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1st Semi Final - New Zealand v South Africa (24th March)

Who will win this match?


  • Total voters
    57
  • Poll closed .

kiwiviktor81

International Debutant
I'd go with Henry. I don't buy the "new ball/first change" bowler criticism as it's increasingly becoming irrelevant with two new balls and Vettori coming on in the 6th over.

I reckon if we don't bowl SA out we lose, because Amla, AB, Miller etc. all strike so high that if they get 300 balls they get 350+.

I reckon play Henry, bring him on at the 7/8 over mark if either Southee or Boult aren't getting wickets or at least creating chances, and go for the throat.
 

Moss

International Captain
Honestly, I'm trying to think of which one of them best fills the 'Gavin Larsen at pace' role.

Henry -- more of a wicket-taker than a stock third seamer, can be hittable at times.
Mitch M -- stock third seamer, but is expensive (but jammy as **** when it comes to wicket taking).
Mills -- fits the role, but doesn't have the pace to have any flexibility in said role. Very one-dimensional these days.

None are ideal, but I'm sticking with #TeamHenry 'coz I'm a fanboi.
None of them particularly fit that mould. Mills bowled really well in the two-match Pakistan series in Feb but South africa's batting is a level above. Mitch's unpredictability + lack of game time together counts against him for me. Henry offers strike power but will go for a few, he edges out the others all things considered. If he plays, there's the question of whether to break the So/Bo combination to give him the new ball too, and ask Southee to bowl first change. Comes down to how flexible the players are willing to be.

Basically, we're dependent on Vettori has to play the Larsen role no matter what.
 

Mixmasterreece

U19 Debutant
Reports from training today point to Henry:

Mitch barely bowled and then spent a lot of time in the outfield. Mills did very little, while Henry bowled for a long spell in the nets and spent considerable time chatting to B-Mac.
 

Moss

International Captain
Despite the Wellington game, NZ will probably be giving more focus on the batting as this will be the most varied attack we've come up against. Morkel and Tahir each provide a real point of difference (I'm picking Baz v Morkel as a crucial battle). Abbott aside NZ have seen a lot of their bowlers so hope they have an approach in place.
 

Bahnz

Hall of Fame Member
Reports from training today point to Henry:

Mitch barely bowled and then spent a lot of time in the outfield. Mills did very little, while Henry bowled for a long spell in the nets and spent considerable time chatting to B-Mac.
Doesn't necessarily mean that Henry is the preferred option. You would expect the captain to have a good long chat with a guy coming in from the cold after a month out of the squad. And you would expect Henry to bowl a lot just because the coach and captain would want to do an assessment of how he's playing. Still interesting to hear.
 

Bahnz

Hall of Fame Member
Who will be the 3rd seamer for SA: Abbott or Phatty? Abbott has the game time, but Philander definitely has had the wood over NZ in recent years.
 

wellAlbidarned

International Coach
how tough this selection is sums up how important Milne's niche in the team was. We pick mills, we've got three bowlers leaning on swing. We pick McLenenen, we've got two erratic left armers who tend to get wickets but could get pumped. We go Henry, it's the closest we've got except he's by far the least experienced of the three.

call up jimmy baker into the squad imo
 

straw man

Hall of Fame Member
Reports from training today point to Henry:

Mitch barely bowled and then spent a lot of time in the outfield. Mills did very little, while Henry bowled for a long spell in the nets and spent considerable time chatting to B-Mac.
Might just be bowling a lot in the nets so the guys feel like it's a step down when they face Dale Steyn :ph34r:
 

Zinzan

Request Your Custom Title Now!
Doesn't necessarily mean that Henry is the preferred option. You would expect the captain to have a good long chat with a guy coming in from the cold after a month out of the squad. And you would expect Henry to bowl a lot just because the coach and captain would want to do an assessment of how he's playing. Still interesting to hear.
Yeah this. Clearly they want to assess his form as part of all the options available to them.

Must be honest and say of all the possible players in the top XI to get injured, I'd say Milne along with Elliott are the ones I'd be least concerned about. Ironically, I feel SA would have really targeted Milne at Eden Park as they often did with Bond. 145-150km bothers SA less than any other side going around IMO, so may not be the worst thing. Having said that, I think we do want Milne if we do make it through to the MCG.
 

_Ed_

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If the semi were rained out it would be somewhat fitting - both teams would retain their record of zero semi finals wins
Hah, true!

But the forecast is getting more and more positive for tomorrow, so I doubt rain will play any part.
 

Zinzan

Request Your Custom Title Now!
He's out of the tournament, not just the semi.

Even if he recovered in time, once Henry was brought in we can't play Milne.
Ah okay roger that.

So awesome we have such good options for coverage. As we've always said, bowling injuries were never going to be as much of a headache as batting injuries would be.
 

_Ed_

Request Your Custom Title Now!
The TAB is indicating that it's probably McClenaghan.

Odds for NZ's leading wicket taker tomorrow:
Boult 3
Southee 3.75
Vettori 4.50
McClenaghan 5.50
Mills 6
Henry 6
Anderson 7
NcCullum 7
Others 20+

Whether it's worth reading anything into that or not is another story.
 

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