He's played most of his cricket in NZ and aus IIRC. He's been fighting for form for a while, especially in converting good starts to big scores and then during the Chappel Hadlee everything came together and he has continued on to the WC.
I definitely stand by Fleming and Mahela being rather equal in their skill level. As captains and as players, unfortunately for Fleming, youth is on Mahela's side and he's the wave of the future.
Though you have to remember he didn't actually make the team when Vincent was in it.
Good bowlers don't, all-of-a-sudden, all start bowling complete trash all at once. If poor bowlers all get smashed, that's to be expected and not a tremendously great achievement by the batsman. However, if a good attack gets smashed - and I'm not just talking about one bolwer, but a whole attack - then you simply have to give credit to the batting team and the batsmen involved.
Bond and Malinga are light years in front of the other quicks in this tournament. I'm gonna say Bond is better but in the swing bowling Vaas destroys Franklin. Oram is a better third seamer than Fernando. Vettori i good but not as good as Murali While Patel is Far greater than the Jayasuria/Dilshan combo. Mahela better batsman, Fleming better skipper.I definitely stand by Fleming and Mahela being rather equal in their skill level. As captains and as players, unfortunately for Fleming, youth is on Mahela's side and he's the wave of the future.
Sangakarra and McCullum, I believe I said Sangakarra was the better but the gap was closing everyday. McCullums not as good but he has the potential to be.
As for the bowlers, I did say that I needed three bowlers to counter Sri Lankas three. So New Zealands best bowler, Bond versus the reliable Vaas and the fiery Malinga.
And our two good spinners against the master. Wicket taking wise, They both would probably be needed to stay near Murali!
And Bond against Malinga? Wicket taking wise, Malinga. But Bond can do the same and go for less runs. A good match in my opinion.
How about Malinga in tandem with Bond?
Get Malinga to bowl at both of them for a couple overs. See who's out and who isn't.
Problem solved.
Sorry to drag this up but this boy knows something we don't.
Oh, I thought it might be interesting for you to note that... the Bangladesh side went out with an average of 4.60 runs per over scored against them. Pretty good considering Australia is going at 4.56 against them and South Africa 4.52, they're certainly not the worst bowling team in the world and I would rate them higher than the likes of England in that department.
Which supports the point that I made that started this whole debate - that while Sri Lanka have more "star" players than New Zealand, their weak links are more obvious and easier to expose, which justified the close betting markets before the game. New Zealand had a few players out of form, but I don't see too many real weaknesses in their side other than Franklin's new ball bowling (which actually fired against Sri Lanka.)
Yeah but Fulton aint an opener and we were never gonna drop Flem. Macka and Piggy got in because they could bowl. Piggy was in horrible form until the WC and I would have played Fulton ahead of Piggy, which would have been, in hindsight, a mistake.
But neither Fleming or Mahela are that much better than the other in either department. Vaas destroys Franklin, who only seems to perform when Bond doesn't. (Or in perfect conditions)
Piggo always comes through, saved our side more than once thats for sure. Fulton looked most likely at taking McMillans position IMOYeah but Fulton aint an opener and we were never gonna drop Flem. Macka and Piggy got in because they could bowl. Piggy was in horrible form until the WC and I would have played Fulton ahead of Piggy, which would have been, in hindsight, a mistake.
That can be explained by the fact that Bangladesh were regularly dismissed cheaply when they batted first, meaning the chasing team were under no pressure to score quickly. Conversely, Australia have piled up some massive scores and, in reply, the opposition have had to push the scoring rate along in order to have any chance of winning.
Agreed. If Franklin is bowlling well against you then you must be having one hell of a bad day. This semi is the only exception. Franklin greater than Fernando which doesnt reflect well on Fernando.
I actualy reckon Oram could take the new ball. Better than Franklin even if he does get whacked
The weak top order and the other bowling option are persistant problems to New Zealand but I'm not really sure about the depth of Sri Lankan talent out there.
If Fernando and Maharoof are in thier top 15? hmmm.......
Against Australia, they conceded 106 runs in 13.5 overs. 7.66 runs an over.
