Stuff Digital Edition

NZ hopes take a dive

Decision on replacement frustrates Black Caps

Andrew Voerman andrew.voerman@stuff.co.nz

Gary Stead can’t say for certain what would have happened if Adam Milne had been available for the Black Caps against Pakistan, but he has a hunch it might have helped, and will be seeking clarification as to why it wasn’t possible.

When scans confirmed a calf tear for Lockie Ferguson on the morning of their Twenty20 World Cup opener, the Black Caps tried to bring in Milne, their travelling reserve, but they didn’t get the approval from the International Cricket Council in time.

At different stages yesterday, they had three different playing XIs in mind, but were ultimately forced to go without either of their express seamers as they lost by five wickets at Sharjah.

The defeat leaves the Black Caps facing a must-win match against India on Monday (3am NZ time] where they will have Milne available, as the ICC approved him as a replacement for Ferguson shortly after Pakistan scored the winning runs.

Teams have been allowed to bring reserve players to the World Cup in the United Arab Emirates, as Covid-19 border restrictions have made flying them in at short notice impossible. Stead said it was disappointing they had not been able to make the change immediately.

‘‘You can’t say you know for sure it would have made a difference in the game, but for us, on that wicket, pace bowling and hitting the pitch as hard as what Adam does or what Lockie does, would have been a difference, we think, and I think Haris Rauf showed that for Pakistan, the difference that it can make.’’

Stead said the Black Caps would be seeking clarification from the ICC as to why the replacement couldn’t be made in time. Stuff has also asked the governing body to comment.

Stead said leg-spinner Ish Sodhi was the beneficiary of that call, as the original plan had been to go with one frontline spinner.

The Black Caps made 134-8 after being sent in, a total Stead thought was about par, then had Pakistan 91-5 in the 15th over, needing 44 more runs off the final 31 balls.

That was when Asif Ali proved to be the difference between the two sides, blasting 27 off 12 balls, including two sixes off Southee and one off Boult – the only innings in the match where runs were scored at that kind of rate.

Veteran Shoaib Malik also finished unbeaten, on 26 off 20, as Pakistan got home with eight balls to spare, a result that leaves them in the box seat to advance to the semifinals as the top seed from group 2.

The winner of the match between the Black Caps and India will be the favourite to join them, with minnows Afghanistan, Namibia, and Scotland the other teams in the mix.

Kane Williamson’s innings provided the perfect metaphor for the start of New Zealand’s Twenty20 World Cup. It was scratchy, briefly gave some genuine hope of turning the tide but ultimately missed the authority required to set the side up for success.

The five-wicket defeat by Pakistan has turned Monday’s match against pretournament title favourites India into a ‘‘loser books flights home’’ encounter – unless underdogs Afghanistan can play spoilers.

But a Black Caps team that does not offer many threatening match-winners will hope for, and require more, from the most successful leader in their history against India after his 25 from 26 balls in yesterday’s loss.

If Williamson finds batting hard, it is unlikely many of his team-mates will flourish. So it proved on a tricky Sharjah wicket.

Williamson had crawled his way to 13 off 20 deliveries against mostly spin before being given out lbw when attempting a reverse-hit; a shot rarely dragged out of his locker.

The captain challenged the decision via review, knowing he had got an inside edge on to his pad, and then immediately changed tack, walloping the next ball over midwicket for four and then producing a one-handed lofted drive that cleared the short boundary for six but did not indicate a player in control.

The following over saw batting partner Devon Conway strike three consecutive fours but Williamson’s battle ended when he took a pace too far down the track and was run out by the bowler Hasan Ali.

After his departure, it took another 23 balls for a Black Caps batter to register a boundary. After that they lost two wickets in three balls to allow Pakistan to dictate terms in the death overs.

‘‘The sort of surface, it was very difficult to start on – you wanted to identify some opportunities to try to have big overs, because you were always going to have the dot balls,’’ Williamson said. ‘‘Timing was quite challenging to come by.’’

One knock at Sharjah is not enough evidence to pass judgment but there will be concern that New Zealand’s No 3 has had six T20I innings this year with a strikerate of 115.05.

Williamson and the rest of the side were clearly handicapped in what they could achieve by Pakistan’s all-round excellence.

Their bowing lineup looks exquisitely balanced, with Shaheen Shah Afridi and Haris Rauf providing pace and variation, while Imad Wasim and Shadab Khan peg down batters via spin and flight.

In contrast, New Zealand’s batting lineup has yet to find its feet – yet has to in a hurry.

All-rounder Daryl Mitchell was preferred to open ahead of Tim Seifert (who batted at seven) after strong performances in the warmup games and showed enough to indicate he will likely retain the spot against India.

Jimmy Neesham was promoted to No 4, likely as a tactical ‘‘match-up’’ move but did not pay dividends as the left-hander fell when seeing the boundary of his second ball.

The ridiculous draw for Group B, with New Zealand, India and Pakistan all playing each other almost within the first week, has meant – barring a not-implausible upset from Afghanistan – that the two semifinalists should be known after the three heavy-hitters have played only twice.

For the Black Caps to join Pakistan as the playoff-bound team, improvements both tactically and performance-wise are required.

But New Zealand were far closer to the early form team of the tournament than India were and can draw on the knowledge they were the superior side when the two teams last met on the world stage in a different format.

Sport

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2021-10-28T07:00:00.0000000Z

2021-10-28T07:00:00.0000000Z

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