NZ Story ICC 2008 Version(Normal)

[seanoc]

With the pitch forecast to spin Vettori has come back into consideration. His experience and reputation will be to tempting to resist and he will play instead of a 5th seamer. Fulton and Nevin also come into the side which lost the last test to England.

P Fulton
M Bell
R Taylor
J Ryder
C McMillan(c)
J Oram
C Nevin(wk)
D Vettori
K Mills
T Southee
I O'Brien

Chris Nevin will make his debut at test level.

The English are unchanged from the 2nd test and surprisingly are not playing a spinner on a pitch that will turn from day 1.

[seanoc]

3rd Test vs England

ENG 1st Innings
553 A Cook 140, M Prior 80
I O'Brien 4-126, J Oram 3-105

NZ 1st Innings
449 J Oram 118, C McMillan 108
S Harmison 3-57

ENG 2nd Innings
343/5dec A Strauss 85, M Prior 70no
T Southee 2-73

NZ 2nd Innings
399/6 D Vettori 112no, J Oram 108no
Hoggard 3-122

Match Drawn

A much improved performance, especially from the batsman as we toughed out a draw. Englands decision not to play a spinner came back to hurt them as they could not bowl us out in the last 4 sessions on a turning pitch. With 2 centuries and 4 wickets in the match, Jacob Oram carried us through this one with only McMillan and Vettori, who owed everyone following another terrible bowling effort, putting up a fight with the bat. Once again O'Brien was the leader with the ball ably supported by Southee. Not a bad result but the Poms win the series 2-0.

[seanoc]

We made 1 change for the beginning of the One Day leg of the tour against Worcestershire with Jeetan Patel replacing Vettori as the main spinner. Hopes are high that we can beat the Poms in the T20 and One Day series as limited overs matches are our stronger form.

[seanoc]

One Day Match vs Worcestershire

Worcs 1st Innings
151 J Knappett 35
J Patel 3-28, J Ryder 2-3

NZ 1st Innings
153/1 P Fulton 63no, M Bell 42

NZ win by 9 wickets.

A disciplined bowling performance lead to comfortable win with all bowlers getting a wicket. Patels performance was especially impressive and Ryder showed his all-round capabilities.

[seanoc]

We will keep the same XI as the warm up match with Patel given another opportunity to secure a spot above Vettori.

P Fulton
M Bell
R Taylor
J Ryder
C McMillan(c)
J Oram
C Nevin(wk)
K Mills
T Southee
J Patel
I O'Brien

[Chewie]

It's rather nice reading these stories, especially when they're about New Zealand

Keep up the good work

[seanoc]

International T20 vs England

ENG Innings
110/8(20)O Shah 35
I O'Brien 3-20

NZ Innings
111/5(19.1) R Taylor 30
M Panesar 2-19

NZ win by 5 wickets

A comprehensive win with O'Brien once again leading from the front. With 2 wins in a row this XI will be maintained for the first ODI vs England in 3 days time.

[seanoc]

It's rather nice reading these stories, especially when they're about New Zealand

Keep up the good work

Thanks very much i will do my best and I am planning to go to at least the 2011 World Cup. NZ is tough to play with but is very rewarding when you win.

[seanoc]

1st ODI vs England

ENG Innings
250/9(50) O Shah 64, A Cook 47
T Southee 4-36, K Mills 2-36.

NZ Innings
204/8(50) J Ryder 96
R Sidebottom 4-24

England win by 46 runs

England were just to good for us in this match with Cook and Shah anchoring a solid total. We were on track for a while until Sidebottom came back for his 2nd spell and took 3 wickets in 4 overs for 5 runs and dashed any hopes we had of winning. Young guns Southee and Ryder put up impressive displays and will be interesting to see if they can back that up in the next game. Nevin is now on thin ice as he is looking a little out of his depth at this level and at 32, this might be his last opportunity.

[seanoc]

2nd ODI vs England

NZ Innings
270/6(50) C McMillan 67, R Taylor 49
S Broad 3-64

ENG Innings
271/3(47.3) A Cook 148no, A Strauss 71
K Mills 3-55

England win by 7 wickets

Once again England were too good and even though through McMillan and Taylor we put pressure on them by posting a good score, Cook and Strauss put their hands up and led an exemplary chase. Cook in particular was outstanding and showed everyone why he is touted as a future star of the game. Is is back to the drawing board for me with the changes likely to occur, especially in the bowling department

[seanoc]

We made 3 changes for the 3rd ODI with the 3 big guns in NZ cricket, Bond, Vettori and McCullum coming back in for O'Brien, Patel and Nevin respectively. O'Brien produced some outstanding performances in the tests, but it appears he may be a test specialist having got 0 wickets in 2 games. Patel has been disappointing after a promising start while Nevin is out of his depth at this level and won't feature at this level again.

P Fulton
M Bell
R Taylor
J Ryder
C McMillan(c)
J Oram
B McCullum(wk)
D Vettori
K Mills
T Southee
S Bond

[seanoc]

3rd ODI vs England

NZ Innings
269/6(50) J Ryder 101, P Fulton 44
J Anderson 3-63

ENG Innings
268/9(50) A Cook 69, A Strauss 48
T Southee 5-55, D Vettori 4-48

NZ win by 1 run

A cool head under pressure has won us this thrilling encounter with Tim Southee the hero. In his last 5 overs he got 5 wickets to put the brakes on the English and secure victory. In the 1st innings Ryder hit 101 to set up a competitve score but Southee's outstanding spell was still the catalyst for the victory. It is great to see the young guns stepping up in a must win game. Also good to see Vettori back in the wickets and McCullum also scored 31no which is a huge plus.

[seanoc]

Just the 1 change for the must win 4th ODI with Jamie How replacing the disapointing Mathew Bell. Jacob Oram is on thin ice with only 1 wicket in 3 games @ 137.00.

[seanoc]

4th ODI vs England

NZ Innings
284/4(50) J Ryder 82no, R Taylor 56
R Sidebottom 1-57

ENG Innings
147(50) A Cook 47
K Mills 3-24, D Vettori 3-30, J Oram 3-48

NZ win by 137 runs

A perfect performance when we needed it most! We dominated with the bat after a slow start, really piling the runs on in the last 20 overs. In reply England started slowly and fell behind the required run rate early. Oram then came on in the 11th over and took 3 quick wickets and they collapsed like a good English side does. Vettori and Mills also put in confidence boosting performances with the ball. 2 all with it all on the line game 5

[seanoc]

We are going into the 5th and final game of the series and tour with the same lineup. Fingers crossed eh!

P Fulton
J How
R Taylor
J Ryder
C McMillan(c)
J Oram
B McCullum(wk)
D Vettori
K Mills
T Southee
S Bond