New Zealand made this look a lot harder than it should have been.
Our three seamers showed great line and length, and Nathan McCullum was economical in his 10 overs, picking up a wicket.
The only concern in the first innings was the 10 overs bowled by Corey Anderson, at over a run a ball, and the early jitters from Trent Boult and Mitch McClenaghan. McCullum stuck with the five bowlers though and Grant Elliott and Kane Williamson didn’t need to pick up any extra work.
Once again they were exemplary in the field and this may have won them the game – the chase would have been a lot closer if there were 20 or so more runs on the board.
In the second innings the top order, excluding Brendon McCullum, failed miserably and they were saved by the middle/lower order.
Here’s my player-by-player analysis of the New Zealand team.
Martin Guptill
Really needs to bat himself into some form this series to give New Zealand a chance at lifting the World Cup. He’s been struggling lately but has the talent. He’s been a slow starter in his recent international innings’ and looked to overcome that in this first hit out.
New Zealand wasn’t chasing a big score and there was no need to go after it on the third ball of the innings, where he was caught at point.
Brendon McCullum
He’s class wherever in the order he comes in. There’s an argument against him opening however, because if his aggression fails him there’s pressure on the others to get the runs started. He can change a game though and is worth the risk at the top to put us in a good position.
It paid off this time round with his 51 off 22, before being nicely stumped by Kumar Sangakkara.
Kane Williamson
Has to play as a third opener too often and usually steps up under unnecessary pressure. Got a taste of his own medicine when he was taken by a great catch at first slip off a ball that looked to bounce more than he expected.
Usually good against spin but contributed 15 to a low total and occupied one end while McCullum exploded at the other.
Tom Latham
Didn’t do a lot to nail down the number five batting position when Ross Taylor returns, but he did more than Elliott, so for now his place there is OK. He stuck around for 30 balls while Anderson was scoring at the other end. Contributed 15 before he too fell victim to some good glove work by Sangakkara.
Grant Elliott
Had his first trial as a #5 batsmen and failed miserably. First ball was an odd shot trying to sweep a ball on off stump and edged into himself. Second ball was half a chance as well, before the third should have been taken. He got lucky when the catch was reviewed and showed it didn’t quite carry to the fielder. His sixth ball came back a long way and he missed it by a few inches to be bowled.
He needs runs this series to silence the critics calling for Jimmy Neesham.
Corey Anderson
Average with the ball in this one, he needed to justify his place with the bat and he did. Showed he can play slow to stabilise an innings in his man of the match performance. We all know he can score fast at the end when we’re batting well but this time he reined in the aggression and got us in a winning position from where we looked like falling apart at 4/77.
He had a few partners on the way in Tom Latham, Luke Ronchi and Nathan McCullum but kept the score ticking over at a strike rate of 85 on his way to top score for the Black Caps with 81.
Luke Ronchi
Took a brilliant catch off McClenaghan and a stumping of Nathan McCullum – he makes keeping look easy. He’s good with the bat when we’re comfortable as well but had to pay a sensible innings this time round. He only got a start before he was caught from a leading edge for 17 off 21.
Nathan McCullum
Got an early lead on Vettori as the first pick spinner/all-rounder. He can keep the run rate down and pick up wickets, as he showed in his 10 overs at 1/38. He’s brilliant in the field and handy with the bat (he’s been batting at #5 for Otago recently). Had a good partnership with Anderson to steady the innings and finished not out on 25.
Adam Milne
Proved why he’s there over Matt Henry and he’s getting better with every game. He didn’t quite break the 150km/h threshold but bowled high 140s. A bit scary when he came out to bat with 10 runs to go, he’s not what you want from a number nine, although he’s still to be dismissed in 12 ODIs (he’s only had to bat twice).
Mitchell McClenaghan
First spell was expensive and didn’t last long. His return was much better. When he’s on, he’s a genuine wicket-taker. He showed this in his seventh over when he picked up a wicket then his penultimate over where he bowled a timely triple-wicket maiden when Sri Lanka were looking to accelerate.
Trent Boult
Took a while to settle with three wides in his first two overs. Once he figured out the white ball swing he looked good but was luckless in his 10 overs for no wickets and 46 runs.
Not the first pick of the bowlers after this one but he will be a wicket taker this series.
All-round New Zealand didn’t look comfortable but did enough to get the win. The batting should be stabilised a bit more when Taylor is back for the second hit-out, but this series is about testing the performance in different situations.
The Black Caps get the tick beside recovering from a top-order collapse in this one.
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