New Zealand’s bowling woes continue to mar batting brilliance

New Zealand are terribly missing spearhead Trent Boult, who was ruled out from the remainder of the tour due to a back injury.

England pulled off a stunning victory in the fourth One-Day International (ODI) at Trent Bridge. The hosts managed to chase a 350-run target down, burying the ghosts from the previous game in the process, as they levelled the series 2-2. Amit Banerjee analyses the reasons for New Zealand’s defeat in the game and what they must focus on if they are to pull off a series win.

With the dust settling following England’s remarkable victory in the penultimate game of the five-match ODI series, one will get a clear picture of what really transpired at Nottingham. It was a brilliant show by the English batsmen with generous assistance from the hapless New Zealand bowling attack, who perhaps put up their worst bowling performance in a very long time. READ: New Zealand bowlers have to get their act together against England

Credit has to be given where it is due. Skipper Eoin Morgan has been in red-hot form throughout the series and his century only cemented his England career, especially his role as a key member of the batting line-up in ODIs. Take into picture the likes of Joe Root, Alex Hales, and Ben Stokes, and one can safely assume that it was England’s day to dominate with the bat.

Moving one’s focus over to the New Zealand camp, one will notice familiarities between their performances in the fourth game as well in the previous games. In fact, there has been a pattern in New Zealand’s performances in this series. Barring the opening clash, it has been about a strong batting performance and an opposite show by the bowling department. It was no different in the fourth game, with the bowlers appearing clueless for the most part. READ: ICC must come to rescue of bowlers as Eng vs NZ ODI series turns out to be a run-fest

There are not many fingers that can be pointed towards the batsmen. Martin Guptill (53) and Brendon McCullum (35) got the Black Caps off to a good start with an 88-run partnership. Following the pair’s departure, Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor joined forces once again, their partnership was this time yielding 101 runs. Add a brisk fifty by Grant Elliott (55*) and a blazing 19-ball 44 by Mitchell Santner, and the team was well positioned at a score of 349 for 7.

New Zealand’s bowling woes throughout the series, or even the whole tour for that matter, mean that even a 350-run target would not be a safe one to defend unless the opening bowlers managed to get the early wickets. That was not to happen, as Tim Southee and Ben Wheeler — who had a memorable debut with a haul of 3 for 63 in the third ODI — registered horror spells. England reached 100 for no loss at a run-rate of nearly 10. It helped build the platform for the hosts to glide towards the target in the latter overs. READ: England’s belated ODI embrace

While Matt Henry helped push England to the back foot for a brief bit by sending both the openers back to the pavilion within a couple of overs of each other, the momentum was lost shortly after as Morgan and Root eventually settled at the crease. The duo began to tear the opposition apart slowly, with Henry himself losing steam and ending with figures of 10-0-77-2. While Mitchell McClenaghan bowled a couple of decent overs during the batting powerplay, he had to endure yet another off day as he conceded 64 runs from eight overs without taking a wicket.

Southee, who bowled with venom in the third game to capture 3 for 44 runs, looked lacklustre. He got the wicket of Morgan at a stage where England were a couple of hits away from victory. The spinners were no better, with Santner and Williamson conceding 32 and 28 runs respectively from four overs. New Zealand skipper McCullum was left with a look of desperation on his face, though one wonders why he chose not to utilise Grant Elliott, who had exhibited some decent death-over bowling in the second one-dayer. One factor which might have played a role in England’s destruction of New Zealand was the wet outfield due to rain. This would have made it difficult for the bowlers to grip the ball. READ: England out-New Zealand the Black Caps

The New Zealand camp is terribly missing pace spearhead Trent Boult, who was ruled out from the remainder of the tour due to a back injury, and his absence has reflected in the poor performances of the past two games. There is little that the Black Caps can do about that; what they can do is focus on their current arsenal, and inspire them to give their best shot in the fifth game. One way to go about that would be for ‘Baz’ to elect to field first should he win the toss. This would allow the Kiwis to bowl without letting pressure get the better of them.

Let us also not ignore the fielding goof-ups that New Zealand committed. Though there were several instances of sharp fielding skills being displayed on the field, catches were dropped at key stages. Taylor’s miscalculation of a Joe Root edge stood out as especially catastrophic. While it is true that England were worse in this department, dropping twice as many chances as their opponents, this factor has to be kept in mind if New Zealand are to minimise their errors in the series decider. READ: England have finally woken up to modern cricket

The finale promises to be an action-packed one, and given the red-hot form that the batsmen from both teams are in at the moment, one can expect a tough battle for the series honours at Chester-le-Street. Both teams would want to learn from the mistakes they have committed in the last four games. To have a close encounter in the final, both batsmen and bowlers must make their presence felt.

(Amit Banerjee, a reporter at CricketCountry, takes keen interest in photography, travelling, technology, automobiles, food and, of course, cricket. He can be followed on Twitter via his handle @akb287)

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