Blackcaps Dish Out Scrumptious Entree
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By Rahul Patil
Two years back the blackcaps failed to make it past the group stage at the T20 World Cup in the West Indies. They lost to Afghanistan and the West Indies in what was described then as “the group of death”. There was a lot of criticism (and rightfully so) of their preparation going into that tournament. This time around the blackcaps are once again in a “group of death” with Afghanistan and South Africa but their preparation has been spot on. A 3-match ODI series followed by a 5 match T20I series against India in India meant that the blackcaps were hot and came out the blocks in a flash.
At the half way stage I feel Afghanistan would have been the happier side. They had 182 on the board with 3 spinners to take advantage of a sticky surface. They got the perfect start too when Mujeeb dismissed Finn Allen and Rachin off successive deliveries in the 2nd over of New Zealand’s innings. But Tim Seifert and Glen Phillips know only one way to play and in this instance their aggressive approach worked in New Zealand’s favour. Rather than rebuilding they counter attacked with a 74 run partnership off 47 balls with Phillips playing the lead role. Watching their partnership from Chennai’s media box it was difficult to tell them apart at times. They are both similar in height, build and hit the ball really hard in similar areas. The partnership ensured that the required rate was always kept in check and the batters that followed didn’t have to take undue risks in getting to the target.
Phillips last year spent a long time away from the game with injury. During that time he said he got some much required quality time away from the game. He also got his pilots license and if his form since coming back into international cricket is any indication he will be flying high in this world cup for sure.
Seifert is a well travelled T20 specialist. He started his career as a middle order batter but his natural ability to clear the infield meant that batting at the top of the order was only a matter of time. He plays a high risk game but when it comes off he wins games single handedly.
Henry and Santner we re the stand-out performances with the ball. Duffy started well but tends to go for runs when he comes back. Ferguson provided crucial breakthroughs but his wickets generally tend to come at a price. The elephant in the room is the fifth bowling option. Neesham, Phillips & Rachin delivered combined figures of 5-0-59-1. The fielding was patchy, highlighted by Seifert & Finn Allen tackling each other to give Gurbaaz a life.
The blackcaps got to 183 with 13 deliveries to spare. The 2 points are important but they also made sure that their net run rate remains healthy should the situation of a 3-way tie arise. It wasn’t a flawless performance by any stretch but I guess that’s a positive because in big tournaments you want to keep those perfect performances for the knockout games.
A quick word on the whole Bangladesh, India & Pakistan controversy that continues to be the main story rather than the onfield action. Politics is a contact sport. Cricket, strictly a non-contact one. I’ve also read that politics and religion are passions of the badly educated. The world needs to realise that ‘an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind’ and in the crossfire of politics and religion unfortunately sport is the loser.
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