New Zealand tour of Africa - August 2015

[CremerCurrans]

Sun Aug 2 1st ODI - Zimbabwe v New Zealand - Harare Sports Club
Tue Aug 4 2nd ODI - Zimbabwe v New Zealand - Harare Sports Club
Fri Aug 7 3rd ODI - Zimbabwe v New Zealand - Harare Sports Club
Sun Aug 9 Only T20I - Zimbabwe v New Zealand - Harare Sports Club

Fri Aug 14 1st T20I - South Africa v New Zealand - Kingsmead, Durban
Sun Aug 16 2nd T20I - South Africa v New Zealand - SuperSport Park, Centurion
Wed Aug 19 1st ODI - South Africa v New Zealand - SuperSport Park, Centurion
Sun Aug 23 2nd ODI - South Africa v New Zealand - Senwes Park, Potchefstroom
Wed Aug 26 3rd ODI - South Africa v New Zealand - Kingsmead, Durban

New Zealand Squad:

Kane Williamson (capt), Grant Elliott, Martin Guptill, Matt Henry, Tom Latham, Mitchell McClenaghan, Nathan McCullum, Adam Milne, Colin Munro, James Neesham, Luke Ronchi (wk), Mitchell Santner, Ross Taylor, Ben Wheeler, Doug Bracewell (South Africa only), Ish Sodhi (Zimbabwe only)

 

[SpitfiresKent]

New Zealand to play as Aotearoa | Cricket | ESPN Cricinfo

New Zealand will adopt a temporary change during their tour of Africa, playing under the name Aotearoa for the first ODI against Zimbabwe in Harare on August 2. The one-off move will help celebrate Maori Language Week; Aotearoa is the Maori name for New Zealand, and will be emblazoned on the front of the team's playing shirts during the match.

 

[SpitfiresKent]

Zimbabwe recall Nyumbu for first two NZ ODIs | Cricket | ESPN Cricinfo

Zimbabwe squad:

Elton Chigumbura (captain), Chamu Chibhabha, Hamilton Masakadza, Craig Ervine, Sikandar Raza, Sean Williams, Regis Chakabva (wk), Graeme Cremer, Prosper Utseya, Tinashe Panyangara, Christopher Mpofu, John Nyumbu, Vusi Sibanda, Luke Jongwe, Neville Madziva.

Once again how the hell is Utseya selected

Glad to see Nyumbu back (he deserves it) and also Luke Jongwe, great talent but he has his problems off the field.

 

[PokerAce]

What a wonderful chase by the Zimbabwe side - Well Done ... hope they push on and win the series.

 

[SpitfiresKent]

hope they push on and win the series.

If the batsmen keep performing like that then why not!

Some of those shots from Ervine though Plenty of us have been saying that he needs to bat @ 3 or 4 in order to full fill his potential.

And oh look... @Biggs is nowhere to be seen!

 

[Biggs]

You guys did a great job against our assembled New Zealand A Side

...Pretty stoked with Taylor equaling Astles record, he'll blast past it and rightly so.

Might watch the next game. I literally have zero interest in this tour, unfortunately.

 

[Chewie]

Our bowlers weren't threatening at all. We're still struggling to find an ODI spinner after Vettori's retirement and MitchM hasn't been very threatening for a while.

Also Taylor was way to slow in the middle overs.

 

[Biggs]

Taylor is always crazy slow in those middle sections now, that's part of the "strategy" apparently... although I'm not sure it works with Williamson alongside him only ticking over at a run a ball as well.

....and the thing with the Spinner "Problem" (I use that term loosely) is your go-to spinner for eons was McCullum who got usurped by a returning Vettori which is fine and dandy but now he's off the pace because he hasn't been playing at international level for over a year and I don't see Ish as a long term solution. I'd throw Mark Craig the ball to be honest, might affect his Test bowling a little but he's prolly the better option long-term.

 

[Chewie]

I don't think it's part of the strategy, he just seems to only find fielders in the middle parts of his innings, and near the end of the innings when he has to be more aggressive he starts hitting over the top and building up the runrate. But in doing so he sometimes just gets out so he's scored 40 off 70 or something which in today's modern game isn't really enough. Kinda like Guptill does too.

I think Sodhi has a much better chance of doing well in ODIs than Craig, and Craig should focus on tests

 

[Biggs]

Kinda like Guptill does too.

Guppy gets a free pass because; World Cup QF Innings.

...and I just think McCullum needs more time bowling at International Level, he'll be back to his usual miserly self after a few cracks. Ish is going to be number two choice for a while, but I'm glad both he and Craig got to spend a bit of time in the UAE bowling with Vettori, nice little handover period. They'll all find their way eventually. Good series to try out a few things, see what works. Nothing to lose on this tour.

 

[Chewie]

He's almost 35 years old, he won't be there for the next world cup. We need to start developing a new limited overs spinner

 

[PokerAce]

Well I suppose that i is how you comeback from being one down. A great 100 from Raza to start off, but what a performance from the kiwi openers to level the series 1-1. Sets up the third ODI beautifully.

 

[Biggs]

Reasonably good batting effort...

 

[SpitfiresKent]

Reasonably good batting effort...

Your batsmen didn't even break a sweat, our bowling was very un-threatening.

 

[PokerAce]

Wow Zimbabwe going very well, in their chase of 274. Unless Zimbabwe collapse, they are in for a good win in the series. Granted NZ are not full strength but definitely not as weakened as India (who should really have been beaten).

If the Zimbabwe batsmen pull this off, this will be a great great win for Zimbabwe. Still plenty to go.