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

[straw man]

So that's what NcCullum is doing in the XI. Looks like good innings from Latham and Ronchi too.

A rare 'ODI' victory in the SC for us.

 

[KiWiNiNjA]

double ewe tee efff!

 

[_Ed_]

Well, that's a welcome surprise.

 

[Bahnz]

Ugh, this means we're going to have to put up with NcCullum for another dozen matches doesn't it?

Still good to see runs finally from Latham and Ronchi.

 

[_Ed_]

Shows what a mistake it was making Ronchi open in England. Looks a different player at six.

 

[ohnoitsyou]

Well that certainly separated the men from the boys. Good confidence booster for Latham, he's been lacking it for a while now.

 

[KiWiNiNjA]

Records | One-Day Internationals | Batting records | Highest strike rate in an innings | ESPN Cricinfo

 

[hendrix]

Records | One-Day Internationals | Batting records | Highest strike rate in an innings | ESPN Cricinfo

Lol, Franklin, NcCullum, and Afridi.

3 guys who've probably flattered to deceive the most in world cricket.

 

[Hurricane]

Great result to wake up to

Devich out for a low score.
NZ win a thriller
A young NZ prospect comes good (Latham)

 

[Flem274*]

Well that was unexpected.

 

[Jono]

Amazing last over obviously, but the 4 off Malinga in the last ball of the previous over was huge.

 

[Bahnz]

Does anyone know if Sri Lanka still had to bowl with two new balls in the second innings? It would've been hard enough for the spinners to try and bowl with a wet ball, but having to bowl with a wet ball that was (for the most part) less than 10 overs old would've been a nightmare.

 

[Binkley]

Does anyone know if Sri Lanka still had to bowl with two new balls in the second innings? It would've been hard enough for the spinners to try and bowl with a wet ball, but having to bowl with a wet ball that was (for the most part) less than 10 overs old would've been a nightmare.

I had to go to work (stupid work), so I caught very little of the match, but the umpires did bring on at least one replacement ball - and that was in the over before Latham and Ronchi were both dismissed. After that I doubt the ball would have spent enough time on the ground to get particularly wet.

 

[BeeGee]

Congrats to Latham, Ronchi and NcCullum. Some impressive hitting by all accounts.

Is this the worst NZ ODI team to ever win a game? I'd say yes. Yes indeedy.

Nicol and Ellis, the dynamic duo.

 

[Flem274*]

easily on paper

 

[Bahnz]

Given the ridiculous chopping and changing of the bowling attack on this tour, it's probably safe to assume that Milne will be rested for the last ODI. It's a pity that he's been so disappointing. 107/0 off 18 overs is not a great return - especially given that in the last two ODI's he's had a bit of bounce and movement to work with. But what was especially frustrating imo was his complete inability to control his length or sustain any pressure. He bowled a couple of rippers (and was probably a shade unlucky not to get Sangakkara's wicket in the first ODI), but a ball that would completely relieve the pressure was never far away. This isn't a new thing of course, but given his good returns on the A tour, I had hoped he was a lot closer to having this sorted out. He's probably fortunate that all the other seam options save Southee and Mills have been equally disappointing. But if he's bowling like this on a regular basis, I struggle to see him breaking into the test side this summer.

 

[Hurricane]

Great result to wake up to

Devich out for a low score.
NZ win a thriller
A young NZ prospect comes good (Latham)

his average is 17.6 which sounds about what I expected when he got selected. However I was genuinely impressed with his T20 effort and I don't mind if he sticks around in that format. He actually got on with the job and wasn't unnecessarily concerned about preserving his wicket (which is what I was expecting and how he bats in the HRV cup).

There is one match to go so he could still turn heads if he gets a ton - so I will wait for that match before giving a final verdict on this experiment.

 

[Flem274*]

Milne will be fine, especially at home and away from ODIs. Boult and Marto always looked village in those as well. I'm actually quite surprised they're using him solely in ODIs considering he spent the Ford Trophy getting smashed while being gun in the whites.

 

[straw man]

Given the ridiculous chopping and changing of the bowling attack on this tour

Yes I was planning on commenting on this by itself - the ODI side has been in a state of flux to a greater degree in the last 12-18 months than I can remember. If I find the time I might compile a list of ODI matches per player over this period - I'd say there are a large number of guys that have played around 20-40% of matches and a group of regulars playing around 70% of matches, with only a handful of injuries to partially explain this. It's not just the bowling attack either; the whole ODI (and T20) side appears to have unofficially adopted some sort of rotation policy, or someone has decided that we must experiment with as many random assortments of the 20 or so World Cup hopefuls in order to possibly find a magical best combination.

This has surely contributed to our poor ODI results over the last 12-18 months. We can't just change 2-3 players per match and 5-6 per series without expecting it to affect results. I really hope something has been learned from this and we are finally somewhere near knowing our best XI or best squad of 15, though personally I'm probably more confused than I was at the start of this.

 

[Bahnz]

I would've thought the best xi (bar a couple of places) has always been pretty obvious:

Watling, Guptill, KW, Taylor, Ryder, BMc, Anderson/Neesham, Vettori, Mills, Southee, McC