New Zealand return to happy hunting ground
Last time New Zealand faced England in a one-day cricket international at The Oval, there was snarling, door-slamming, fingerpointing and a narrow victory to the team in black.
Seven years on, things are unlikely to get as heated on the field in the second ODI (midnight Friday NZT), but after the manner of their game one defeat there will be a few paint-peeling dressing room chats if the Black Caps go 2-0 down.
Losing hasn’t been much of a habit for this New Zealand team under Brendon McCullum, and the last time they suffered defeat in three successive ODIs was in Bangladesh in 2013. On their World Cup form that built a 10-match winning streak before the Melbourne final, the thought of them losing three on the bounce was laughable.
The stakes aren’t as high in this series but the world No 3 Black Caps’ standards are. Certainly this one will be closer after their Edgbaston horror show, and such is a the fickle nature of the modern helter-skelter 50-over game that things change fast. It’s a fair assumption England won’t be as good, nor New Zealand as bad, as in Birmingham when the hosts blasted a record total of 408-9 and the tourists went down swinging and lost by 210.
‘‘Better execution,’’ was all coach Mike Hesson was seeking from his bowlers, who didn’t get the usual swing from the white Kookaburra and were sent soaring to all parts by Joe Root, Jos Buttler and Adil Rashid.
‘‘It was decisionmaking, trying to block off parts of the park where we could look to defend and we bowled too many balls down Main Street where you can hit both sides of the wicket. If you don’t execute well then you go the distance. We need to look at our decision making under pressure.’’
That should be helped by the return of senior man Tim Southee who was rested at Edgbaston after a heavy test workload. ‘‘He is close,’’ Hesson said. If he plays, Southee will be one of four returnees from 2008, along with McCullum, Ross Taylor and Grant Elliott, whose collision with England bowler Ryan Sidebottom and subsequent run out sparked wild scenes on the New Zealand balcony when they won by one wicket. Then-skipper Daniel Vettori, McCullum and Scott Styris were front and centre in the memorable television pictures as England captain Paul Collingwood copped the brunt, after he didn’t recall Elliott. In confirmation of the cleanout in the ODI ranks, there are no England players back from that match.
With a five-game series there is still time for New Zealand to recover and maintain a proud recent record in England. Two years ago they won the ODI series 2-1 and in 2008 they won three straight including that match at The Oval for a 3-1 victory. Four years earlier they beat West Indies in the tri-series final at Lord’s.
A suddenly confident England, with key batsmen in form, will be hard to contain. Still, Hesson thought there was a fine line between skittling them for under 300, and conceding over 400. Key paceman Trent Boult (4-55) bowled out before the 35-over powerplay which summed up the approach of attack rather than restrict.
With the bat, New Zealand will be more measured. Circumstances dictated they attack from ball one, chasing 400-plus which only one other team had done successfully.
Southee will likely return for either Mitchell McClenaghan or Matt Henry while Corey Anderson was still struggling with a back injury, Hesson said, but could play as a batsman which means one of the spinners may miss out.