Black Caps batting rethink
Captain Kane Williamson’s role at No 3 in the New Zealand Twenty20 cricket team should be high on a lengthening list of batting concerns to discuss with coach Mike Hesson.
The Black Caps returned home from Sydney on Sunday with nine days to regroup before their next tri-series match, against England at Wellington’s Westpac Stadium.
Kneejerk reactions to one heavy T20 defeat - and Saturday’s seven-wicket loss to Australia was comprehensive - are dangerous and teams are always quick to move on knowing a change in fortune can be rapid.
But an extended post-mortem is required. This was three straight losses by the former world No 1-ranked side, after totals of 153 and 163-6 against Pakistan in Auckland and Tauranga, then 117-9 on Saturday night as their winless run at the SCG extended to 16 years.
On what Williamson described as a ‘‘very tough’’ pitch, where Australia’s quicks hit hard lengths and got the ball to nip and stand up in the surface, there were questions to chew over.
Williamson’s spot is one. Opener looks his best position in T20 but selectors would be loathe to split up Martin Guptill and Colin Munro, unless the latter slipped down to his former spot of No 3 and they put pressure on Guptill to swing hard from ball one.
Williamson batted in the trickiest of the conditions with a towering Stanlake breathing fire, but his eight off 21 balls was painful viewing in an attempted rebuild. In nine T20 internationals in the past year Williamson’s top score was 28 off 24 balls in Delhi last November. His leadership is sound and he can be an inventive T20 batsman but he’s not a mustselect in the shortest format.
Ross Taylor at five and Colin de Grandhomme, who was listed at six but arrived at seven, both looked too low. Taylor’s rejuvenation and intent makes a top-four spot mandatory on the grounds of getting your best batsmen in early.
Australia don’t die wondering with bludgeoning quartet David Warner, D’Arcy Short, Chris Lynn and Glenn Maxwell in first; the latter two seeing home the chase for 95 off 15 overs with ease.
De Grandhomme is fast becoming one of the team’s top T20 batsmen too, so the fact he strode to the crease at 60-5 in the 13th over seemed a waste. As it was he revived a crumbling innings with an effortless unbeaten 38 off 24 balls but ran out of time and partners. He warrants a top-five spot himself, in a floating role.
Tom Bruce remains a questionmark at international level after he kept out Stanlake’s 151kmh hattrick ball then hooked ambitiously and skied a catch. Certainly good enough on domestic performances, Bruce will get more chances but needs to find some confidence and runs quickly, with a highest score of 26 off 22 balls in seven T20 internationals this summer.
Auckland’s Mark Chapman continues to push hard and is worth serious thought, after a ˇ S dominant Super Smash and 117 off 104 balls against Wellington in the Ford Trophy on Sunday. By rights Chapman should be in the squad already but Anaru Kitchen’s leftarm spin is keeping him there.
Chapman aside, New Zealand have the best batsmen there but the order and general approach needs fine tuning.
Munro has licence but his reckless pull shot to Stanlake first up put his team under pressure, then Guptill was castled next ball and Australia never relinquished control with Andrew Tye’s canny seamers reaping 4-23.
Taylor said: ‘‘We probably didn’t assess conditions well enough, Australia bowled very well and there was a little in the wicket but we weren’t able to soak that up. I don’t know it was 160-170 wicket but if we’d scrapped our way to 140 we might have been a chance.’’
Turning over the strike was another issue, as Williamson and Taylor got bogged down.
‘‘You just have to back yourself that you are doing the right thing at the time, try to eliminate the dot balls. Each time we lost a wicket we had to hold back and take it as deep as possible,’’ Taylor said.