NZ Story ICC 2008 Version(Normal)

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1st ODI vs India

NZ Innings
250/8 P Fulton 77, B McCullum 51no
H Singh 4-40, Z Khan 1-39

India Innings
221(46.1) S Tendulkar 68, V Laxman 45
J Franklin 4-46, S Bond 2-31

NZ win by 29 runs

We continued our winning one-day way with a solid performance against India. We batted first on a flat pitch and fast outfield and a big score looked likely. We were lucky to get to 250 in the end with Brendon McCullum hitting a run-a-ball 51no to boost the total. India's lack of batting depth was exposed after being in reasonable position. They lack a genuine all-rounder and that could cost them in this series.

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Both teams have named the same lineup for the 2nd ODI.

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2nd ODI vs India

NZ Innings
259/6 J Ryder 110no, P Fulton 71
Z Khan 2-45, P Kumar 1-48

India Innings
262/4(44) V Sehwag 69, V Laxman 63no
D Vettori 2-44, S Bond 1-52

India win by 6 wickets

We put in a similar performance to the first game with the bat and got a respectable score with Fulton and Ryder the standouts. India proved they don't need an all-roundr because their 6 batsman are still all world-class(except Karthik although he does seem good in this game). Sehwag came out blazing meaning the others only had to score at around 4 an over on an evenly paced pitch and they got there easy.

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We made 1 change with Horsley coming in for his debut match. India were unchanged.

3rd ODI vs India

India Innings
218/7 G Gambhir 72, I Pathan 51no
J Franklin 3-45, J Ryder 2-42

NZ Innings
219/5(44.2) R Taylor 65, J Ryder 48
I Pathan 2-40, H Singh 1-9

NZ win by 5 wickets

A tight bowling display has given us an excellent opportunity to win this series with Franklin, Ryder and Vettori all particularly impressive. We always had the chase under control despite early wobbles. Bring on the 4th game!

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I made 1 change for 4th game with Mills replacing Vettori as we are playing on a pitch suitable for pace bowling.

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4th ODI vs India

India Innings
234/9 K Karthik 77, R Dravid 47
S Bond 3-41, K Mills 3-48

NZ Innings
139 P Fulton 29, J Oram 27
P Kumar 4-19, Z Khan 4-30

India win by 95 runs

Not much to say here. I guess these games happen every now and again where your team just collapases into a heap. We will move on from this game and focus on the 5th and final game which will decide the series and is our final game of the season.

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Vettori replaced Mills and Robertson replaced Horsley

5th ODI vs India

India Innings
234/9 S Tendulkar 40, V Laxman 36
D Vettori 3-30, S Bond 2-42

NZ Innings
236/4(44.3) J Ryder 89no, R Taylor 85
P Kumar 1-38, P Chawla 1-48

NZ win by 6 wickets

Another fantastic win in a do-or-die match with Taylor and Ryder really standing up. Our ODI form has been fantastic this season and this really is the iceing on the cake. A full review of the year will occur soon as well as a full review off all NZ FC openers in our search to find the next Stephen Fleming.

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World Rankings

Test

Australia
South Africa
India
Pakistan
England
Sri Lanka
New Zealand
West Indies
Zimbabwe
Bangladesh

ODI

South Africa
Australia
New Zealand
Pakistan
West Indies
India
Sri Lanka
England
Zimbabwe
Bangladesh

Top 5 Test Batters

M Hayden
R Dravid
V Sehwag
M Hussey
R Ponting

Top 5 ODI Batters

J Ryder
P Jaques
A Cook
P Fulton
M Hussey

Top 5 Test Bowlers

M Johnson
S Clark
Z Khan
T Samaraweera
S Harmison

Top 5 ODI Bowlers

T Southee
S Bond
Z Khan
A Noffke
D Vettori

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NZ First Class Openers Top 12

Name(age) FC Stats

P Fulton(30) 5013 runs@ 43.22
N Horsley(28) 3069 runs@ 37.43
M Bell(32) 9906 runs@ 36.42
N Parlane(30) 4073 runs@ 35.73
D Broom(23) 573 runs@ 33.59
M Papps(29) 5553 runs@ 33.86
C Cachopa(22) 1108 runs@ 33.58
C Cumming(33) 6292 runs@ 33.29
J How(27) 4216 runs@ 33.20
S Stewart(26) 3202 runs@ 33.01
A Redmond(29) 3805 runs@ 30.93
J Marshall(30) 4939 runs@ 29.75

NZ One Day Openers Top 12

P Fulton 4064 runs@ 37.98
M Papps 3323 runs@ 36.92
J How 3187 runs@ 33.55
S Stewart 2385 runs@ 32.23
J Marshall 3713 runs@ 32.01
S Fairley(28) 541 runs@ 30.06
M Guptill(22) 885 runs@ 27.66
G Worker(19) 441 runs@ 27.56
M Bell 3888 runs@ 27.19
N Parlane 2500 runs@ 27.17
B Wilson 485 runs@ 26.94
A Redmond 2062 runs@ 25.15

Looking at these stats it is clear that Peter Fulton is the obvious choice as an opener. We still however need 2 more openers, 1 for Tests and 1 for ODIs.
Nick Horsley has the 2nd best FC stats and even after an indifferent start to his test career, he is worth persisting with as he is only 28. Cachopa and Broom are ones to look out for in the future while the other 7 only have to show good form next season. Cumming probably has one season left and Bell is fighting against the clock at the age of 32. For ODIs I believe How will be the right choice. He has an ODI average of close to 40 and even though he has been tried before he will be given another opportunity. Redmond and Marshall will be mediocre back ups. Worker and Guptill look like players for the future but we really need a high quality young opener to come through as we are lacking quality in this position.

Potential Test Players
P Fulton
N Horsley
N Parlane
D Broom

Potential ODI Players
P Fulton
A Redmond
J Marshall
G Worker
M Guptill

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2009/10 Season

Tour of India
2 Tests
3 ODIs

West Indies in NZ
3 Tests
1 T20
5 ODIs

Zimbabwe in NZ
2 Tests
3 ODIs

The quality and quantity of our schedule is less than last year with India to provide the biggest test. We will have a couple of new faces in the squad to be announced shortly. We desperately want to improve our test ranking while if we remain 3rd in ODIs at the end of this season I will be happy.

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Squad for Tour to India

Openers:
P Fulton
J How
N Horsley

Batsman:
C McMillan
R Taylor
I Robertson
G Hay
J Ryder

Wicketkeepers:
B McCullum
S Mills

All-rounders:
J Oram
J Franklin

Spinners:
D Vettori
J Patel

Pace Bowlers:
S Bond
K Mills
T Southee
I O'Brien

New members Stu Mills and Greg Hay get their opportunity with some excitement over the selection of Hay especially as he is 2nd on both One Day and First Class batting averages. Patel has been recalled as we may play 2 spinners on the turning tracks over here, although Robertsons part time offspin may prove good enough.

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We will play a shadow test lineup in our warm up game vs Karnataka:

P Fulton
N Horsley
I Robertson
J Ryder
C McMillan
J Oram
B McCullum(wk)
D Vettori
J Franklin
T Southee
S Bond

McMillan is under pressure to retain his place with Hay and Taylor breathing down his neck.

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Warm-Up Match vs Karnataka

Karn 1st Innings
232 B Chipli 68, K Pawan 60

NZ Innings
579/7dec C McMillan 167, P Fulton 144

Karn 2nd Innings
159/8 B Rowland 56
D Vettori 4-44, I Robertson 1-16

Match Drawn

A dominant display has seen us gain a large confidence boost from this warm up game. 3 batsman scored centuries and all bowlers took at least 2 wickets each. McMillan has responded fantastically to the pressure being put on him and he will get an opportunity in the 1st test to prove himself.

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We will retain the same lineup as the warm up game while India have also named their team:

V Sehwag
S Badrinath
V Laxman
S Tendulkar
R Dravid
G Gambhir
P Patel
I Malhotra
G Singh
S Dholpure
R Singh

A very different team to the one we lost to in the test series last season with 5 new faces. The bowling department especially has almost been completely changed with R Singh the only survivor. It is however a very strong side which will be tough to beat.

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1st Test vs India

NZ 1st Innings
298 J Ryder 68, I Robertson 58
S Dholpure 4-70, I Malhotra 3-111

India 1st Innings
217 P Patel 59no, V Sehwag 34
J Oram 5-52, J Franklin 2-54

NZ 2nd Innings
477/5dec P Fulton 218, N Horsley 103
I Malhotra 2-113, R Singh 1-113

India 2nd Innings
226 V Sehwag 40, V Laxman 37
T Southee 4-62, J Franklin 2-39

NZ win by 332 runs

This is my best performance to date with an absolute thrashing of India. We did get the rub of the green by winning the toss and batting first before they had to go out and bat and very cloudy skies but thats cricket. Oram bowled superbly to roll the Indians out before Fulton and Horsley did something I thought was illegal for a NZ cricket team to do. That is produce an opening partnership worth 241 runs. It was an outstanding effort and is really pleasing because i have put a lot of time in these openers. India then lost wickets at regular intervals to be rolled for under 250 for the 2nd time in the match.