Munro’s place in jeopardy
Online
We need to talk about Colin.
Black Caps opener Colin Munro’s latest failure in the one-day international series has made his place in the side almost untenable – and means New Zealand’s World Cup plans are likely to require a rethink.
Munro made an awful seven off nine balls against India at Mount Maunganui’s Bay Oval yesterday in the third game of the five-match series.
It was a brief, frightening display of how out-of-form and bereft of confidence the left-hander is.
He inside-edged Bhuvneshwar Kumar the second ball he faced into his pads, then was beaten by Mohammad Shami’s first ball of the second over.
A checked drive next delivery saw the ball land perilously close to mid-off and that seemed to signify to the 31-year-old that hitting out was his only method of escaping his torment.
He lashed out at the next ball and sent it back over Shami’s head for four but that was the briefest of belligerent replies, as he edged the following delivery but back-up wicketkeeper Dinesh Kartik couldn’t hold on to the chance low to his left.
His misery – and that of the crowd already sweltering in the sun – was complete the next ball he faced, when he slashed indiscriminately at another good ball from Shami and was caught at slip by Shikhar Dhawan.
Munro has just one score over 50 in his last 15 ODI appearances, averaging 19.27 during that time. In his ODI career, he averages 25.31 from 49 games.
They are alarming numbers as New Zealand use the home summer’s ODIs against Sri Lanka, India and Bangladesh to fine-tune their approach for the World Cup in England and Wales starting in late May.
At his best, Munro is a devastating bat, capable of changing a game’s momentum in a handful of overs. But there are serious FOR COVERAGE OF THE THIRD ONE-DAYER GO TO STUFF.CO.NZ
questions if his technique and gameplan are equipped to deal with the world’s best ODI teams and bowlers at the top of the order. Only two of his seven career ODI half-centuries have come against teams currently ranked above NZ.
To add to New Zealand’s problems, Munro’s fellow opener, Martin Guptill, isn’t filling Black Caps fans with an overwhelming sense of confidence either – after a couple of sweetly-struck boundaries, he edged a straight one from Kumar through to Kartik to be dismissed for 13 off 15 balls.
Guptill started the year with a blistering century at the same venue against Sri Lanka but has followed that with scores of 13, 2, 1, 5, 15 and 13.
Wicketkeeper and test opener Tom Latham is an option to open – he averages 33.05 over 80 ODIs but 26 when keeping and an alarming 1.8 from the five matches in which he’s both kept and opened. That’s a small sample-size that may be increased in the remaining two games against India and the three versus Bangladesh.
Skipper Kane Williamson assuming opening duties is an option – the No 3 has come in during the early overs so often lately that it’s not a great adjustment.
Other ideas could include the Central Districts duo of George Worker or Will Young, batsman/wicketkeeper Tim Seifert or a pinch-hitter at the top like Jimmy Neesham, who is likely to get a recall after missing the initial squad with a hamstring strain.
■ New Zealand were dismissed for 243 from 49 overs with Ross Taylor top scoring with 93 from 106 balls while Latham made 51 from 64 balls. They shared a fourth wicket stand of 119.
In reply India had the target seemingly under control at 177-3 after 33 overs with Rohit Sharma and captain Virat Kohli both scoring half centuries.