**Official** 2004 Natwest Series (Eng, NZL, WI)

[Tom Halsey]

I'd back it - while he won't get much turn, he'd be awkward on a slow deck like this.

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

Rather amusing dismissal for Cairns.

 

[Tom Halsey]

Rather bemusing if you are Cairns, though.

How to get out unluckily in possibly you're last appearance at Lords...

 

[_Ed_]

9 down now, an impressive collapse.

 

[Tom Halsey]

Lol.

Some tight bowling, and some very ordinary batting.

 

[Loony BoB]

Well, you know what they say, if you're going to do something, do it right. Well, we sure take that into every part of our game, and you won't see any half-arsed collapses in NZ - oh no - you'll see us go down using all sorts of shots and against all sorts of bowlers, and dammit, we can collapse like the best of them.

Now we can just hope our bowlers can continue the collapse into the Windies top order - with Cairns, Butler, Styris and Oram, we have four bowlers with a lower series average than the second-best Windies bowler, so hopefully we can use that to our advantage.

And I'm happy to say that Butler has, over this series, began to reverse my opinion of him.

 

[Tom Halsey]

Lol Bob - and I thought England had some terrible collapses - not as bad as NZ's then?

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

Congratulations to Ramnaresh Sarwan for his career-best haul of 3/31. He's turning into a fairly useful bowler to have about.

 

[superkingdave]

I thought Oram was a big hitter?
What happened to the much vaunted batting depth of the New Zealander?

Still think it will be tough fro the Windies but i think they'll do it - Lara to get a good score.

 

[Loony BoB]

This wasn't too bad for an NZ collapse considering we got a few runs while we were at it, although we usually manage to get by anyway.

And yes, I do like Sarwan, he's a fine player.

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

This wasn't too bad for an NZ collapse considering we got a few runs while we were at it, although we usually manage to get by anyway.

The chase will still be very tough for the West Indies but New Zealand should really have gotten a lot more. The last 5 wickets fell for 17 runs.

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

Lol Bob - and I thought England had some terrible collapses - not as bad as NZ's then?

Nope I'm pretty sure England have had worse collapses.

Case in point:

WI v Eng 1st matchup
Natwest 2004
Eng lost 8 for 63

This game, New Zealand lost 8 for 120 today.

That said, West Indies is worse than both.

 

[Loony BoB]

Nope I'm pretty sure England have had worse collapses.

Case in point:

WI v Eng 1st matchup
Natwest 2004
Eng lost 8 for 63

This game, New Zealand lost 8 for 120 today.

That said, West Indies is worse than both.

In general, I'd say NZ can put on far better collapses than what was done today. We're really good at them when we get going.

I think the game could quite easily go either way right now, it's very finely balanced. That being said, as a New Zealander I'm definitely not comfortable with the total the Black Caps put up.

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

Approaching milestones:

Powell 30 runs away from 2000 ODI runs.

Astle 5 wickets away from 100 ODI wickets.

Harris 6 catches away from 100.

Odds that one will be passed today?

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

In general, I'd say NZ can put on far better collapses than what was done today. We're really good at them when we get going.

I think the game could quite easily go either way right now, it's very finely balanced. That being said, as a New Zealander I'm definitely not comfortable with the total the Black Caps put up.

If I wanted to be really pedantic I could give you conclusive evidence that the West Indies team is better at collapsing.

New topic.

 

[Loony BoB]

Approaching milestones:

Powell 30 runs away from 2000 ODI runs.

Astle 5 wickets away from 100 ODI wickets.

Harris 6 catches away from 100.

Odds that one will be passed today?

Powell, maybe. The odds of Astle taking five wickets are extreme, and while Harris is a great fielder (especially for his age, he's one of the best in that regard!), I doubt he'd have the opportunity. But Powell should be quite capable of making 30 runs if he's given a fair opportunity to do so.

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

My prediction:

If the West Indies get to 100 for 2 or less wickets lost, they will win.
If Lara makes less than 5, New Zealand will win.
If WI lose 2 wickets for less than 30 runs, NZ will cruise home.

And now to go out on a limb :
Hamish Marshall will be brilliant in the field.

 

[Tom Halsey]

Nope I'm pretty sure England have had worse collapses.

Case in point:

WI v Eng 1st matchup
Natwest 2004
Eng lost 8 for 63

This game, New Zealand lost 8 for 120 today.

That said, West Indies is worse than both.

Lol - like the recent Test series in the Caribbean?

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

Lol - like the recent Test series in the Caribbean?

Oh we've done worse than that. You ain't seen nothin' yet.

 

[Tom Halsey]

That being said, as a New Zealander I'm definitely not comfortable with the total the Black Caps put up.

Neither would I be.

They are masters at chasing in ODI's, it seems - they chased 285 against us only the other day - and this is a belter of a patch.