NZ vs SA | Takeaways - Tom Latham’s position behind the stumps and Lockie Ferguson’s importance to New Zealand

06/20/2019

South Africa and the Edgbaston heartbreak added one more chapter to the World Cup storyline as New Zealand, with a solid win over South Africa, ended the former's semi-final hopes once and for all. The game, however, provided a perspective to New Zealand on how to use your resources well.

How much did Tom Latham’s position cost New Zealand

As the World Cup returns to Edgbaston, almost 20 years after the day when Australia and South Africa played out probably the most epic ODI match of all-time, the excitement was in the air. It was a chance for South Africa to avenge the 2015 World Cup semi-final loss and probably, more than that, a chance to structure their already depleted campaign. For New Zealand, it was a chance to keep themselves in good stead and not let the matches against Pakistan and England become the deciding factor at the backend of the tournament.

While the way New Zealand started their innings put South Africa under pressure, one thing was really surprising was that Tom Latham’s reaction to his team’s bowling. The duo of Hashim Amla and Aiden Markram was not in their zone against Colin de Grandhomme's military medium pace and with Mitchell Santner turning the ball sharply for a change, it became difficult for them to break the shackles. For that, they adopted a little movement down the ground to cut short both turn and movement.

However, did Latham miss a trick by not standing up to the stumps to Colin de Grandhomme? Consider Markram’s case for example, as he looked to use the crease to cut down on de Grandhomme's angles, even walking down at the bowler. But Latham was stationing himself like he was keeping to Jofra Archer and taking the benefit of the same, Markram raced to a well-composed 38 and Amla scored a half-century.

Ferguson has become a real intelligent bowler

Lockie Ferguson’s emergence as New Zealand’s vital cog and partner-in-crime to Trent Boult has almost made everyone forget that Tim Southee is still a part of this World Cup. Ferguson added some lethal swing and bouncer to the line-up, which had made Boult very tiresome in the last few years.

Today, in a brilliant demonstration of what he got, Ferguson exemplified his grit and intelligence on back-to-back deliveries to Faf du Plessis. In the 14th over, Ferguson bowled a 149kmph bouncer to Faf, against which the African was fully in control. Looking that, Ferguson unleashed 148kmph delivery, and the difference was this one was a yorker which dipped under du Plessis' bat and shattered the stumps.

This was one of the many instances when Ferguson shuffled through his plans and unsettled batsmen with his wizardry display. It was a game that had some interesting U-turns and many mistakes, but Ferguson ensured that the team didn’t suffer any problem towards the end of the innings.

Should New Zealand try Henry Nicholls as an opener now

Most of Colin Munro’s reputation as an opener was built on his T20 form and the hope that he would do well in ODIs when the team required him to win. However, with each passing innings, the frustration is growing and Munro has gradually become a player increasingly difficult to watch. While it is also true that New Zealand are happy to have a smaller score from Munro because he's a more aggressive batsman who can help get the team those quick starts on which their strong middle order can then capitalise on, but is it actually helping them in the right direction?

Henry Nicholls, on the other hand, has done a decent job at the top while opening against India earlier this year. One school of thought has been his strike rate at the top of the order, which was a bit of a worry, but it shouldn’t be forgotten that he averages 35 as an opener, which almost nine higher than Munro and can be a big support to Guptill.

This needs a lot of thinking from the team management as they have put their trust on Munro for far too long and considering the form the team is in, will they actually make any changes to it? That is a matter worth a contemplation but Nicholls should make himself battle ready.