Two games into the T20I series with Pakistan and Blackcaps have two wins plus a pesky injury to Kane Williamson, who has played just two T20Is since the start of 2023. Blackcaps rolled through 20+ T20Is last year without Williamson, also diving deep into the player pool with 28 players used so there is comfort in playing T20Is without Aotearoa’s greatest batter.

Williamson showed his quality with 83 runs @ 145sr in two outings against Pakistan. The Williamson role in T20I is clearly defined as he bats third and either absorbs the loss of an early wicket to set up the innings, or keeps on rockin' with classy cricket shots. This is especially useful with Finn Allen opening the innings because Allen has a whack and that's risky mahi, so Williamson's a lovely safety net.

If folks want Allen to have a strike-rate consistently over 150, ideally nudging 200+ as often as possible, then expect Allen to play brief innings. Allen's job is not to soak up pressure and get himself out of the opening stanza, his job is to be hyper-aggressive during the opening overs when fielding restrictions are in place. With high strike-rates and a splash of form, Allen is doing his job.

All the Allen chat and Williamson's injury have masked the greater issue for Blackcaps which is Devon Conway's semi form slump. Allen's doing his job, Conway is not doing his job. Conway has 20 runs @ 125sr and much of the 'how many balls has Allen faced?' commentary should be directed at Conway, who ideally bats his way through to the middle stages.

Here is how Conway has progressed over his T20I career...

• 2020: 58avg/151sr

• 2021: 47avg/135sr

• 2022: 47avg/122sr

• 2023: 13avg/109sr

• 2024: 10avg/125sr

This stretches into the other formats as well. After his 152* to start the World Cup, Conway had scores of 32, 45, 20, 0, 28, 2, 35, 45, 13. Conway started his Test career averaging 63 in 2021 and that has dipped to 49 and 32 in the last two years. Tim Seifert is likely to be deployed at some stage and he may not just take over wicket-keeping duties from Conway, Seifert may join Allen at the top of the order and either replace Conway or bump him down to a different role.

Will Young joins the squad as well and enters the top order bracket. Young can bat third or fourth and without Williamson, Blackcaps have a top order bracket of Allen, Conway, Seifert, Young and Daryl Mitchell. Along with Williamson' 50+ score, Allen and Mitchell have 50+ scores so far.

The middle order bracket features Glenn Phillips, Mark Chapman and Mitchell Santner. Phillips (32 runs @ 160sr) and Chapman (30 runs @ 150sr) have been solid without taking over an innings yet, while Santner flashed his batting prowess with 25 runs @ 192sr. Phillips has not been required to bat in the first 10 overs yet against Pakistan and this is a basic guide for how Blackcaps are tracking; top order lads suss out the first 10 overs, Phillips and Chapman own the second 10 overs.

Adam Milne has been graced with the lead lower order slugger slot, first was an opportunity batting seventh with Santner unavailable and then batting eighth for Santner's return. Milne didn't make the most of these opportunities (10 runs @ 83sr) but his talents are held in high regard by Blackcaps, especially given his sneaky status as a leading T20I bowler for Aotearoa.

Milne has the most wickets of all Blackcaps T20I bowlers since January 1st 2023 with 20w @ 20avg/9rpo. Milne is slightly ahead of Tim Southee (19w @ 16avg/7.6rpo) in that time period and right behind Southee against Pakistan...

• Tim Southee: 6w @ 9avg/7.4rpo

• Adam Milne: 6w @ 13avg/10.3rpo

• Ben Sears: 4w @ 17avg/8.7rpo

• Ish Sodhi: 3w @ 22avg/9.4rpo

• Matt Henry: 3ov @ 9.6rpo

• Mitchell Santner: 4ov @ 11.7rpo

Lockie Ferguson joins the squad to replace Sears which sets up a fascinating battle of these speed seamers. Sears has 7w @ 19avg/8.3rpo in T20Is since the start of last year while Ferguson has 3w @ 57avg/10.6rpo. There is a natural pecking order that should bring out the best of Sears as he has to out-perform the more senior seamers, yet this could sort itself out if Ferguson is unable to impact games.

How involved Henry is could offer clarity for bowling roles. Henry is in the same zone as Southee for the crafty seamer slot and as Henry as benefited from Trent Boult dipping out of the mixer in Test and T20I cricket, it's likely that Henry will be the bloke to make way if Boult wants to return for the T20 World Cup. Henry needs to snap up any opportunity he gets and could benefit from playing in the South Island over the next three games.

Some Will Young context...

• 2023/24 Super Smash: 166 runs @ 33avg/132sr, 1 x 100, 1 x 50

• T20 Career: 26avg/133sr

• T20I Career: 20avg/102sr

Jimmy Neesham is a bloke to keep tabs on as he is one of the best 11 T20 cricketers from Aotearoa and is currently playing in South Africa. Neesham has 41 runs @ 151sr batting for Pretoria and in typical Neesham fashion, he's got 2w @ 16avg/8rpo in just 4 overs (12sr). Since January 1st 2023, Neesham has 212 runs @ 26avg/152sr and 11w @ 24avg/9.1rpo for Blackcaps in T20Is.

Both Bracewell cousins are also worth a geeze in Super Smash as realistic options to plug a hole in the lead up to, or for the T20 World Cup.

Doug Bracewell has 169 runs @ 219sr and 4w @ 25avg/7.5rpo for Central Districts. Bracewell isn't quite as funky with the ball as others in the Blackcaps mix right now, yet he is the best batter of those bowlers and his power could see him enter the equation.

Michael Bracewell has returned to cricket with Wellington with 64 runs @ 16avg/130sr and 5w @ 21avg/8rpo. This is aligned with his T20 career mahi of 29avg/132sr and 17avg/7.3rpo, while Bracewell's slugging increases slightly to 139sr and his bowling improves to 10avg/5.3rpo in T20Is.

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Peace and love.