Saturday, 17 March 2007

Ben on...beating England!!!

C'mon Mike. Did the early morning kill your enthusiasm? A 6-wicket win with 9 overs to spare is worth more that just Super 8 points. And Bond had a better than good game – 2-19 off 10 – and Styris and Oram weren't just secure, they owned the English bowlers. Admittedly it was perhaps the least interesting game of the round so far, but in terms of the Black Caps prospects in the tournament (and pay back for the CB Series) it was a great result.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Great first up show by NZ. Not too worried about our top order collapse because it seems to be order of the day over in the WI conditions. Finally a WC with competitive pitches. I enjoyed the last Champions Trophy for much the same reason. As it stands, i wouldnt alter the team too much - PERHAPS Gillespie in for Patel depending on conditions. We have some nice backup with an inform Fulton and I expect Mason/tuffey would suit these conditions.
I have a feeling that Oram and *gasp* Styris may turn out to be our star players during this tournament. Given that we beat the minnows in our pool (and after the Indian and probable Pakistani losses), this'll give us some leverage in the super 8. Im banking on the Africans and Aussies to go through so believe it'll come down to a 3 way contest between us,Sri Lanka and the WI for that last semi berth. Fingers crossed!

note: My god, Bond is such an incredibly INTELLIGENT bowler. Id rank him in the top 3 in world cricket, perhaps at the very top along with Murali in ODI. EVen on his "bad days" hes either fairly economical or will grab a couple of wickets. Unlike Murali, they tend to be top order class too.