two. Neesham played two games against West Indies and all three games against Australia, but now seems to be sliding down the depth chart which will present bowling opportunities to others.
Bracewell and Mitchell are best equipped to plug this hole, perhaps more effectively than Neesham or de Grandhomme. Mitchell's batting warrants consistent selection, while Bracewell is likely to earn selection when Aotearoa needs a second spinner. Both these lads have bowled 1,300+ deliveries in List-A cricket, although Mitchell averages below 32 in First-Class, List-A and T20 while Bracewell averages 35+ in FC and LA.
Other spinning all-rounders on the domestic circuit are Rachin Ravindra and Michael Rippon. Ish Sodhi may demand an ODI opportunity through his FT mahi. Seamers such as Jamieson, Milne and Doug Bracewell are capable batters, while the likes of Blair Tickner, Jacob Duffy and Ben Sears are straight up bowlers. Aotearoa only needs one of their top-six batters to offer a bowling option and Mitchell seems like the best, then it's all about conditions and workloads.
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Peace and love.