No; we're not referring to the weather, which in many parts of the land has been somewhat less than golden. We're talking about the Black Caps, and in particular, of Martin Guptill.
Since losing to Australia in Brisbane in early December, the Black Caps have gone on a winning run. Test victories against Australia and Zimbabwe were followed by three ODI and two T-20 wins against the Zimbabweans, and now a T-20 win against a much more competitive South African side. It's been some time since the New Zealanders have enjoyed a winning run like that, which now stands at eight matches.
And at the centre of it has been Martin Guptill. The opening batsman has been in magnificent touch in the last month. He scored 51 in an opening stand of over 100 against Zimbabwe in the test match at Napier, followed up by scores of 70, 77 and 85 in the ODI's, and 91* in the T-20 match in Auckland last weekend. And last night, he anchored the New Zealand chase with an unbeaten 78 not out looking far and away the best batsman in the match.
And the most impressive thing about Guptill's form in the short version of the game is that he is playing genuine cricket shots, hitting straight down the ground, or powerfully through the leg side. Two of his pull shots last night will live long in the memory. South African left-armer Lonwabo Tsotsobe was the victim, the first six disappearing twenty or so rows back into the crowd, then one of the biggest sixes we've seen for a while hitting the stadium's roofline.
It was a clinical performance from the Black Caps last night in front of an excellent crowd at the Cake Tin. As we noted yesterday, winning becomes a habit, and the Black Caps certainly have developed a good one! Sure, it was "only" a T-20 match, but it gives them an immediate advantage over a very good South African team. They bowled and fielded well last night with Guptill also to the fore, and the chase was timed perfectly.
If South Africa expected their opponents to lie down, they got a rude shock last night. We've been looking forward to this tour for some time, and we reckon that, weather permitting, we're in for a cricketing feast between now and the end of March.
1 comments:
Lets hope the Black Caps can win enough of the T20s to seriously challenge England's Number 1 ranking in T20s! Do you know how the ICC rankings work and what they'd have to do to take England's ranking off them? I assume winning this T20 series is not enough.
Let's also hope that the Black Caps win the series for all 3 forms of the game, especially test cricket. I think the Proteas are going to be especially hard to play in the tests, not just because they will have adapted to NZ conditions by then, but because they will be even more motivated as they will want to whitewash us 3-0 so they can take the number 1 test ranking.
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