World T20: BLACKCAPS And White Ferns Game One Previews
Rossco, let's see that tongue wag matey.
It's been a minute since the Aussies left our soil, left us licking our wounds, left us as their bunnies in Test cricket. We've sat back and enjoyed the rather disgusting qualifying process in which nations who in my eyes should enjoy Test status are left to fight amongst themselves for our scraps and here we are, about to watch the BLACKCAPS and White Ferns play their first games of their respective World T20 and Women's World T20 tournaments.
Minnows, Test status? Indeed and before looking at our kiwi teams, the elephant in the room needs discussing. There's absolutely no reason why the likes of Ireland, Afghanistan, Hong Kong, Zimbabwe etc etc, shouldn't be competing as part of a WT20 event proper. Sure, the tournament has been split into two stages and in theory those teams are in the WT20, however this is an example of a very worrying trend in international cricket as the game moves backwards.
While all the other sports we love are expanding and pushing the boundaries, cricket is doing the opposite. During the ODI World Cup people moaned about the minnows, about having too many teams and here we are, in the format that lends itself to expansion the best (T20 cricket), about to watch a 'Super 10' competition? Please.
I won't rest on this cause until there is at least the intent to expand, broaden horizons and welcome the presence of new cricketing nations. There have been various complaints made throughout the 'Minnows' WT20' event from captains and players regarding the lack of support from the ICC and it absolutely stinks.
Join me on this cause. The end goal is that Test cricket isn't an exclusive mafia crew and that we open our arms to any nation who shows interest in cricket. This starts with T20 cricket and then ODI cricket so instead of hating on the smaller cricket nations, let's celebrate them.
The BLACKCAPS face India tomorrow morning and boy, it doesn't get much tougher in a tournament opener than this. India are coming off victory in the Asia Cup, which saw them play plenty of T20 cricket while our lads ... well, while our lads weren't playing T20 cricket.
India's batting line up will likely include Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh, MS Dhoni and Ravi Jadeja. They have the best spinner in the world in Ravi Ashwin and will get great value out of Jadeja's left-arm spin as well, which basically means that it's not looking good for the kiwis.
There's plenty of power in what I expect to be the BLACKCAPS' team for this game, it's just that I'd take their Indian opponents over Martin Guptill, Colin Munro, Corey Anderson and Luke Ronchi in India, on such a big stage. Anderson has the most experience in India and has seen plenty of IPL cricket so I'm the most confident about him, I've got him and Kane Williamson as the two most important batsmen for the kiwis against India.
Williamson's importance is easy as he'll be tasked with anchoring the innings, rotating the strike and whacking enough boundaries to keep the run-rate ticking over. This allows the hitters to come in and hit while he's holding up an end. Anderson has done this before, with his variety of shots and his ability to muscle the boundary crucial in hitting Ashwin and Jadeja off their line and length.
I'm also going to keep a close eye on Ross Taylor, who can be extremely dangerous in the right situation, but is far less bankable than Williamson. Taylor is my wildcard for the BLACKCAPS as if he's knee deep in some form, working singles, stroking boundaries and whacking slog-sweeps over cow-corner, then we'll be in with a sniff. Taylor only averages 24.27 in T20I and 29.62 in T20 cricket, but does have strike-rates of 120.6 in T20I and 133.9 in T20 which is crucial. That means that Taylor usually only gets 25-30 runs, he does get them very quickly though.
Remember, in 20-over cricket 20s and 30s off 10-15 balls are super valuable.
My biggest fear for the BLACKCAPS in game one is the bowlers vs India's batsmen. Who knows how the bowling attack may look, with Tim Southee, Trent Boult, Adam Milne and Mitch McClenaghan competing for two spots as I wanna see either Ish Sodhi or Nathan McCullum partner Mitch Santner (Guptill, Williamson, Munro, Taylor, Elliott, Anderson, Ronchi, Santner, bowler, bowler, bowler).
If McClenaghan was dominating in the two warm up games then I'd be happy to see him and Milne given the two seam spots, however McClenaghan went wicket-less and conceded more than 10 runs-an-over in both warm up games. Anderson, Elliott and Santner are capable of bowling their full lot of overs so I'm gonna settle on Southee, Milne and Sodhi.
Confident? No. Intrigued? Yes, we'll know a lot more about the BLACKCAPS after this game and I'm eager to see how the kiwis respond to such a challenge.
The White Ferns are in action against Sri Lanka and I'm extremely excited to get this journey of following the Ferns underway. The Ferns have a bunch of match-winners who will be fun to watch with Suzie Bates, Sara McGlashan, Sophie Devine, Keigh Kasperek, Lea Tahuhu and Amy Satterthwaite all capable of turning a game.
Part of my excitement in following the Ferns, besides the fact that they are very much in the contenders bracket to win it all, is that I'm just eager to see them in action. I can't provide you with an in-depth preview for their game against Sri Lanka, I can encourage you to pay attention to the Ferns and that it's going to be a fun ride.
In saying that, the Ferns do have Suzie Bates and she's one of the world's best batswomen so it goes without saying that she's crucial to the Ferns success. Bates has scored runs rather easily in both limited overs formats and in T20I cricket her past six scores are: 34, 36, 69, 33, 54 and 54. That 34 came in India back in July 2015 and Bates' other score in that T20I series was 0 so she might have a bit of a weakness in India, then again she didn't go to India then in such form as she's in now.
Confident? Yes. The Ferns will be looking to make some noise early and should gain confidence in Indian conditions against Sri Lanka.