Dark days for Black Caps
Tuesday, October 19, 2010 : ODI
The cricket World Cup starts in less than three months and no team is in more disarray than New Zealand. The Black Caps have just suffered a 4-0 whitewash in Bangladesh, which leaves them in seventh place in the One Day rankings.
That heavy defeat at the hands of the Tigers was notable for other reasons. Those who bet on cricket regularly note that it was the first time Bangladesh won every match played in an ODI series against a Test-playing nation and cannot be written off as a one-off for New Zealand – they have won just two of their last eight series, against Pakistan and, in home conditions, Bangladesh.
This represents a sudden collapse of form for Daniel Vettori’s men. They were one of the most consistent ODI teams in 2008/09, beating England home and away, West Indies and, as a sign of how things have gone wrong, Bangladesh on their own patch. They also shared a high-quality five match series in Australia against the best team in the world.
Most concerning of all is the implications the Bangladesh reverses have on the Black Caps’ World Cup plans. Losing heavily at one of the impending World Cup venues suggests a change of direction is needed, but time is short to alter a team that is particularly short of form in the batting department.
Scoring freely is not easy on the low, slow Bangladesh turning wickets, but finding a way of break free of the spinners’ shackles will be the key to success when the tournament starts. Eoin Morgan showed how it is done in leading England to a series win in the country earlier in the year, but New Zealand’s own aggressive batsmen – Jesse Ryder and Brendon McCullum – are badly out of form.
New Zealand’s travails should not detract from Bangladesh’s achievement and cricket betting prices suggest their group rivals should be alert to the dangers they pose with home advantage.
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