Black Caps back skipper’s decision
Tim Southee insisted the Black Caps were all singing from the same hymn sheet when their captain made the bold call to bowl first in Canberra.
Skipper Kane Williamson’s decision on winning the toss raised eyebrows and delighted the Australians who punished the New Zealanders to the tune of 378-5.
Australia’s second-highest total on home soil saw them rumble to a 116-run victory in the second oneday international to snatch the Chappell-hadlee Trophy back with one game to spare.
Despite the last six ODIS at high-scoring Manuka Oval being won by the side batting first, New Zealand thought they knew better. They ended up conceding their third-highest ODI total.
‘‘Hindsight is a wonderful thing. The reasoning behind it was the conditions the last couple of days, it hasn’t been overly hot and sunny a bit of rain around. We thought it might be a little bit tacky early on and if we could have made inroads it could have been a different story,’’ Southee said. ‘‘It was a mutual agreement.’’ The ball did little off the pitch or in the air, as David Warner (119) and Steve Smith (72) took control to cruise to 213-1. Then the bowling and fielding really fell apart, shoulders slumped as Travis Head (57 off 32) and Mitchell Marsh (76 not out off 40) plundered at the death.
‘‘Your batters are going to chase scores like that every now and then, but as a bowling group we’re asking a bit too much, two games in a row. It’s not the standard we set for ourselves and the boys are obviously hurting,’’ Southee said.
So too, the fielding. ‘‘Fielding is an attitude, something that each individual has to own and go about their business. It’s something we’ve prided ourselves on and it is disappointing to be dishing up substandard bowling and fielding performances.’’
Williamson stood his ground on the issue of the coin toss, when asked if he would have batted in hindsight.
‘‘If we knew they were going to get 380, then yes,’’ he told Channel Nine.
‘‘We managed to keep it tight for a period and we knew if we could take wickets in those latter overs we could restrict them to a par total on that surface. It was a very good surface and they played extremely well.’’