I was pleasently surprised to hear when I woke this morning that the Black Caps had made 331 against Kenya. Damn that's a good score. It also seems to contradict Mike's opinion that we don't always play our best against the less fancied teams. A 148-run victory is a thrashing, after all.
However, the win was of course nothing like the 221 and 257-run annihilations dealt out to the Netherlands and Bermuda by South Africa and India. Also, comparing this win against Kenya with the win against England shows that the games weren't too different. Kenya was bowled out for 183 and England for 209, while the Black Caps scored 249/3 and 210/4 at the end of the 41st over in the two respective games.
Based on this sample of two, it seems we play the same regardless of our opponent.
Wednesday, 21 March 2007
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
I actually don't buy the theory (these days, at least) that New Zealand saves its best displays for when they have their backs to the wall. I think the players have finally shaken off that 'eternal underdog' state of mind and know that on an average day they should syill beat most top sides. Looking back at the champions trophy last october, they did beat South Africa and Pakistan, and were probably the best side in the CB series where they had a problem finishing off games. There are still some areas of concern at this stage of the tournament - Lou Vincent's form, the bowling support for Shane Bond, several injuries and whether the side may have peaked too early - but the kiwi mindset and the regard with which they are held by other teams is something that's changed drastically from previous world cups
Post a Comment