***Official*** New Zealand in Bangladesh & Sri Lanka 2013

[Flem274*]

He'll be ****ing **** outside slower and lower conditions because his cut is more of a slash, he cuts balls very close to him and has a tendency to play back of a length deliveries into the onside with his bat six feet in front of him at a 45 degree angle.

Unless he adjusts he will be eaten alive.

In saying that, he plays spin very well and his deficiencies are less likely to be exposed at home due to the conditions, whereas his strengths are more valuable, so he should have a good career overall.

 

[wellAlbidarned]

If Hashim Amla can bat like he does then anyone can be successful imo. He does literally everything coaches hate and pulls it off looking like a genius.

 

[Maximas]

proactive captain Baz takes the new ball immediately

 

[Flametree]

So what do we think ?

1 - fizzle-out draw
2 - NZ to keep getting the occasional wicket to keep it interesting, but Bangladesh get just enough to be safe (knowing NZ's record with these things, rain will come along in the last hour just when NZ are closing in)
3 - Bangladesh to collapse, easy win for NZ

I like test cricket, because from here each of those looks equally likely...

 

[Mike5181]

Lock in draw. They already have an 80 run lead with 7 wickets left.

 

[hendrix]

He'll be ****ing **** outside slower and lower conditions because his cut is more of a slash, he cuts balls very close to him and has a tendency to play back of a length deliveries into the onside with his bat six feet in front of him at a 45 degree angle.

could say exactly the same thing about Taylor

 

[Maximas]

I honestly think Bangladesh ought to go for the win tomorrow, set a target of 250 in 55 overs and see what happens, rain permitting of course

 

[Mike5181]

Mominul looks absolutely exhausted. Good on him.

 

[NUFAN]

tbh I get excited about any young batsman who can settle in and score hundreds these days, at least that's one big plus going for him at the moment.

Yes it's been a phenomominul start to his career.

 

[Flametree]

Nice....

 

[Flametree]

That last ten overs seemed to take out options two and three from my list above. So now it's dull draw or will Bangladesh try and make a game of it? They must know deep down that they really can't bowl out sides on reasonable wickets in 50-odd overs, so if I were them I'd probably just try to take the draw. Even if NZ lose some quick wickets their tail has shown plenty of ability to stick around so I think a declaration from Bangladesh would be a no-win option.

 

[Black_Warrior]

Good to see Bangladesh fight but their fitness is so poor..Tamim and Mominul are totally exhausted and they haven't even batted for a whole day. Wish Tamim had managed to get a hundred.

 

[Bahnz]

While Bracewell has been poor, I've also been a little disappointed with Boult. This was an ideal opportunity for him to step up and lead NZ to a victory , but again he's just been too inconsistent.

 

[hendrix]

Good to see Bangladesh fight but their fitness is so poor..Tamim and Mominul are totally exhausted and they haven't even batted for a whole day. Wish Tamim had managed to get a hundred.

Taylor and Williamson both also looked visibly tired after their innings as well.

 

[AndyZaltzHair]

Very happy with Mominul that he's performing so well at highest level. I've been his admirer and following him since his younger days and it's really a great feeling.

 

[Hurricane]

They will set us a target tomorrow, a very safe one mind, maybe 240 in 50 overs. I don't think we will chase that on a wearing wicket.

 

[Hurricane]

proactive captain Baz takes the new ball immediately

I thought he should have offered Sodhi more protection on the offside when he went round the wicket to the left handers. Secondly I disagreed with having two gullies instead of having a slip and a gully.
However he rotated his bowlers reasonably. And his use of short midwickets and short covers was "proactive" in a good way.

 

[Mike5181]

Anyone else not missing DRS? Maybe I wouldn't be saying that if the series looked more likely to have a win/loss result, but I'm definitely not missing the constant interruptions.

 

[Flem274*]

Well I guess this will be curtains for Bracewell's first foray into test cricket. Gutting really, because he has it all going for him. When he decides to bowl full he can bowl late outswing with a nasty off cutter, and when he bowls back of a length he has the Gillespie-esque ability to get considerable bounce for his height and gets the ball to follow the batsman. He also has a very good bouncer and can bowl all day. Injuries (beyond the self inflicted) should stay away as well because he has a good action.

But for whatever reason he can't put it together like he did in 2011. He's only in his early twenties so I'm sure he will be back.

Anderson on home pitches will be interesting. He's very unlike the archetypical kiwi batsman; he plays spin very well, and is very good on the back foot against the pacemen, but on the front foot outside off he has potential to be a bunny at test level and once better fast bowlers than those playing for Bangladesh and India/Sri Lanka A figure him out he's toast unless he improves very quickly. He's the anti-Guptill. Plunket Shield bowlers know where to look and they're always going to be a bit slower on the uptake than test bowlers.

But to be fair to him, he flayed a very good England Tourists attack, though I can't remember much of the footage I watched so don't know how often Finn, Onions and Broad dropped short. Considering Finn has no control over his length and Broad can be prone to dropping short, I'm going to go and watch it again.

 

[Flem274*]

Barring last day ridiculousness my squad for the West Indies series would be:

Fulton
Rutherford
Williamson
Taylor
McCullum (c)
Anderson (5)
Watling (wk)
Vettori (4)
Southee (1)
Wagner (3)
Boult (2)

Brownlie (still one of our best batsmen, even if he's a work in progress against spin)
Ryder (if in the runs) or whoever guns the early rounds...will go with Cachopa since he played well for NZ A
Gillespie (no real reason to drop him unless he stinks up the early Shield rounds)
Milne

I can't see early season pitches turning so no real reason for a second specialist spinner in the squad; if DV breaks down between tests Sodhi gets another go.