*Official* - Pakistan in New Zealand 2010/2011

[Agent Nationaux]

Afridi wins the toss and elects to bowl first. Shafiq in for Misbah. Wahib out and somebody else in (Afridi forgot the name).

For NZ Oram out and Woodcock in

McCullum to open

 

[T-Dub]

Finally! A team that makes sense!

 

[KiWiNiNjA]

Hoo-****en-rah!

Finally something resembling full strength (Vettori<->Woodcock ofc), and sanity restored with McCullum opening.

Or are they opening with Nathan?

 

[Woodster]

Makes absolute sense with McCullum being restored to the openers slot. He's got to bat there in the World Cup, he's best with the ball coming on, and the only time it does that in the subcontinent is in the opening overs where there'll be little sideways movement and will offer him the chance to get off to a flyer before the slower bowlers come on.

Be a good test first up today against Shoaib and Gul if there's a bit in the pitch. Regardless of how McCullum goes today, he should still be opening in the WC.

 

[Woodster]

Doesn't look much depth to the batting for NZ, massive responsibilites on one of the batsmen to go on and get a big one allowing the others to bat around him. If they lose a few early wickets here it could all be over very soon.

 

[BeeGee]

Afridi wins the toss and elects to bowl first. Shafiq in for Misbah. Wahib out and somebody else in (Afridi forgot the name).

For NZ Oram out and Woodcock in

McCullum to open

...and How out and Southee in. Kinda weird to replace a batsman with a bowler, but a much better looking team.

Who's partnering McCullum?

 

[Woodster]

...and How out and Southee in. Kinda weird to replace a batsman with a bowler, but a much better looking team.

Who's partnering McCullum?

Guptill

 

[BeeGee]

Guptill

Maybe the reason for McCullum opening is so Guptill can't run Ryder out again.

 

[Mike5181]

A good team! Yes! Hopefully we have a good game today. In a better mood with McCullum back up the order even if he doesn't necessarily score a bucket load of runs today.

A little bit surprised Oram was dropped given that he was the one in the media saying we played dumb etc

 

[wellAlbidarned]

Well, he scored as many runs as How would've in a third of the deliveries.

 

[Woodster]

Poor dismissal for McCullum there, not playing the percentages at all. The fine line between success and failure, played the same shot a couple of balls previously and spanked it for six. But the way he skipped down the wicket to outside his leg stump to a left arm over bowler moving it away from him, even for the shot that brought him six, he always seemed to be reaching for it, giving himself too much room.

You can say that's the way he bats so of course he'll get out cheaply every now and then, and his positive approach is what makes him the player he is, etc. but it really wasn't a sensible shot.

 

[Mixmasterreece]

McCullum once again shows why he should be batting down the order where he can chip in with a carefree 30. Guptil has similar problems, but I think we can carry only one of them in the opening pair, and its not like you could bat guptil at 7.

He doesnt have the mental application to open in one day cricket.

I know its not a popular opinion, by team would be

How
Guptill
Ryder
Taylor
Styris
Franklin
McCullum
McCullum
Vetorri
Southee
Mills

Franklin, Styris and Ryder to share the 5th set of 10 overs between them.

 

[Woodster]

McCullum once again shows why he should be batting down the order where he can chip in with a carefree 30. Guptil has similar problems, but I think we can carry only one of them in the opening pair, and its not like you could bat guptil at 7.

He doesnt have the mental application to open in one day cricket.

I know its not a popular opinion, by team would be

How
Guptill
Ryder
Taylor
Styris
Franklin
McCullum
McCullum
Vetorri
Southee
Mills

Franklin, Styris and Ryder to share the 5th set of 10 overs between them.

McCullum's wasted at seven for me. Should have the licence to play his shots at the top, especially in the sub-continent. Needs to balance his aggression with selecting the right deliveries to spank a bit better.

 

[Mixmasterreece]

McCullum's wasted at seven for me. Should have the licence to play his shots at the top, especially in the sub-continent. Needs to balance his aggression with selecting the right deliveries to spank a bit better.

Its hard to justify ANOTHER batsmen to have a licence to play shots when none of the top 4 possess any mental application at all.

For me, if they can get How away from relying on that pull shot, he could be the anchor we are desperate for.

 

[BeeGee]

Its hard to justify ANOTHER batsmen to have a licence to play shots when none of the top 4 possess any mental application at all.

For me, if they can get How away from relying on that pull shot, he could be the anchor we are desperate for.

IMO, How is not even close to being able to play the anchor role. After the WC I'd like to see Williamson perform that role, batting at three.

 

[Woodster]

Its hard to justify ANOTHER batsmen to have a licence to play shots when none of the top 4 possess any mental application at all.

For me, if they can get How away from relying on that pull shot, he could be the anchor we are desperate for.

I appreciate that, but I'd have thought McCullum is better than just another batsmen. He cannot afford to give it away as easily as he has today, but he can also be genuinely destructive at the top. Certainly, imo, he should be up there for the WC with it being staged where it is.

 

[Woodster]

Ryder on for a big one here, got a chance early, and is now savagely laying into Tanvir. They seem to be targeting the left-armer.

 

[Woodster]

Definitely looks like Ryder's day, perfectly dropping one between two fielders. This ground isn't big enough to contain Ryder, especially straight.

 

[Mike5181]

IMO, How is not even close to being able to play the anchor role. After the WC I'd like to see Williamson perform that role, batting at three.

AWTA. If they don't go down that route then someone like Rob Nicol would be hard to go past with the performances he has put down lately. 442 runs @ 63.12 and 12 wickets @ 20.75. I still want Williamson persisted with tbh and i think it will be a good time for him to be a constant when Styris is gone because he is that sort of player and Styris seems to be part of the reason KW is so low on confidence.

Ryder is going insane out there.

 

[NZ Guy]

Crikey those were some big hits! He'll get carried away though