NZ on cusp of perfect 10
Record-matcher in reach but Pakistan won’t make it easy
Cricket fans might be getting short-changed by the weather this summer, but not by the New Zealand team’s performances. The eight-wicket victory over Pakistan in the second one-day international at Nelson was their ninth straight in all formats since the West Indies waltzed through customs.
Ten matches is the longest winning sequence in their history. That has been achieved twice. New Zealand are on the cusp of equalling it in Dunedin on Saturday. It’s implicit any streak that includes test matches holds more weight, but victorious habits are hard to ignore among a New Zealand team whose collective history is strewn with struggles.
The first streak of 10 spanned from the final ODI defeat of Pakistan in January 2015 until the World Cup semifinal victory over South Africa; the second was across all formats from the 2016 Boxing Day ODI win over Bangladesh until they secured the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy against Australia last February.
The hosts chased an initial 247 to win from 50 overs yesterday, a figure reduced to 151 from 23 after rain disrupted play; achieved with seven balls to spare. It is the third time conditions have intervened in four matches this year. However, the Black Caps have reassured with their consistency across 15 matches in all formats since a disappointing Champions Trophy last winter.
They defeated the West Indies in every completed fixture and continued their rhythm with a Duckworth-Lewis assisted win over Pakistan in the opening ODI at the Basin Reserve.
Pakistan are offering more resistance than the West Indies and the way their lower order flourished with the bat and harassed with the ball at Saxton Oval suggested they are close to unleashing their Champions Trophy-winning pedigree as one of the best balanced sides in the game.
In curator parlance, New Zealand put the heavy roller on autopilot to flatten the West Indies with thorough planning and superior skills.
Pakistan bring a more mercurial element to their game. If the New Zealand team has any cracks, they will exploit them.
Two examples were there yesterday.
Leg spinner Todd Astle, with figures of two for 29 from six overs, returned to bowl the 43rd over to eighth-wicket pair Hasan Ali and Shadab Khan. Astle went for 21 with Hasan (15 runs), Shadab (five runs) and wides (one run) reigniting the visitors’ innings.
And Mohammad Amir bowled with fury at Kane Williamson. The man-of-the-match from Wellington was dismissed for 19 off 28 balls after Amir had built heavy pressure by restricting Williamson to 16 dot balls from 20 bowled at him.
Competitive international cricket has landed in New Zealand at last.