Teams aim for batting revival in decider
Friday, 11 December 2009
If this series could be a template for all cricket contests over the next decade, we might be in for fun times; so cruel has been the bat's rule over the sport over the last decade. Bowler-dominated series have become increasingly rare, and though they are generally to be found in New Zealand, even that trend has been slowly giving in to the inevitability of the willow, according to website cricinfo.
In any case, this series has been as much about the batting frailties of both sides as it has been about the sharpness of the bowling; it is inconceivable that stronger batting orders would not have scored more on surfaces which rewarded good batsmen and good bowlers equally. New Zealand's top order has come to resemble the best boy-bands; built around the talents of one man, Ross Taylor, the purpose of the others seems unclear, other than just hanging around making him look even better. Tim McIntosh, Peter Fulton, Martin Guptill, Daniel Flynn and Grant Elliott together have scored ten runs less than Taylor. Daniel Vettori has been his usual busy self lower down, but by then, mostly stuff has hit the fan.
Pakistan's hasn't been much better and they might, after the tour, name Muhammad Akmal Siddique and his wife as Players of the Series, for providing them their sons Kamran and Umar. Very nearly half of all the runs Pakistan has scored have come from the brothers. The pair nearly returned to Pakistan after the Wellington Test because their mother suffered a heart attack, but she insisted they stay on and Pakistan should be doubly grateful. The openers remain a concern, though the bigger concern might be with the thinking behind their continued selection. Surely some new, younger, fresher blood is worth trying, if only for the sake of change?
New Zealand: 1 Tim McIntosh, 2 BJ Watling, 3 Martin Guptill, 4 Ross Taylor, 5 Daniel Flynn, 6 Daniel Vettori (capt), 7 Brendon McCullum (wk), 8 Tim Southee/ Jeetan Patel, 9 Daryl Tuffey, 10 Ian O'Brien, 11 Chris Martin.
Pakistan: 1 Imran Farhat, 2 Salman Butt, 3 Faisal Iqbal, 4 Mohammad Yousuf (capt), 5 Misbah-ul-Haq, 6 Umar Akmal, 7 Kamran Akmal (wk), 8 Mohammad Aamer, 9 Umar Gul, 10 Danish Kaneria, 11 Mohammad Asif.
In any case, this series has been as much about the batting frailties of both sides as it has been about the sharpness of the bowling; it is inconceivable that stronger batting orders would not have scored more on surfaces which rewarded good batsmen and good bowlers equally. New Zealand's top order has come to resemble the best boy-bands; built around the talents of one man, Ross Taylor, the purpose of the others seems unclear, other than just hanging around making him look even better. Tim McIntosh, Peter Fulton, Martin Guptill, Daniel Flynn and Grant Elliott together have scored ten runs less than Taylor. Daniel Vettori has been his usual busy self lower down, but by then, mostly stuff has hit the fan.
Pakistan's hasn't been much better and they might, after the tour, name Muhammad Akmal Siddique and his wife as Players of the Series, for providing them their sons Kamran and Umar. Very nearly half of all the runs Pakistan has scored have come from the brothers. The pair nearly returned to Pakistan after the Wellington Test because their mother suffered a heart attack, but she insisted they stay on and Pakistan should be doubly grateful. The openers remain a concern, though the bigger concern might be with the thinking behind their continued selection. Surely some new, younger, fresher blood is worth trying, if only for the sake of change?
New Zealand: 1 Tim McIntosh, 2 BJ Watling, 3 Martin Guptill, 4 Ross Taylor, 5 Daniel Flynn, 6 Daniel Vettori (capt), 7 Brendon McCullum (wk), 8 Tim Southee/ Jeetan Patel, 9 Daryl Tuffey, 10 Ian O'Brien, 11 Chris Martin.
Pakistan: 1 Imran Farhat, 2 Salman Butt, 3 Faisal Iqbal, 4 Mohammad Yousuf (capt), 5 Misbah-ul-Haq, 6 Umar Akmal, 7 Kamran Akmal (wk), 8 Mohammad Aamer, 9 Umar Gul, 10 Danish Kaneria, 11 Mohammad Asif.