Aotearoa A vs Australia A: Game Two Debrief
The second Aotearoa A vs Australia A game featured more youngsters, as well as the hearty domestic veterans scoring the most runs and taking the most wickets. Canterbury wicket-keeper Mitch Hay and seamer Will O'Rourke were drafted in for the second game, along with Auckland leggy Adithya Ashok. There was even bonus funk with Wellington youngster Muhammad Abbas joining Logan van Beek as fresh inclusions from outside the initial squad.
This resulted in Cameron Fletcher, Doug Bracewell, Ajaz Patel and Jacob Duffy dropping out while Cole McConchie departed for Pakistan with the Blackcaps.
Batting first, Australia put up 253 with van Beek snaring 4w @ 3.42rpo as the leading kiwi bowler. Scott Kuggeleijn took 3w @ 3.11rpo and O'Rourke dismissed a couple Aussie bowlers for his 2w @ 4rpo. In response the kiwis scored 246 runs thanks to Sean Solia's knock of 60, Tom Bruce's 44 runs and a sneaky knock of 43 down the order from Hay.
Australia followed up with 366/8d declared and van Beek was the leading bowler for Aotearoa once again, taking 3w @ 2.44rpo. O'Rourke took 2w @ 4.5rpo while Kuggeleijn and Ashok took 1w each. That left a target of 374 runs for the kiwis and Henry Cooper finished not-out on 61 alongside 44* from Rob O'Donnell, as well as a cheeky 26 runs @ 173sr from Bruce as he tried to push for a win. The game wound up in a draw with Aotearoa on 174/3.
Bruce scored the most runs for Aotearoa with 182 runs @ 45.5avg and scores of 48, 64, 44, 26. Bruce led Central to Ford Trophy and Plunket Shield championships, putting up nine scores over 40 in his last 11 innings of the season.
Cooper was the only kiwi batter to register two 50+ scores in this series, both of which came in second innings. Cooper wraps up his season with three 50+ scores in a row and his role as an opener in this series is intriguing. While he wasn't a dominant force this season, Cooper was consistently solid for Northern and this A series may forecast a development route for Cooper as a future Test opener.
There is similar scope for Solia and along with the bowling below, this highlights the middle class depth in kiwi cricket as Cooper is 29-years-old and Solia is 30-years-old. Solia hit a big ol' 151 in Plunket Shield this season (442 runs @ 36.83avg) and his all-round talents are a bonus. While the NZ 11 vs England game earlier this season featured more random selections, Solia batted down the order before he and Cooper were deployed as openers in both games vs Australia.
That NZ 11 team had Will O'Donnell and Jacob Cumming as openers. Both are really good young cricketers who will be factors in the next few years. Don't fall for the youngsters though as they need to score more runs than blokes like Cooper and Solia ... who just held the fort against an Aussie seam attack pushing for Ashes selection.
Then there is a bloke like Hay who is 22-years-old and he's got seven 50+ scores in his first 10 games of First-Class cricket with an average of 42.86. Hay played as the wicket-keeper and again, the depth is on show here as Fletcher is Canterbury's numero tahi gloveman who has settled on the fringe of the Test squad, then he helped the kiwis win the first game of this series.
Why was Abbas selected? Because he scored 453 runs @ 56.62avg in his first four games of Plunket Shield cricket. Abbas could only manage a duck in this game and like all youngsters, Abbas will churn out the mahi this winter to settle into consistent production.
Van Beek took 7w @ 19avg/2.89rpo in his lone appearance. This is kiwi cricket folks and there is no shortage of blokes performing, setting the baseline that everyone has to surpass. Van Beek took 21 wickets @ 34.33avg/3.83rpo in Plunket Shield this season, taking 2+ wickets in four of his last six innings.
Already a Dutch international, van Beek is a job-doing seamer who can score runs down the order with elite fielding. Van Beek scored 10+ runs in eight of his last nine innings of four-day cricket, he also had a knock of 54 runs @ 150sr in the Super Smash. That all-round talent, leadership and team-first mana forms the foundation of kiwi cricket.
Ashok and Patel did similar things so I won't dive too deep into their performances...
Ashok: 31ov, 1w @ 129avg/4.16rpo
Patel: 28ov, 1w @ 132avg/4.71rpo
Kuggeleijn finished as the leading wicket-taker for Aotearoa with 9w @ 28avg/3.7rpo, building on his recent Test debut. Including a Test and two A games, Kuggeleijn took 2+ wickets in six of his last eight innings. O'Rourke finished with 4w @ 34avg/4.31rpo as he continues his development, while Solia took 2w @ 58avg/3.86rpo.
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