Black to the Future (NZ story)

[_Ed_]

Wow, Zimbabwe are bad. I'm not even going to give them enough respect to give an individual report on each game in their tour of NZ!

There were some big positives for us though, with Guptill scoring his first Test ton (a whopping 174*) and averaging 93 for the series, Mills taking 17 wickets in the two tests at 13.42 apiece, Hay scoring two fifties and Henry averaging 24.7 with the ball.

Turns out my next series is a tour of Zimbabwe. *sigh* Wonder if I should try out some promising youngsters or something.

 

[_Ed_]

In the mean time, though, it's the end of the 2009 season. So here's a summary.

NZ's performance:
Tests: Played 6 - Won 5, lost 1
ODIs: Played 9 - Won 7, lost 2

An outstanding year. Really pleased. Admittedly the vast majority of those games were played against quite weak opposition though, so can't get too excited.

Top scorers:
Tests: P.Fulton 639 runs @ 49.15
ODIs: C.Spearman 372 @ 37.20

Top wicket-takers:
Tests: K.Mills 44 wickets @ 21.48
ODIs: Mills 26 @ 13.69

Jeetan Patel:
Tests: 162 runs @ 27.00, 14 wickets @ 41.07 ()
ODIs: 64 runs @ 64, 15 wickets @ 24.93 ()

World XIs:

Tests:
P.Jaques (AUS) - 1057 runs @ 39.15
S.Badrinath (IND) - 671 @ 51.62
Younis Khan (PAK) - 881 @ 48.94
J.Duminy (SA) - 1025 @ 48.81
M.Jayawardene (SL) - 902 @ 53.06
+ B.McCullum (NZ) - 583 @ 53.00
D.Bravo (WI) - 674 @ 32.10, 67 wickets @ 20.16
S.Broad (ENG) - 262 @ 23.82, 76 @ 20.47
R.Sidebottom (ENG) - 43 @ 21.16
A.Mendis (SL) - 69 @ 18.36
L.Malinga (SL) - 60 @ 19.43

ODIs:
P.Jaques (AUS) - 825 @ 58.93
C.Spearman (NZ) - 372 @ 37.20
P.Fulton (NZ) - 367 @ 36.70
C.Knox (SA) - 313 @ 44.71
Yashpal Singh (IND) - 187 @ 37.40
A.Flintoff (ENG) - 457 @ 35.15, 27 wickets @ 23.26
+ Asad Shafiq (PAK) - 357 @ 32.45
A.McDonald (AUS) - 196 @ 32.67, 39 @ 16.95
T.Murtagh (ENG) - 29 @ 20.45
Munaf Patel (IND) - 26 @ 15.65
A.Mendis (SL) - 34 @ 15.97

 

[Athlai]

Jeetan Patel:
Tests: 162 runs @ 27.00, 14 wickets @ 41.07 ()
ODIs: 64 runs @ 64, 15 wickets @ 24.93 ()

Doing alright with the bat. Any hundreds in the game as it has happened in real life?

 

[_Ed_]

Not yet, his highest FC score in my game is 67.

Anyway, I beat Zimbabwe in Zimbabwe 2-0 in the Tests and 3-0 in the ODIs, but it was far tougher. The talent they showed, and the fact Bangladesh defeated WI at the same time I was playing these games, has taught me that I should give full attention to every series from now on. No team will be taken lightly.

The high points of the series were Greg Hay (225 runs in the Tests @ 75, including his maiden ton - 112) and Michael Henry (10 wickets in the Tests @ 21.20, 5 in the ODIs @ 13.80). Low point was Craig Spearman - averaged just over 13 for the Test series and not much better in the ODIs. He's 38 now, so it's time to say goodbye.

 

[_Ed_]

It gets tough from here, a tour of South Africa, then home series against Sri Lanka (Mendis is even better in this game than he is in real life) and South Africa, then the World Cup.

My intended first-choice XIs for this season:

Tests:
M.Guptill
P.Astwood (20 years old, carving it up in 2nd XI, but has a FC average of just 32)
P.Fulton
R.Taylor
G.Hay
B.McCullum * +
J.Oram
D.Vettori
J.Franklin
K.Mills
M.Henry

James Franklin is back in the frame. I played him in Zimbabwe and he did OK - 6 wickets in the two Tests @ 30.67. Patel was ineffective in Tests last season. I'll keep him in the squad for turning pitches though, and he'll play in the South Africa Tests because Oram's out for 3 weeks with an injury.

ODIs:
M.Guptill
J.Ryder
P.Fulton
R.Taylor
D.Bowden (!)
B.McCullum * +
J.Oram
D.Vettori
K.Mills
J.Patel
M.Henry

I have some explaining to do...yes, that's Dewayne Bowden. His List A record - 59 games, 1644 runs @ 45.67, 5 centuries, HS 162. Highly unrealistic, but impossible to ignore.

 

[_Ed_]

Tour Game: NZ v Lions

NZ 465
R.Taylor 181
M.Guptill 71
P.Astwood 70

Lions 155
M.Harris 54
K.Mills 6-42
M.Henry 2-33

Lions (F/O) 158
M.Harris 61
K.Mills 3-11
J.Patel 2-17

NZ won by an innings and 152 runs.

Not a bad start! Seemed like a pretty weak opponent though. Really pleased to see Astwood do so well in his NZ debut anyway. Test debut coming up.

Test XIs:

New Zealand:
M.Guptill
P.Astwood (debut)
P.Fulton
R.Taylor
G.Hay
B.McCullum * +
D.Vettori
J.Franklin
K.Mills
J.Patel
M.Henry

South Africa:
N.McKenzie *
D.Elgar
J.Duminy
C.Knox
H.Amla
L.Walters +
W.Parnell (debut)
R.McLaren (courtesy of the editor)
R.McMillan (debut)
D.Steyn
M.Zondeki

South Africa won the toss and will bat first.

 

[Somerset]

Good luck for the tour of South Africa. Your side seems to be developing nicely, hoping that Astwood goes well.

 

[_Ed_]

FIRST TEST

Horrendous NZ collapse gives SA huge comeback win

It was looking so good for New Zealand. They had a first innings lead of over 100 and were able to bowl South Africa out for 270 in their second innings. But then it all went wrong. Their top order was torn apart by Steyn and McLaren, and suddenly they were 78-7 and heading for what had earlier seemed an impossible defeat.

Putting aside the carnage of the fourth morning, NZ were in command throughout the match. Franklin bowled superbly on the first day as South Africa were knocked over for 267, then a 100-run opening stand between Guptill and debutant Astwood set up an excellent first innings score for the visitors, which was highlighted by a scintillating 109-ball 123 from captain McCullum.

In response, young SA opener Elgar batted superbly but couldn't find much support as NZ's two spinners ripped through the order to keep the fourth innings target to a seemingly comfortable 165.

 

[_Ed_]

Ouch. That really hurts.

Some positives though. Astwood's 78 in the first innings was chanceless, think I've found a good one there. Good to see Franklin and Patel bowl well too.

 

[Somerset]

Given McLaren took eight wickets in the match, I bet you're really happy you edited him to be able to play for South Africa...

 

[_Ed_]

Haha, yeah. Oops.

 

[_Ed_]

SECOND TEST
South Africa take series 2-0 despite huge New Zealand comeback

New Zealand staged a remarkable comeback in the 2nd Test against South Africa, but it wasn't enough to stop the home team taking the match and the series 2-0.

South Africa took the ascendancy early in the match, with Elgar and Amla both scoring superb hundreds. Lower-order slogger McMillan bashed his way to 98 (courtesy of four dropped catches), and with support from the likes of Steyn (35*), he guided his team through to an imposing 500.

In response, New Zealand fell apart. Seemingly trying too hard to make up for their shoddy performance in the field, most of the team fell to soft dismissals as they slumped to 182, being forced to follow-on 318 runs behind.

The top-order then fell apart again, with New Zealand sinking to 36-4 and seemingly headed for a horrendous defeat. Greg Hay's patient 55 was just what was needed, and provided a solid anchor for the fireworks that would come at the other end. Captain McCullum took out his anger at his own team's performance on the South African bowlers, slamming 161 from just 153 balls and sharing in two 150+ run partnerships with Hay and Vettori (who himself scored 103 from just 116 balls).

But on a good batting pitch, the 120 they set South Africa to win seemed to be nowhere near enough. That ultimately proved indeed to be the case, but Henry and Vettori gave the home team one hell of a fright. South Africa in the end staggered over the line with just two wickets in hand.

 

[_Ed_]

I don't know what to say. ICC can be brutal.

 

[Somerset]

What a test - great fightback from your side Ed. Sensational innings from McCullum and Vettori by the sounds of it. Though would be nice if your top order could actually make some contributions!

 

[Flem274*]

South Africa are good at being annoying like that.

 

[_Ed_]

ODIs

Much better news for NZ in the 3-match ODI series. We took it out 3-0! Our bowling was brilliant in all 3 games. Our batting, apart from the first game, was a bit poor, but the bowling was so good that we got away with it.

Dewayne Bowden has been something of a revelation! 77 runs at an average of 38.50 and a SR of 80, and four wickets with the ball at 25.25.

 

[Athlai]

5fer Jeets WAG

 

[_Ed_]

Yeah, maybe Viagra will help my team. Very good suggestion, and one I'll keep in mind.

 

[NZTailender]

Has anyone noticed the increase of spam lately? From forums to my inbox, it's multiplied tenfold.

 

[inbox24]

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