NZ seek return to golden ODI form

Now that eight Twenty20 matches are done and dusted, New Zealand will hope a change of format brings a change in fortune as the highly anticipated one-day international series with England begins at Hamilton tomorrow.

The Black Caps are reeling somewhat after winning just one of their last seven T20s, but cast your mind back further than the last month of 20-over slogging and New Zealand had won eight successive ODIs against the West Indies and Pakistan during their

13-match winning streak earlier this summer.

Rediscovering that golden run of form – after rather miserably losing the rain-affected T20 triseries final to Australia at Eden Park on Wednesday – starts against an England side who pummelled the Australians 4-1 on their own patch in last month’s five-match ODI series.

How the Black Caps would savour a series victory like that across the ditch.

This England ODI team, captained by classy left-handed batsman Eoin Morgan, are an altogether different prospect to the sorry 50-over side who failed to reach the quarterfinals and were just generally awful when last playing in New Zealand during the

2015 World Cup.

Black Caps coach Mike Hesson referred back to their ODI form prior to their T20 slump when asked at Friday’s training session at Seddon Park if confidence had dropped in the last month ahead of facing England in five ODIs and two tests.

‘‘It’s a different group, this oneday squad. We’ve played some good one-day cricket and we’re disappointed we didn’t really get going in the T20s,’’ he said.

‘‘Since this [England] tour has been in the schedule, we’ve all been pretty excited about it. They’re aggressive from ball one with the bat. That in itself means

we’ve got to keep taking wickets.

‘‘Their whole [batting] order from one to nine keep coming hard out and obviously Ben [Stokes] is one of those. We can’t only focus

on one player because they’ve got plenty of good ones.’’

Leg-spinner Ish Sodhi is back in contention to play potentially his first ODI since May last year as

Hesson confirmed they would play with two spinners and drop one fast bowler in Hamilton. Black Caps speedster Lockie Ferguson has been released to play for the

Auckland Aces in Saturday’s Ford Trophy final against the Central Stags in New Plymouth.

Whether Sodhi can nudge incumbent spinners Mitchell

Santner (knee) and Todd Astle (side) out of the team after recent minor injuries will be decided, but Hesson said both Santner and Astle trained yesterday.

As the big four of Martin Guptill, Colin Munro, captain Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor remain in place, Henry Nicholls and Tom Latham are set to return to the middle order in contrasting form.

Nicholls hit 122 off 131 balls in Canterbury’s 168-run victory over Northern Districts in their Ford Trophy minor semifinal last week, while Latham, the gloveman in Hamilton, is averaging a meagre 10.91 from his last 12 innings with the bat in New Zealand.

Hesson is delighted with Nicholls after his decent run of form at No 6 for the Black Caps in ODIs earlier this summer, but he’s also backing Latham to discover his touch again after selector Gavin Larsen backed the Cantabrian left-hander to ‘‘flick the switch’’ with the bat.

‘‘Tom has done very well for us in the past; hasn’t done so well for us recently in New Zealand,’’ he said, ‘‘but we know he’s a good player.’’