Well some fascinating news from New Zealand cricket (NZC) is that Daniel Vettori has been awarded top three of the awards in this year's major awards of the country. To mention the needed, Vettori has been awarded as the player of the year, Winsor cup for 1st class bowling and Walter Hadlee trophy for the best bowler on ODIs. One aspect that is needed to be mentioned here is that, New Zealand players can be awarded only by their cricket association and no one else. That is what New Zealand have been able to achieve in international cricket until now.
My apologies for not taking pains to go all the way to search as to since when have New Zealanders been playing international cricket. However, if their statistics are given a close look at, it would come as no surprise that New Zealand stand far compared to all other teams but for Bangladesh and Zimbabwe. Of course, South Africa have been able to do exactly what new Zealand could manage which is a totally different issue here. New Zealand are yet to reach the finals of a world cup in its 25 year long history (since 1975 when the 1st world cup was played).
New Zealand players have hardly been able to produce any out standing cricketers be it in any department of the game. The only achievement by New Zealand team is the ICC Champions trophy which they won in 2000 by beating India at Nairobi. They did everything to win the world cup in 1992 only upto the semis where they lost to Pakistan. One has to note down that the maiden win for New Zealand in a tournament containing three or more teams is the ICC champions trophy 2000 as mentioned. They are yet to boast of a batsman who has scored a triple century in tests.
The highest individual score from a batsman from New Zealand is Michael Crowe who got out on a score of 299. Some outstanding names from New Zealand cricket are Sir Richard Hadlee, Martin Crowe, Shane Bond and Daniel Vettori. Of course, players like Brendon McCullum, Chris Cairns and the present bunch are found doing a fab job for New Zealand. But, these players are of no match to say Mark & Steve Waughs, Sachin Tendulkar & Sourav Ganguly, Brian Lara etc from outside New Zealand. Though Shane Bond stands apart from other fast bowlers like Shoaib Akthar and Brett Lee, his career started after them but ended much before them.
So, where else can New Zealand players expect an award if not for their own country? Stop wondering about New Zealand and become a movie fan instead.
Showing posts with label Brendon McCullum. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Brendon McCullum. Show all posts
Friday, September 10, 2010
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Too late for the Kiwis
As expected, it was Australia who walked away with the honors in the first test against New Zealand at Wellington when they beat the Kiwis by 10 wickets. New Zealand had given hints about their downfall the day the match started when Aussie batsmen piled up a mammoth 459 runs on the board and following that, the Kiwi batsmen played exactly the way the Aussies expected them to. Lose wickets at regular intervals and then get some sympathy owing to which a decent score compared to that expected from them is found to be put up on the board by the Kiwis.
After New Zealand batsmen ruled out every possibility of an innings win for Australia, the second best thing to that did happen when Australia took home a 10 wicket victory in the game. New Zealand had ended their fourth day with the scoreboard reading 369 runs for the loss of 6 wickets which eventually ended at 407 for the loss of all ten wickets. Had the same score been scored by them in the first innings, things would not have been that difficult for the Kiwis though that might not guarantee them a victory against the Aussies. But, their brains were found to work a bit later than expected.
But, had the score of 407 been their first innings total for the Kiwis, then may be the second innings would have ended with the New Zealand batsmen putting up just 157 runs on the board reversing what happened in the present situation. But, had that been the case, Australia would have had to bat once again with their lead being just 52 runs. And, Australia would have had to bat for yet another day with pressure building on them enroute to piling up atleast 300 runs in addition, incase victory could be a reality for the Aussies. But, "ifs" and "buts" form a different story altogether.
The only satisfaction for the New Zealand team was that, as mentioned earlier they didn't lose the game by an innings and neither did the match end well before the end of the fifth day. If the first innings of the New Zealand team is given a close look at, they should have got out for the second time well before the fourth day itself which fortunately for New Zealand didn't happen. And, there was Daryll Tuffey who scored a handy 47 runs which provided some interest in the match with a bowler doing a job left by some of the top order batsmen from New Zealand. But, the match would not have been complete without the Kiwis being unable to take even one wicket which still didn't happen.
After New Zealand batsmen ruled out every possibility of an innings win for Australia, the second best thing to that did happen when Australia took home a 10 wicket victory in the game. New Zealand had ended their fourth day with the scoreboard reading 369 runs for the loss of 6 wickets which eventually ended at 407 for the loss of all ten wickets. Had the same score been scored by them in the first innings, things would not have been that difficult for the Kiwis though that might not guarantee them a victory against the Aussies. But, their brains were found to work a bit later than expected.
But, had the score of 407 been their first innings total for the Kiwis, then may be the second innings would have ended with the New Zealand batsmen putting up just 157 runs on the board reversing what happened in the present situation. But, had that been the case, Australia would have had to bat once again with their lead being just 52 runs. And, Australia would have had to bat for yet another day with pressure building on them enroute to piling up atleast 300 runs in addition, incase victory could be a reality for the Aussies. But, "ifs" and "buts" form a different story altogether.
The only satisfaction for the New Zealand team was that, as mentioned earlier they didn't lose the game by an innings and neither did the match end well before the end of the fifth day. If the first innings of the New Zealand team is given a close look at, they should have got out for the second time well before the fourth day itself which fortunately for New Zealand didn't happen. And, there was Daryll Tuffey who scored a handy 47 runs which provided some interest in the match with a bowler doing a job left by some of the top order batsmen from New Zealand. But, the match would not have been complete without the Kiwis being unable to take even one wicket which still didn't happen.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Kiwis delay the inevitable
If the way the New Zealand team played on the 3rd day against Australia was taken, it was as though the New Zealand team would end their second innings well before the end of the 4th day itself when, in addition to losing the remaining 6 wickets in the first innings, they lost another 5 wickets in their second innings as well. This no doubt gave hints of a New Zealand batting collapse even before the 4th day of the test match ended. However, this was no to be when the Kiwis, unlike in the first innings didn't lose more than 1 wicket with their scorecard at the end of the day's play reading 369/6.
The score at the end of the third day's play read 187 runs for the loss of 5 wickets, meaning the New Zealand batsmen could score an additional score of 182 runs in the process losing just 1 wicket which was that of their captain Daniel Vettori and not before he scored a solid 77 runs which also involved a 126 run partnership along with Brendon McCullum who was unbeaten on 94 at the end of the day's play. If any team is given a first glance, the very first thing that would be noticed would be the captain and the wicketkeeper and the same captain and the wicketkeeper doing a fab job for his team is a rare feat for any team.
It was their captain Daniel Vettori and the wicket keeper Brendon McCullum who were in an attempt to save some face for the New Zealand team, which would have otherwise seen their team losing the match by an innings on the fourth day itself. Even Bangladesh who are facing England on the other side of the globe are considered, the match is not found to finish before the 5th day commences. But, New Zealand evoked fears among the fans by losing 11 wickets on the third day's play. However, it was good that the duo settled the issue for the New Zealand.
Any team barring Bangladesh and West Indies (off late) have to rethink about their position in test cricket in case they lose a home series and more so in case the defeat is by an innings. Now that the Kiwis have avoided the innings, atleast some consideration though they are bound to lose the match. But still, a better performance was expected from the Kiwis with the likes of Vettori and Guptill who have a great potential to turn around things for their team. When they could do it in the second innings, there can be hardly any reasons that can be guessed for them not being able to do the same in the first innings.
The score at the end of the third day's play read 187 runs for the loss of 5 wickets, meaning the New Zealand batsmen could score an additional score of 182 runs in the process losing just 1 wicket which was that of their captain Daniel Vettori and not before he scored a solid 77 runs which also involved a 126 run partnership along with Brendon McCullum who was unbeaten on 94 at the end of the day's play. If any team is given a first glance, the very first thing that would be noticed would be the captain and the wicketkeeper and the same captain and the wicketkeeper doing a fab job for his team is a rare feat for any team.
It was their captain Daniel Vettori and the wicket keeper Brendon McCullum who were in an attempt to save some face for the New Zealand team, which would have otherwise seen their team losing the match by an innings on the fourth day itself. Even Bangladesh who are facing England on the other side of the globe are considered, the match is not found to finish before the 5th day commences. But, New Zealand evoked fears among the fans by losing 11 wickets on the third day's play. However, it was good that the duo settled the issue for the New Zealand.
Any team barring Bangladesh and West Indies (off late) have to rethink about their position in test cricket in case they lose a home series and more so in case the defeat is by an innings. Now that the Kiwis have avoided the innings, atleast some consideration though they are bound to lose the match. But still, a better performance was expected from the Kiwis with the likes of Vettori and Guptill who have a great potential to turn around things for their team. When they could do it in the second innings, there can be hardly any reasons that can be guessed for them not being able to do the same in the first innings.
Monday, March 22, 2010
A bold decision by Ponting
Well there are at present two test series' going on in parallel namely, the tour of England over Bangladesh and the other one being the Australian tour of New Zealand. However, if both the tournaments are considered, it looks that the Bangladesh have shown better performance against England compared to New Zealand's performance against Australia. This was evident from the fact that there, the England captain didn't turn up to impose a follow on over Bangladesh while here, Ponting took no further thinking in imposing the same against New Zealand. This itself shows the caliber of the New Zealand team.
In just one full day, New Zealand lost as many as 11 wickets which is as good as getting all out and losing a wicket extra. The entire day belonged to New Zealand which saw them bat without any Aussie taking the crease. The New Zealand team had ended the previous day that is day 2 with 108 runs on the board and losing 4 wickets which included an unbeaten 5th wicket partnership of 65 runs between Vettori and McCullum which could last for just 4 more runs on day 3 of the test match. It would not be longer for the Kiwis to lose the remaining 9 wickets in a similar fashion.
New Zealand were playing at home and no excuses regarding their debacle can be entertained. The first innings of New Zealand lasted for just 49 runs with 6 losses of wickets inbetween. After the loss of the 4th wicket on the 2nd day's play, New Zealand were expected to put up a fighting performance atleast if not a match winning one. But, all that happened was the continuation of the bad work that was seen by the New Zealand batsmen in the initial part of the first innings. And if that was not enough, they lost yet another wicket in the second innings of their batting when Watling lost out to a controversial decision.
Whatever, the highlight of the day's play was the Australian captain Ricky Ponting imposing a follow on upon the New Zealand team. Ponting was never found doing such a thing in the past despite there being a huge margin. I remember Ponting deciding to continue batting in the first test against England in the Ashes 2007 with a lead of 445 runs. And then, in the recently concluded test series against Pakistan, Ponting decided not to go in for a follow on despite the fact that Pakistan failed to cash out an opportunity to win a test at Sydney. These were the cases where Australia were hosting unlike in the current test against New Zealand. This shows some maturity of Ponting as a captain.
In just one full day, New Zealand lost as many as 11 wickets which is as good as getting all out and losing a wicket extra. The entire day belonged to New Zealand which saw them bat without any Aussie taking the crease. The New Zealand team had ended the previous day that is day 2 with 108 runs on the board and losing 4 wickets which included an unbeaten 5th wicket partnership of 65 runs between Vettori and McCullum which could last for just 4 more runs on day 3 of the test match. It would not be longer for the Kiwis to lose the remaining 9 wickets in a similar fashion.
New Zealand were playing at home and no excuses regarding their debacle can be entertained. The first innings of New Zealand lasted for just 49 runs with 6 losses of wickets inbetween. After the loss of the 4th wicket on the 2nd day's play, New Zealand were expected to put up a fighting performance atleast if not a match winning one. But, all that happened was the continuation of the bad work that was seen by the New Zealand batsmen in the initial part of the first innings. And if that was not enough, they lost yet another wicket in the second innings of their batting when Watling lost out to a controversial decision.
Whatever, the highlight of the day's play was the Australian captain Ricky Ponting imposing a follow on upon the New Zealand team. Ponting was never found doing such a thing in the past despite there being a huge margin. I remember Ponting deciding to continue batting in the first test against England in the Ashes 2007 with a lead of 445 runs. And then, in the recently concluded test series against Pakistan, Ponting decided not to go in for a follow on despite the fact that Pakistan failed to cash out an opportunity to win a test at Sydney. These were the cases where Australia were hosting unlike in the current test against New Zealand. This shows some maturity of Ponting as a captain.
Friday, March 12, 2010
New Zealand no match for Aussies!
It was just unfortunate for Australia to lose the first match of the Chappel-Hadlee series against New Zealand when a last moment risk from Scott Styris saw Australia with the last option of making it to the presentation ceremony first before Vettori had to. And, from then onwards, needless to be said, it has been only Aussies to have been walking away with the honors of the day. If not for the 2nd one dayer, the remaining two one dayers were completely dominated by Australia. And, this time in the fourth ODI, Australia dismissed Kiwis' claim in the 2nd ODI.
In the 2nd one dayer at Auckland, New Zealand were found blaming the Duckworth-Lewis method for their team's loss against Australia which saw their required number of runs being reduced by just 8 runs and the number of balls being reduced by 30. And, this time, it was the Aussies who were found facing the same situation when rain tried to play a spoilsport. The revised target for Australia happened to be 200 runs from 32 overs as against the 238 run target they were supposed to chase from 50 overs had everything gone alright. Meaning the number of runs required was reduced by just 39 and the number of balls by 96.
Had the game went on smoothly, and than Australia would have had to chase at the rate of just above 4.0 an over, which happened to be just below 6.0 an over after the rain interruption. The main thing that proved costly for the Kiwis was their batting which saw the 2nd highest score in their innings happened to be scored by a number 8 batsman in Darryl Tuffey who bought in all his experience. If not for Bollinger, all the Aussie bowlers returned with wickets and a run rate below 6.0 an over. Most of the Kiwi batsmen were batting as though it was a test match that would end in a draw.
And, when it came to the batting of Australian team, similar to their bowling, if not for one batsmen in Brad Haddin, the rest of them showed no signs of fear and mercy in belting the New Zealand bowlers. One Aussie batsman in Ricky Ponting was found having 8 hits to the fence which was 75% of what the entire New Zealand team put together could do. However, when it came to the number of sixes hit, New Zealand managed to take the upperhand when their team had 9 sixes compared to just 3 from the Aussie side. However, once again, the man-of-the-match was not justified. Scorecard suggests that it was Ricky Ponting who should have been awarded the Mom which was unfortunately awarded to White.
In the 2nd one dayer at Auckland, New Zealand were found blaming the Duckworth-Lewis method for their team's loss against Australia which saw their required number of runs being reduced by just 8 runs and the number of balls being reduced by 30. And, this time, it was the Aussies who were found facing the same situation when rain tried to play a spoilsport. The revised target for Australia happened to be 200 runs from 32 overs as against the 238 run target they were supposed to chase from 50 overs had everything gone alright. Meaning the number of runs required was reduced by just 39 and the number of balls by 96.
Had the game went on smoothly, and than Australia would have had to chase at the rate of just above 4.0 an over, which happened to be just below 6.0 an over after the rain interruption. The main thing that proved costly for the Kiwis was their batting which saw the 2nd highest score in their innings happened to be scored by a number 8 batsman in Darryl Tuffey who bought in all his experience. If not for Bollinger, all the Aussie bowlers returned with wickets and a run rate below 6.0 an over. Most of the Kiwi batsmen were batting as though it was a test match that would end in a draw.
And, when it came to the batting of Australian team, similar to their bowling, if not for one batsmen in Brad Haddin, the rest of them showed no signs of fear and mercy in belting the New Zealand bowlers. One Aussie batsman in Ricky Ponting was found having 8 hits to the fence which was 75% of what the entire New Zealand team put together could do. However, when it came to the number of sixes hit, New Zealand managed to take the upperhand when their team had 9 sixes compared to just 3 from the Aussie side. However, once again, the man-of-the-match was not justified. Scorecard suggests that it was Ricky Ponting who should have been awarded the Mom which was unfortunately awarded to White.
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