Well done Kiwis!!

[Nostromo]

Would you believe it? Fleming's guys chased down a 300+ target twice in succession against the Aussies! No matter that they had 'home advantage' or that Oz were not at full strength; this is still a great achievement before the World Cup. McCullum is now an important contributor with the bat, but best of all the wayward McMillan seems to have joined the party at last! Don't worry about Oram guys; go for it and thrash England in the World Cup opener.

[Murali]

It was always said that Australia had enough depth to beat teams so an understrength team is not the issue for me especially that NZ did not field thier top strength team either. How well did Gillespie do?! Great stuff from a number ten. He dug out a yorker that most top order batsmen would struggle with! It was great to see a realitive newcomer to the team play with heart in a pressure situation. This is passion that was lacking for most of the Commonwealth Bank Series. While I still have doubts on this teams ability to win the world cup, the belief is growing.

[PaceHitta]

WD NZ

Showed nice character chasing that score...

And providing a white-wash...

[Seamer]

Awesome stuff by the Kiwis. The self belief the Kiwis would have gained from this series will be very valuable come WC time.

[Mike]

In recent times, England, New Zealand and South Africa have chased down targets set by the Australian batsmen. However, no team in recent times has set a target against Australia and won. The Australians have chased down every target to win. This suggests the Australian bowlers lack the ability to contain good opposition when defending a target.

Unless this is addressed, Australia could be knocked out of the WC. They are by no means invincible and injuries to Symonds, Hayden and Lee could upset the team's momentum before and during the series.

As a side note, McMillan's century was the fastest in ODIs by a Kiwi and equal 8th fastest of all-time. Not bad considering his side was in trouble with the loss of four early wickets and a big target to chase.

[first change]

Originally Posted by Mike

However, no team in recent times has set a target against Australia and won.

Two of England's wins v Aus in the CB series came when they batted first, so that's not true.

[mismaiden]

Yes once again i thought the kiwis were down and dusted, i turned the tv over when we were 48 for 4 but being a cricket fan i listened to it on the radio.. When McCullum and Macca were still there and the total was starting to get smaller i decided to have another look! Well done to the kiwis i think they showed alot of guts in last nights final ODI..They are starting to play as a unit and thats great with the W/C getting so close. I think there is still an issue tho in our opening bowling and i hope that gets sorted soon. But our batting is looking mighty fine. Keep it up kiwis and go out and give it ya best shot i say... Bring on the World Cup!


Oh and before i go thanks for the congrats from all of you..


Mismaiden..

[Mike]

Originally Posted by first change

Two of England's wins v Aus in the CB series came when they batted first, so that's not true.

My mistake - I was considering matches where Australia had won the toss and put the opposition in. They have won the last 13 matches in those circumstances. In matches where they have lost the toss and fielded first they had a sequence of 6 wins before England beat them.

Where they won the toss and elected to bat first they have lost the last two matches against England and NZ. Where they lost the toss and were sent in to bat first they have lost the last two matches against NZ.

Australia Bowling

Name                Mat    O      M     R    W   Ave  Best   4w 5w   SR   Econ

GD McGrath            2   15.4    1    76    0    -     -     -  -    -   4.85
NW Bracken            3   26.3    2   140    3  46.66  2-66   -  -  53.0  5.28
SW Tait               2   19      0   124    2  62.00  2-60   -  -  57.0  6.52
GB Hogg               3   16      0   114    0    -     -     -  -    -   7.12
MG Johnson            2   18      0   130    3  43.33  3-81   -  -  36.0  7.22
SR Watson             3   24      0   174    5  34.80  3-58   -  -  28.8  7.25

This is Australia's WC bowling squad minus Lee. These stats are from the recent series in New Zealand. Compare them to Shane Bond's stats in the same series:

Name                Mat    O      M     R    W   Ave  Best   4w 5w   SR   Econ

SE Bond               2   18.3    6    62    6  10.33  5-23   -  1  18.5  3.35

These stats show that the Australian bowlers are leaking too many runs. There are many big hitters around these days and unless the Aussie bowlers can find a way to prevent boundaries other teams will have a good chance of being competitive.

[Nostromo]

I guess another set of kudos is due for the Kiwis after their sound thrashing of England today. Congrats, guys, well done.

But one interesting feature was that none of the 4 spinners from both teams did well; J Patel was easily the worst of the lot. Although the current Caribbean wickets are slow, they do not seem to be aiding spinners as much as originally expected. So, with a class spinner like Vettori aready in place, do the NZ team really need to risk including Patel? Oram & Styris can both bowl well as all-rounders and MacMillan can chip-in if necessary. That still leaves NZ with 3 regular bowlers - Vettori, Bond and Franklin (or Gillespie). I feel that as soon as Fulton is fit to play, he should be included in place of Patel and thereby strengthen the batting.

The ideal team would then be:

1. Fleming
2. Vincent
3. Taylor
4. Fulton
5. MacMillan
6. Styris
7. Oram
8. McCullum
9. Vettori
10. Franklin or Gillespie
11. Bond

This team still has 6 potential bowlers in Bond, Franklin/Gillespie, Oram, Vettori, Stryris and MacMillan.