Black Caps must improve batting ahead of Chappell-Hadlee
Posted by Hamish McBrearty on December 13th, 2007
The loss in the Twenty/20 international against Australia showed that New Zealand have a long way to go if they are to defend the Chappell-Hadlee trophy. The biggest improvement must come from the batsmen, who struggled in the Australian conditions.
New Zealand currently hold the Chappell-Hadlee trophy after beating Australia 3-0 in a series held in February this year. However that series was held in New Zealand, where the Black Caps’ batsmen are far more comfortable.
The signs were not good in Perth when Lou Vincent swung across the line of a short pitched ball from Brett Lee, barely getting half-way through his shot before he top edged the ball to wicket-keeper Adam Gilchrist and was out off the first delivery of the innings. The dismissals of several other top Black Caps’ batsmen came in similar manners as they struggled with the pace of the Australian attack as well as the bounce in the WACA pitch, something not usually seen in New Zealand.
The pitch in Adelaide, where the first ODI will be played on Friday, is not expected to be as bouncy or quick as the Perth wicket, and may even offer some assistance to the spinners, but the Australian pace-men will still be difficult for the New Zealanders to handle. All rounder Jacob Oram showed that New Zealand batsmen can flourish in Australia, and it will be up to the specialist batsmen to follow his lead.
The bowlers were not without their faults either. Without strike bowler Shane Bond, who is once again injured, the New Zealand attack will be spearheaded by Kyle Mills, hardly a daunting prospect.
In the Twenty/20 international, most bowlers were able to put together four or five good balls per over, but undid all their good work by offering up at least one bad ball per over which was usually dispatched to the boundary. Spin twins Jeetan Patel and captain Daniel Vettori were accurate and economical, and should find the Adelaide pitch more to their liking.
But the key to a Black Caps victory will come from their batsmen, and at least one of them will need to stay at the crease for most of the innings. If they are unable to do so, then the margin of victory could be a lot bigger than the 54 runs they lost by in Perth.
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The Black Caps must improve batting ahead of Chappell-Hadlee by Hamish McBrearty, unless otherwise expressly stated, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
