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1st T20: New Zealand v Pakistan; 15 January 2016

JJ

JJ

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Meh - Sri Lanka looked like they'd checked out tbh... I'm not as sold on Munro as you
 
ANTiLAG

ANTiLAG

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I back him that he can succeed but I'm not entirely sold on him, yet.

But I've been sold on him getting a chance for a loooong time. And not just T20 either.

He had earned the right for a proper crack at international cricket. And he was not getting it. That annoyed the crap out of me.
 
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JJ

JJ

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to be fair though, irrespective of what he's done on the Eden Park Outer Oval, he has not warranted a place in the top 4 ahead of McCullum, Guptill, Williamson and Taylor, in 20:20 or any other cricket.

I find the shifting of Taylor to #5 strange, and presumably temporary.

They're talking up the World Cup, but against quality spin we are likely to struggle
 
ANTiLAG

ANTiLAG

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To be fair, McCullum did not tour Africa last year, and has been rested a lot.

I'm sure Taylor has had a few R&R breaks too.

Guptill has been demoted in the order at times to trial the likes of Latham with Munro languishing at 6 and 7. True story.

I understand the moving down of Taylor, and understand what they're trying to achieve. I have no issue with it and applaud the strategic thinking. It a license to Guptill, Munro and Anderson to smash it, free of concern of preserving their wicket. 3/30 is fine and rebuildable in the pursuit of setting (or even chasing for that matter) 200+ scores. Ross is also a good striker of the ball and can score swiftly when pressured to do so in the death overs. But often bats well within himself before the death overs. Batting him lower likely gives him more death overs, as well as being a safety net and fail safe with Elliot for the top order sloggers. If things are going well, I could imagine Ronchi getting a promotion ahead of Elliot.

If KW, Ross and Elliot can keep the innings firm against quality spin then Guptill, Munro, Anderson, Ronchi and Santner/Tastle can throw the bat at everything.

I'm not 100% on this but I am pretty sure that when Ross bossed the IPL he was often batting at 5 and maybe even 6 on occasion.
 
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Iafeta

Iafeta

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JJ said:
Meh - Sri Lanka looked like they'd checked out tbh... I'm not as sold on Munro as you
Click to expand...

I have heard this for years. There's always an excuse why Munro scores a truckload of runs at a rapid rate. In fairness to him all he can be asked to do keep smashing runs, which he does. Other blokes have got in the team without the performance this bloke keeps coming up with.
 
ANTiLAG

ANTiLAG

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Iafeta said:
I have heard this for years. There's always an excuse why Munro scores a truckload of runs at a rapid rate. In fairness to him all he can be asked to do keep smashing runs, which he does. Other blokes have got in the team without the performance this bloke keeps coming up with.
Click to expand...

+1

Worker, Nicol, Devicich and then the more ordinary players. Ha.

And as daft as it may sound to a lot of people, Munro's first class bowling record is far far better than Corey Anderson's, and while bowling less overs at a much lower pace than Neesh, is competitive with his FC record too with Colin having the lower bowling average and much much better economy and Neesh a slightly better SR. His sole test match did nothing to suggest he cannot do a 5th bowler role that Corey and Jimmy are supposed to do (18 overs against SA in SA and took 2-40 as the 5th bowler), and Colin has a lot more FC runs made in NZ and England to press for a batting spot at 6, at an average of 48 that the mid 30's Neesham and Anderson could only dream of. And by besting those 2, he of course leaves the newly crowned golden boy Santner in the dust.

And that is all before McCullum retires.

I understand that fans have cast aspersions that Colin may not be applying to MIT for an engineering degree in Aerospace propulsion any time soon. But it appears that he has the potential makings of someone who can play cricket, and to be honest, has done a good job of captaining Auckland in terms of winning matches. So there are a lot of good things going on upstairs.
 
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JJ

JJ

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Just saying, that was a pretty horrific effort from Sri Lanka - feel free to disagree

Excited about the Pakis though, Riaz, Gul and Aimer for the 20:20 then Gul replaced by Irfan - decent pace attack if they find their sweet spot
 
ANTiLAG

ANTiLAG

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JJ said:
Just saying, that was a pretty horrific effort from Sri Lanka - feel free to disagree

Excited about the Pakis though, Riaz, Gul and Aimer for the 20:20 then Gul replaced by Irfan - decent pace attack if they find their sweet spot
Click to expand...

http://nation.com.pk/sports/04-Jan-2016/snubbing-highest-wicket-taker-exposes-biased-selection-policy

Apparently Riaz hasn't done anything for a long time in T20 and is skating on reputation. Although, his form guide on cric info looks good. A few dubious claims in that article.

Amir is a genuine threat, though. Nothing like an ashamed and talented professional athlete trying to win backs friends in the team and the respect of fans. NZ got to be first? Oh joy.

We'll get to see where Guptil really is against some quality fast bowling.
 
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JJ

JJ

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Riaz has always been up and down I think - but when up he's good

Amir was a huge talent - I guess we'll see where he's at in his return soon
 
ANTiLAG

ANTiLAG

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If 2 spinners in India, we need Taylor back and 4 overs from Williamson, Anderson, Elliot and Manu.

Or drop one of Andrrson, Elliot or Manu. Not keen on any of those so Id go with the former.
 
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ANTiLAG

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Big moment for NZC here in this series. Can KW bat and score swiftly with captaincy when team under pressure?
 
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