Yesterday, New Zealand decided to pick just three frontline bowlers.
With Tim Southee, Lockie Ferguson, and Ish Sodhi not available and thus it was up to Trent Boult, Matt Henry, and Mitchell Santner to do the job and let the rest float around them as backups.
Picking just 3 bowlers against the defending champions is madness but when you stick to the plan, they produce results.
The Kiwi bowlers started a tad rusty. Then, stuck to basics to stop the flow of runs to frustrate the English batsmen who were bustling with energy to hit everything. They forgot to graft an innings and the supportive acts responded with wickets during the important passages of play.
Glenn Phillips at one stage was taking a wicket every 3.5 balls.
But the drawback of the three-bowler tactics was Jimmy Neesham and Rachin Ravindra — Neesham’s first ball was a boundary, Rachin went for three in his first over, and consistently he bowled short.
Both of them were smashed and leaked runs — when it was failing, the front-liners stepped up.
The knuckleball of Trent Boult, discipline, and sharp pace of Henry and Santner’s exploitation of the deck sucked England’s vibe.
It was about juggling with your limited resources and Tom Latham was smart enough to do that.
Then, just two batsmen took the game away from England.
Devon Conway is becoming better with every match.
Devon Conway, who was born in South Africa, struggled to make an impression in his domestic career in South Africa as there was no clarity about his role — he batted as an opener, middle order, and even at number 7.
In 2017, when he was already 26 years old, Conway decided to get out of South Africa and try his luck somewhere else.
He could have chosen England as he had already played a few seasons there but he chose New Zealand just because his best friends are there.
He sold his car, property, and everything so that If he didn’t succeed in New Zealand there would not be any thoughts in mind to return to South Africa again.
Conway became a school coach which involves 6–7 hours per day of work along with his club cricket practice.
He took his time to settle there but soon after that, he was the top scorer in 5 out of 6 domestic tournaments in New Zealand.
And, then, a double ton on his Test debut, 152 not out on his Cricket World Cup debut — Devon Conway is owning the big occasions.
At the other end, there was Rachin Ravindra, a Bengaluru boy.
His father Ravi Krishnamurthy, a software architect, played club-level cricket in his hometown Bengaluru, before settling in New Zealand.
He is also the grandson of Dr. T.A. Balakrishna Adiga, a noted biology faculty who taught at Vijaya College and BASE, Basavanagudi.
Rachin has a strong connection with Indian cricket with his family roots in Bengaluru. His father named him after Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid.
But after watching Rachin bat, he gave me the impression of the legendary West Indies batsman Alvin Kallicharran — the drives and pull shots are almost close to Kallicharran and perhaps Rachin himself doesn’t realize this.
Conway and Rachin batted, batted, and batted — England bowlers just could not find an answer to Conway and Ravindra's composure and controlled aggression.
Their assured presence at the wicket and authority over
batting never let New Zealand feel the absence of Kane Williamson.
New Zealand has shown how to use the resources despite injuries to major players.
No complains. No drama. Just performance.
Thank You
Faisal Caesar
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