NZ face must-win after forgettable start

CANBERRA: After losing their series opener, New Zealand are set to face hosts Australia in the second One-day International (ODI) of Chappell-Hadlee Trophy at Manuka Oval here on Tuesday (today).

The victory in the first ODI came more like a relief to Steven Smith’s men who lost their last ODI series 0-5 in South Africa.

After a shaky start to their innings, Australia made a brilliant comeback guided by captain Smith’s heroic 164. The second ODI is now a must win for New Zealand in order to square the series and keep their chances alive. However they are a top limited-overs unit and expect them to stage a strong comeback.

Despite the commanding start to the game, New Zealand eventually slipped to a defeat. While the bowlers did a commendable job early on but failed to continue the momentum, they were not well backed up by the fielders.

Smith was allowed to spend a lot of time at the crease and the Australian skipper made the opponent’s pay.

“We probably didn’t bowl as well as we could have in the middle stages and at the end. It is a bit disappointing. We know we’re better than that. We’re going do our best in a couple of days if we have them in that situation again to really put the foot down,” Martin Guptill said.

Powered by Guptill’s 114, New Zealand staged a good fightback but failed to cross the line. Six players scored in single digits and Colin Munro’s 49 and Jimmy Neesham’s 34were decent supporting roles.

Newcomer Lockie Ferguson was quick and claimed a wicket in his first over in international cricket, and prior to that Matt Henry got New Zealand the breakthrough in the first over of Australian innings.

After a not-so-good time in India, Guptill bounced back well in the first ODI when rest of his teammates struggled. Guptill’s innings reflected his eagerness to make amends for the disastrous India tour. He also batted with maturity and responsibly.

Guptill and Latham will continue to open. The pair gives them the balance of aggression and orthodoxy. Latham was New Zealand’s biggest positives for New Zealand’s tour of India. His footwork has been impressive and he is improving with every passing day.

The No 3 spot is reserved for their best batsman and skipper Kane Williamson. The consistent Williamson has set the bar for himself. He will look to make amends for his flop-show in the first ODI.

The New Zealand middle-order is not at par with their strong top-order. BJ Watling has a good technique but time-and-again his ability to score briskly has been questioned.

With Ross Taylor not around, they are missing someone like Grant Elliott. Watling will have to mould himself with changing formats and emerge as the binding agent in the middle-order to hold the innings together.

Jimmy Neesham is one reliable name with the bat while Munro’s innings in the first ODI, though was not enough to take his side to victory, showed the potential in the batsman. Mitchell Santner can do some batting in the time of need but the proper batting ends with Munro departing. Colin de Grandhomme has 10 First-Class centuries and will be expected to add more runs to the scorecard.

Matt Henry opened the bowling and the strategy was successful as he removed a dangerous Aaron Finch in the very first over. Trent Boult and Lockie Ferguson will be accompanying him for the initial few overs while de Grandhomme and Neesham will be expected to bring in some success in the middle-overs. New Zealand have picked only one spinner in Mitchell Santner and how Williamson uses him in the second ODI will be interesting to see.

Squads:

New Zealand (possible): Martin Guptill, Tom Latham, Kane Williamson (captain), Jimmy Neesham, BJ Watling (wk), Colin Munro, Mitchell Santner, Colin de Grandhomme, Matt Henry, Lockie Ferguson, Trent Boult.

Australia (possible): David Warner, Aaron Finch, Steven Smith (captain), George Bailey, Mitchell Marsh, Travis Head, Matthew Wade (wk), Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood.