When South Africa rolled New Zealand for 45 in a Test innings two years ago little did they know they had also sown the seeds for the Black Caps to become strong contenders for the Cricket World Cup next month.
Notables such as South Africa skipper A.B. de Villiers and India’s Rahul Dravid head a worldwide chorus of predictions that New Zealand, playing on home wickets through to the semi-finals, will be in the final four at least.
Such sound support reflects the depth of talent building within a squad producing consistent performances far removed from the innings in South Africa, which ignited deep soul searching by New Zealand.
Photo: AFP
It might have been a Test match, but it brought an across-the-board shake up of player attitudes, with New Zealand’s one-day unit developing into a fiercely competitive unit.
The pattern of a top-order failure leading to an innings collapse has been replaced by a culture where they believe they can beat any team; the image of a side filled with individual agendas has been turned into a “team effort” ethos.
“You can’t have a team-first mentality if only a few people are buying into it,” Black Caps coach Mike Hesson said. “When you have players sacrificing their own personal records for what the team needs, that’s what it’s all about.”
As a result, captain Brendon McCullum takes his side into the World Cup off the back of a 4-2 series win against Sri Lanka and a reputation as team that fights to the end.
In 2012, the year prior to the frank self-analysis, New Zealand had a disappointing 4-10 ODI win-loss record. After the South Africa debacle, it improved to 7-10 in 2013 and progressed to the right side of the ledger at 9-5 last year.
Three times in the past two years, New Zealand have successfully chased down a target of more than 250 — beating India, Pakistan and England — as they worked on their World Cup strategy.
“It’s nice to win games when you’re under the pump and that’s something we pride ourselves on,” Hesson said. “Chasing under pressure is important. We’re going to have a lot of chases in the next few months and we’re going to be in pressure situations.”
New Zealand are opening their innings with McCullum, a renowned big-hitter, tasked with setting a commanding run-a-ball rate from the start.
“If Brendon doesn’t come off, it’s someone else’s opportunity,” said Hesson, stressing his philosophy that the loss of key wickets does not have to have a negative impact.
Recent performances show New Zealand are capable of pacing themselves with proven run-scorers Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor following McCullum to steer them deep into the innings.
The reliable Grant Elliott is there should the top order fail and destructive big-hitters Corey Anderson and Luke Ronchi are capable of finishing an innings off well.
Kyle Mills, Tim Southee, Trent Boult and Mitchell McClenaghan vie for the strike bowler positions, with the squad also including quality spinners Daniel Vettori and Nathan McCullum, while Elliott and Anderson are all-rounders.
Much of the credit for New Zealand’s revival centers around McCullum’s leadership, with Williamson saying the captain’s “lead-from-the-front” approach rubs off on the rest of the squad.
IN-HOUSE BUSINESS: LA Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said that the reason for the team’s poor form was not due to Paul, but the player was not a good fit for them Chris Paul’s return stint with the Los Angeles Clippers has come to an abrupt and stunning end, with the franchise parting ways with one of its greatest players in a late-night meeting on Wednesday that adds another layer of drama to the team’s terrible start this season. The news was delivered in a meeting in Atlanta, Georgia, that ended at about 2am, Clippers basketball operations president Lawrence Frank said. Frank said he made the decision to sever ties with Paul on Sunday then told the franchise’s career assist leader that he needed to see him on Tuesday in Atlanta. Frank did not confirm
Kylian Mbappe on Wednesday scored twice and had an assist as Real Madrid beat Athletic Bilbao 3-0 to end a three-match winless streak in La Liga. Eduardo Camavinga also found the net for Madrid as they moved back within one point of Barcelona, who beat Atletico Madrid 3-1 on Tuesday. Both 19th-round matches were moved forward because Real Madrid, Barcelona, Athletic Club and Atletico Madrid are to play in the Supercopa de Espana semi-finals in Saudi Arabia next month. Real Madrid were coming off league draws against Girona, Elche and Rayo Vallecano. It was their second win in their past six matches in
PINA BRACE: Claudia Pina scored in the 61st and 74th minutes, while Vicky Lopez added one as Spain notched their third victory in a final in the past four tournaments Claudia Pina scored twice and Germany crumbled on Tuesday as Spain retained the UEFA Women’s Nations League title with a 3-0 victory in the final’s second leg. Vicky Lopez also scored after Pina finally broke the deadlock in the 61st minute with Germany stubbornly hanging on as Spain had done in the first leg, a 0-0 draw in Kaiserslautern on Friday. Spain were without three-time Ballon d’Or winner Aitana Bonmati, who broke her leg in training on Sunday. Lopez took Bonmati’s place and Spain dominated from the start. Esther Gonzalez swept the ball just past the post and Mariona Caldentey forced a save
There was another win for Arsenal in the Premier League on Wednesday, but more misery for Liverpool and their under-fire manager, Arne Slot. While Arsenal accelerated their title charge with a 2-0 victory over Brentford to regain a five-point lead, Liverpool needed a late own-goal just to salvage a 1-1 draw with Sunderland AFC at Anfield. Slot is back under pressure, with his team languishing in eighth place in a disappointing title defense and his decision to leave star forward Mohamed Salah out of the starting lineup for a second straight game likely to be heavily scrutinized. “It’s clear that teams that play
RSS