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Black to the Future (NZ story)

_Ed_

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4th ODI, The Oval

NZ: No changes
England: Panesar in for Hoggard

NZ won the toss and elected to bowl.

New Zealand clinch series with comfortable chase

New Zealand have gained an unassailable 3-1 lead in the ODI series with an easy 5-wicket win in the 4th ODI at The Oval. England's mediocre total of 214-6 never looked enough as Martin Guptill blazed his way to 56 from 53 balls and Brendon McCullum finished off the job with a composed 68 not out.
 

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Somerset

Cricketer Of The Year
Going along very nicely in the one dayers, McCullum continuing his fine form in that 4th ODI. :)
 

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Yeah, although interestingly it was his first time getting past 10 in the ODI series!

5th ODI, Lord's

NZ: Hay in for Papps, McCullum to open with Guptill
England: Hoggard in for Panesar (make up your minds!)

NZ won the toss and elected to bowl.

NZ take series 4-1 after Lord's thriller

New Zealand ended their highly successful England tour on a winning note, scraping home by 1 wicket in the 5th ODI at Lord's.

England started brightly, with Andrew Strauss and Owais Shah scoring freely as England raced through to 182-3. But an extraordinary three-wicket over from Daniel Vettori changed things, and despite some strong late hitting from Andrew Flintoff and Stuart Broad the home team still fell short of 250, a score they had earlier looked certain to cruise past.

In response NZ showed no sign of taking a cautious approach, as Brendon McCullum slammed 50 off 27 balls opening the innings. Like England, however, they suffered a slight middle-order collapse. But Vettori kept things in control with a composed 60, and it looked like New Zealand would get across the line comfortably.

Then Flintoff returned and in two overs removed Vettori, James Franklin and Kyle Mills, and suddenly New Zealand were 9 wickets down. But Jeetan Patel heroically smashed two boundaries in a row, and New Zealand were home.
 

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At the start of the tour I was hoping we'd win the ODI series and maybe win one of the Tests. So winning both series has definitely exceeded my expectations!

Tour stars:

Brendon McCullum - his first tour as captain. 14 matches (including tour games) - 11 wins, 3 losses. Also 455 Test runs @ 151.67 & 138 ODI runs @ 34.5. Not bad.

Jacob Oram - Andrew Flintoff was the all-rounder of the series, but nothing should be taken away from Oram's efforts. Tests: 307 runs @ 51.17, 12 wickets @ 27.25 - ODIs: 163 runs @ 32.60, 13 wickets @ 14.54.

Likely casualties:

Michael Papps - Despite his impressive 176 against Northants, it was a disappointing tour for him. Only 142 runs in Tests @ 23.67, and a woeful ODI record of 10 @ 2.50. Unfortunately I don't see him opening the batting in the next game, the 1st Test against WI.

Greg Hay - Showed some promise, but in almost every innings he hit a couple of fours in a row then got caught playing a stupid shot. He'll be back in NZ colours, but he needs some time in FC cricket first. Besides, Vincent's performances since he replaced Hay have been fantastic so it would be unfair to drop him.
 

Somerset

Cricketer Of The Year
Haha, top knock from Jeetan to win the game for you, waiting for a response from Athlai. ;)

McCullum's ODI stats weren't as good as I thought they were - though averaging 150 in the test series made up for it I'm sure. ;) Oram's stats are pretty outstanding too - batting average of more than 50 in tests and a bowling average of less than 15 in the ODIs is sensational.
 

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Been a while, hasn't it? Sorry about that. Just played the home series v WI...

Now, I should mention that I've done some editing. Yes, Craig Spearman is now opening the batting for NZ. It's my game, so I can do what I want. I do want to add though that I have not edited the abilities of any of my players.

Here are the results of the Test series. Two matches, intense.

The first game was a real thriller, a massive comeback by us after Chanderpaul smashed us all around the park in the first innings in a monumental 174 (unlucky to miss out on the MOTM! :blink: ).

The second was a bit easier, thanks to just one man - Ross Taylor. What a star.

Spearman's return to Test cricket after a gap of almost a decade was a successful one - 241 runs @ 80.33. Hope his form continues.
 

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Forgot to take screenshots of the ODIs, so I'll just give you the results. Oops.

1st ODI
West Indies 128 (Chanderpaul 25, Bravo 24, Oram 2-24, Vettori 2-24)
New Zealand 129-1 (Spearman 80*, Fulton 43*, Bravo 1-29)

9 wicket win for NZ, Spearman named MOTM. Was good to see him continue his rich vein of form, and it was a fantastic performance with the ball with all five bowlers used picking up two wickets.

2nd ODI
New Zealand 248-9 (Vincent 65, Spearman 58, Bravo 4-51, Bradshaw 2-40)
West Indies 131 (Chanderpaul 42, Ganga 32, Vettori 4-36, Patel 3-34)

117 run win for NZ, Vettori MOTM. Another pretty complete performance here, the two spinners really tore the heart out of the WI run chase.

3rd ODI
West Indies 162 (Ganga 55, Sammy 51*, Oram 4-27, Mills 3-47)
New Zealand 163-9 (Patel 35*, McCullum 32, Bravo 4-45, Collymore 2-36)

NZ won by 1 wicket, Oram MOTM. This is one of the most amazing ODIs I've played in ICC. We reduced WI to an incredible 36-7, but then Ganga and Sammy put on 87 and took the visitors through to a respectable score. In response we collapsed to 77-7 and 94-8 before the irreplaceable Jeetan Patel shared in partnerships of 41 and 25 with Mills and McKay to take us home. Unbelievable.

This has been a bit inadequate, sorry about that. I'll do the Australian tour after my exams and I'll try to do a more thorough job again then.
 

Athlai

Not Terrible
Jeets **** yeah. The man with both bat and ball. No idea how he didn't get MOTM in that 3rd ODI, blatantly saved the game.
 

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Tour of Australia

*gulp* :unsure:

Squad:
Brendon McCullum * +
Grant Elliott
James Franklin
Peter Fulton
Mark Gillespie
Martin Guptill
Andrew McKay
Kyle Mills
Iain O'Brien
Jacob Oram
Jeetan Patel
Iain Robertson
Bradley Scott
Mathew Sinclair
Craig Spearman
Ross Taylor
Daniel Vettori
Lou Vincent

Bond misses out again, he's fit now but 7 FC wickets @ 39 isn't good enough IMO. Looking to keep a fairly similar lineup to the one I've had for most of the England and WI series. Likely to bring in Patel though for some variety in the attack, probably at the expense of Franklin who has been very disappointing in Tests.

It's a big ask, but Guptill needs a good knock in this tour to secure his place.

Tour Game: New Zealand v New South Wales

NZ 478 (Vettori 138, Oram 103, Bollinger 3-82)
NSW 106 (Hughes 29, Vettori 5-14)
NSW 197 (Jaques 62, Mills 4-55)

NZ won by an innings and 175 runs.

Started the tour better than the real life guys at least!

1st Test XI
M.Guptill
C.Spearman
P.Fulton
R.Taylor
L.Vincent
B.McCullum * +
J.Oram
D.Vettori
K.Mills
J.Patel
A.McKay

1st Test coming soon...
 

Somerset

Cricketer Of The Year
Vettori as dominant on ICC as he has been in real life recently. ;) Good start to the tour there, good luck for the rest of it!
 

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New Zealand v Australia, 1st Test, Brisbane

The pitch looks like a belter - nothing for the bowlers at all in terms of bounce or wear. It's a hot and sunny day, so it'll be a long day in the field for whoever loses the toss.

Australia XI:
P.Jaques
M.Hayden
R.Ponting *
M.Hussey
S.Watson
S.Katich
B.Haddin +
B.Lee
A.Noffke (debut)
M.Johnson
S.Clark

Australia won the toss and elected to bat. :(
 

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Day 1

Ponting ton gives Australia the edge

Ricky Ponting has a habit of scoring a century on the first day of a Test series, and that continued on the first day of the series against New Zealand with a stunning 103 to give his side the edge after a tense opening day. The innings, his 36th century in Tests, included 16 fours and held together what could otherwise be described as a disappointing effort by Australia's batsmen against a surprisingly strong New Zealand.

The day began with Australia expecting to score heavily on a perfect batting pitch, and as the two openers quickly put on 30 in the first half an hour that seemed to be exactly what was going to happen. New Zealand had reason to celebrate soon afterwards when Mills removed Hayden for 17, but those celebrations were cut short as Ponting strode purposefully to the crease and cracked his first ball for four.

The Australian captain put on a promising 52-run partnership with Jaques (42), and at 83-1 it looked as if the home side would be in an imposing position at the lunch break. But Jeetan Patel had other ideas, taking two wickets in one over to reduce them to 85-3.

Lunch
Australia 99-3
Session score: 99-3
Session: New Zealand
Star of the Session: J.Patel - 2 wickets.

The second session was all about Ponting. Scoring runs on both sides of the wicket, he punished loose bowling and rapidly passed 50. With useful support from Watson (20) and then Katich, it was an extremely strong session for the Australians and at the Tea break Ponting was 86 and within sight of a superb century.

Tea
Australia 207-4
Session score: 108-1
Session: Australia
Star of the Session: R.Ponting - dominant.

Ponting was more watchful after the break, moving through the nervous 90s slowly and steadily. Katich at the other end came out in a far more positive frame of mind, quickly bringing up his own 50 in a partnership that threatened to take the game away from New Zealand.

But soon after getting a well deserved and magnificent hundred, Ponting was hit on the pads dead in front of middle stump by Vettori, and what followed was something of a collapse as Katich (71) and Lee (19) followed in reasonably quick succession to give New Zealand a strong end to the day and keep them well and truly in contention.

Stumps
Australia 295-7
Session score: 88-3
Session: New Zealand
Star of the session: S.Katich - taking over the scoring while his captain was in the nervous 90s.

Stumps Summary
Australia 295-7
Ponting 103
Katich 71
Not out batsmen: Haddin 12, Noffke 1

Patel 2-52
Vettori 2-57
Mills 2-75
McKay 1-54

So it's pretty even after the first day. Got plenty of respect for the batsmen in the middle at the moment though so I want to break that partnership as soon as possible on day 2, I'd love to be batting before lunch.
 

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Day 2

Australia on top despite Fulton's 129

Australia look likely to take a big first innings lead in the first Test against New Zealand, despite a fabulous innings from Peter Fulton.

Australia began the day at 295-7, with the Kiwis looking to clean up the tail as soon as possible and begin their reply. They looked likely to do so with the early wicket of Haddin (18), but found some frustrating resistance from Noffke (11) and Johnson (17*). The spinners Vettori and Patel finally cleaned up the tail 30 minutes away from the lunch break.

Then disaster for New Zealand as Johnson removed Guptill for 1 in the second over of the innings.

Lunch
New Zealand 23-1
Session score: Australia 38-3, New Zealand 23-1
Session: Australia
Star of the session: M.Johnson - useful runs and a big early breakthrough.

NZ began the second session in a positive frame of mind, with both Spearman and Fulton finding the boundary on several occasions in the first few overs. This continued for the majority of the session, with the two putting on a partnership of 118 for the second wicket. Fulton brought up his half-century in quick time, and Spearman looked likely to do the same before falling to Lee for 46.

Tea
New Zealand 132-2
Session score: 109-1
Session: New Zealand
Star of the session: P.Fulton - breezed into the 70s.

Fulton soon picked up where he left off at the tea break, stroking boundaries on both sides of the wicket. New Zealand found problems at the other end though, with Taylor, Vincent and McCullum all falling cheaply. This saw the score collapse from 138-2 to 159-5.

Oram (26) was able to provide useful support though, and Fulton brought up his second Test century. And his glorious innings didn't stop there - he continued on to 129 from 164 balls with 15 fours. But then Stuart Clark broke the partnership with the wicket of Oram, and then brought an end to Fulton's innings when he trapped him lbw.

Stumps
New Zealand 258-7
Session score: 126-5
Session: Australia
Star of the session: P.Fulton - stunning century.

Stumps Summary
Australia 333
Ponting 103
Katich 71
Vettori 3-57
Patel 3-58

New Zealand 258-7
Fulton 129
Spearman 46
Not out batsmen: Vettori 20, Mills 11

Johnson 3-62
Clark 2-28
Lee 2-66

Australia lead by 75 runs.

Not looking too good here. I hope Vettori can continue his good batting form, and someone can support him. We really need 300 if we're going to be competitive - I'm not sure we can bowl them out cheaply enough to get something we can chase otherwise.
 

Somerset

Cricketer Of The Year
You're not out of it yet - if Mills and Patel can support Vettori, you'll come close to catching Australia's first innings total. Top knock from Fulton. ;)
 

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