Killer Kiwis - A NZ Story

[CyberCricketer]

NOTE: This will be my first attempt at playing an international career on Normal, so I will learning as I go. Without further ado, let the story begin...

The 2009 international cricket season is well under way, but New Zealand have had to wait until the Twenty20 World Cup in England to face up against foreign foes.

The 15-man squad to contest the World Cup is as follows:

[CyberCricketer]

Twenty20 World Cup - Group Stage - New Zealand vs Scotland

New Zealand's first match of the T20 World Cup was against ICC Associate member Scotland. It was an overcast day, the pitch was excellent for batting but the outfield was as slow as a snail.

The starting XI for New Zealand (listed in batting order) was:

1. Brendon McCullum (keeper)
2. Martin Guptill
3. Jesse Ryder
4. Ross Taylor
5. Jacob Oram
6. Lou Vincent
7. Neil Broom
8. James Franklin
9. Daniel Vettori
10. Shane Bond
11. Iain O'Brien

Scotland won the toss and put New Zealand in to bat.

McCullum and Guptill started very aggressively, negating the slow outfield by going over the top. In the third over, Scotland's C. Wright struck, removing McCullum. Two balls later, Guptill was foolishly run out. No.3 Ryder managed only 7, edging an C. Wright delivery to first slip. New Zealand were limping slightly at 40-3, but Ross Taylor and Jacob Oram combined for a somewhat sedate (by T20 terms) 75-run partnrship, before Taylor was trapped LBW by M. Haq. New Zealand lost no more wickets, with No.6 Vincent adding a stylish 26 with Oram, who finished unbeaten on 60. New Zealand reached 20 overs on 160-4.

Shane Bond and Iain O'Brien opened the bowling for New Zealand, with Bond clean-bowling Scottish opener K. Coetzer for 7. O'Brien removed Coetzer's fellow opener F. Watts for 16, followed by No. 3 N. McCallum for just 1. After the fourth over, Bond was replaced by James Franklin, who's left-arm pace would create a more difficult angle for the two right-handers at the crease. He cleaned up R. Watson quickly, and in the sixth over Jacob Oram took two scalps. Skipper Daniel Vettori introduced himself late but claimed a pair of wickets to finish off the stranded Scots for just 63.



It was a very convincing start to New Zealand's T20 World Cup campaign in every department, and the same team will be kept for the second group match, against South Africa.

[Imager36]

Good luck, New Zealand have always been one of the hardest in-game challenges!

[dontask]

i played as sri lanka and i hammered new zealand in every match i played against them. so i wish u good luck for your career and for the series in sri lanka after the world cup

[ab5ides1]

i started a normal career with them and got to the super eights of the t20 world cup before being smashed 3-0 by sri lanka in some very one-sided tests and am currently 1-1 after 2 odi's so i hope u do better than me.

[CyberCricketer]

Twenty20 World Cup - Group Match - New Zealand vs South Africa

The conditions for New Zealand's second fixture were much the same as the first, the only major difference being that there was a little more sunshine.

The same team that dominated Scotland was kept for this match, though players who didn't perform in the first game were expected to here.

New Zealand won the toss this time and opted to bat in the favourable weather.

McCullum and Guptill made a cautious start because Dale Steyn was bowling the first over, but accelerated against Kallis in the second. However, Guptill mishit the last ball of Kallis's over and was out for 4 off 8 balls. In the third over, McCullum, who had raced to 24, was clean-bowled by Steyn. He was replaced by Ross Taylor who immediately edged the ball through to Boucher for a golden duck. There was little resistance from anyone after that, with only Neil Broom (28) keeping the scoreboard ticking. New Zealand could not maintain a decent run rate as they frequently lost wickets, and were bowled out for a poor total of 103.

Despite such a small total on the board, New Zealand succeeded in keeping things tight most of the way through the South African chase. New Zealand captain Vettori brought himself on early and was rewarded with the wickets of opener JP Duminy (16) and AB de Villiers (5), whilst Bond and O'Brien both went for only 23 runs in their four overs. The introduction of Jesse Ryder and James Franklin into the attack destroyed any hope of victory, as they were both milked for boundaries. South Africa surpassed the New Zealand total in the 17th over.



New Zealand and South Africa progressed to the Super Eight stage of the T20World Cup while Scotland was knocked out. New Zealand was placed in a group with Australia, England and India while the other group contained Ireland, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and of course South Africa.

New Zealand now had to face three very tough opponents in order to reach the semi-finals, the first of which was to be England.

[Chasjs]

Good luck, New Zealand have always been one of the hardest in-game challenges!

I'm currently having a little stab at NZ. It's tough but I think they have fair few good young batsmen like Worker, Ravel, Williamson, the de Brooder brothers and the Broom brothers.

My current Test side is:
Fulton
D Broom
Guptil
Ryder
N Broom
Taylor
McCullum
Oram
Vettori
Bond
Southee

I'm currently 1-0 up in the Away Series in Pakistan with one to play. I did get completely whitewashed by Sri Lanka.

Originally I opened with Fulton and Macintosh with Guptil in at 3 but have since dropped Macintosh in favour of D Broom. N Broom plays at 5 in a similar role to that I usually give my number 5, be it Chilton for Lancs or Collingwood for England as he is a slightly more defensive batsmen. His main job is to hold one end steady to prevent a batting collapse.

Southee looks good and I've also looked at Shaw (RMF) and Boult (LMF) who have played well so far domestically. Bond, Vettori and Oram (He's even hit a 155 to prevent an embarrassing collapse in the first Test vs Pakistan) simply have to play and Ryder is used as a part time 5th bowler with Taylor being the occasional second spin option.