Aussies may have been undefeated thru'out summer but, I have always wondered why the Aussies suck when they enter Kiwi-land. Its been happening for ages now. I think they are not able to cope up to the irregularly shaped rugby grounds or pitch or whatever ( just kiddin :P) Dan the Man was not in the playin XI and Rosco was the skipper today. Punter won the toss and chose to bat and the Ozzies were off to a flier.
Watson scored a quick-fire 45. Everybody chipped in with 30 , 20 etc and ended up setting a target of 276 for the Kiwis. Mike Huss topscored with a run a ball 59. A target of less than 300 in NZ has always been defendable(at-least most of the times!). Ingram and Mc Kill'em got off to a good start sharing a 75 run partnership for the opening wicket. If only Baz realised it's a 50 overs a side game! Ross Taylor then steadied the ship scoring a valuable 70. Definitely a captain's knock! Suddenly in the early 40 overs, Kiwis lost some quick wickets. Oram's injury was a huge blow (for ppl who consider the Oram can still bat).
Scotty 2 Hotty put all his experience into play and the altercation Mitchy must have pumped him up more. He played some gutsy shots and made sure NZ reached home in time :) Not to miss Bond's 4's in the 49th over. Definitely it did settle the nerves in the Kiwi camp. Ross Taylor was adjudged the MOM, Scotty Virus could've bagged it though. So Kiwis are 1 up in the ODI series. Let's see if they can keep the momentum going throughout the series.
Why wasn't Dan the man playing?? And Grant Elliot?
ReplyDeleteGrant Elliott has got injured as is Vettori. Elliott is out of this series.
ReplyDeleteA score of under 300 is defendable in NZ and that too on the best batting track in NZ at Napier? A score of 275 can be easily chased at Napier as it is a good batting track and the ground is small. Even Australia on their last last tour of NZ lost twice by scoring more than 300. The tracks in NZ nowadays are good for batting as can be seen by how even India played last year in the Kiwiland. I do expect high scores in this series.
So credit has to go to not just their batsmen but Tuffey and co. too did a splendid job in restricting the opposition to under 300.
Vettori had a stiff neck prior to the game, mind u thats why Scotty Virus was playing!
ReplyDeleteElliot is injured, he missed the Deshis home series as well. Wonder y u were'nt complaining then Purna!(o_-)
Cheers,
Steam Wah
@greylazer - think u got it spot on! Rosco did well as the captain too.. juggling the bowlers and not being affected by Oram's injury. Welcome to Wah! criket.
ReplyDeleteCheers,
Steam Wah
What happened with Mitchie Johnson?
ReplyDeleteI saw something on the news, and it mentioned him. idk.
Aussies will win the next one. I know it.
Mitchy got all pumped up when soctty smacked him for a coupla boundaries... Well, we hope OZ do win!
ReplyDelete