Finisher trouble in New Zealand's T20I puzzle
The recently concluded T20I series between India and New Zealand was all about hits and misses. While Team India bagged all the hits, the misses were credited to the account of the hosts, leaving the end result to be negative.
A series that was supposed to be the groundwork for New Zealand aiming at the T20 World Cup ended up being all about Super Overs yet again. The main focus was shifted. A horror show that was supposed to be over like a bullet to the head, something you would only see in your darkest dreams, was brought back to life and resulted in brain damage. New Zealand, the brand ambassadors for Super Overs, are now in a state of coma. Precisely, the team has hit a low and are stuck in that morass. A major one. And what is the first step to tackling this situation, a defence mechanism rather?
It’s denial. And quite naturally, New Zealand were shocked to be in that position yet again. Like crossing paths with an estranged lover, Kane Williamson’s team had no idea how to handle that situation. So, they quickly skipped the next steps and took the submissive road. And who better than a broken heart would know that submission is nothing but defeat. And then comes bargaining wherein you keep convincing yourself that it’s not too bad (reality check: well, it’s worse). Meanwhile, the last remaining bit of wisdom helps you identify the real problem.
Hence, the brain backtracks from submission, through denial, to the focal point - the fact that New Zealand have no one to ‘finish’ games for them. Coming back to wisdom, Williamson made a very strong point that the best way to deal with Super Overs is to not arrive at that situation in the first place. “In my opinion, we shouldn’t have them [Super Overs],” the New Zealand skipper quipped, after they lost the third T20I, at Hamilton. For that, my friend, your team needs a finisher.
Williamson had produced his career-best knock, 48-ball 95, in the 180-run chase and almost completed the game. Almost. Just nine runs to win in the final over, with the team’s best batsmen at the crease, they only managed to level the score with India and lost both wickets. Meanwhile, an ideal top-order batsman Tim Seifert, who pushed down to No.6, hadn’t opened his account off the two balls he played after Williamson’s wicket. So the captain’s gone, the new man in is clueless and Ross Taylor - the seniormost player - is dismissed on the last ball. The entire team, while absolutely dominant throughout the game, looked like a bunch of idiots holding a piece of wood in the final stages.
Let me give you a recap to this insane level of choking yielded by the dearest Black Caps. The series opener at Eden Park, a proper high-scoring game, was almost equally fought between the two teams. India’s six-wicket win with an over remaining looked normal to the eyes of any spectator. India, bowling first, just took care of the bowling department only slightly better. The second game, at the same venue, New Zealand batted first again and had a rare bad day, while India secured a comfortable victory. When I mean rare, I genuinely mean a rare bad day since New Zealand, despite being deprived of Trent Boult and Lockie Ferguson, showed promise throughout the series. They were incredibly good in the third game and fourth games, and thus the Super Overs.
While it’s easy for people to joke about it, especially in this era that’s ruled by memes, the fact that New Zealand played two Super Over it simply means they were not an inch lesser than their opponents through most periods of the game. But what infuriates the fans is the fact the Kiwis were not just playing equal to the visitors, but were, in fact, the dominating team throughout a larger part of the game. Even in the final T20I, which New Zealand could have won in order to save face, the hosts came excruciatingly close to completing a rather easy chase. Yet again, they collapsed in the final over. So, in conclusion, the problem was never the build-up but the climax.
It’s not like New Zealand haven’t tried to fit in a finisher in their batting lineup. As already mentioned, they experimented with demoting Tim Seifert down the order while hoping Colin de Grandhomme would take care of the No.4 position. But look how that turned out. The big man, the prolific multitasker in the traditional formats of the game, must’ve been singing - “so let me go, I don’t wanna be your hero; I don’t wanna be your hero.” Well, he’s no KL Rahul! And Seifert is not a miracle worker like Manish Pandey. Only New Zealand can tell how lucky India are to seal the deal with Pandey! To be fair on Seifert, he has done well in the top-order and should remain there.
So, it’s established that Seifert is no Manish Pandey, and now that we have identified the ‘finisher’ hole it’s New Zealand start/finish their search for an ideal power hitter down the order. Assigning Seifert with the role was but lazy and a sheer lack of homework by the selectors. I’m sure the management did expect Mitchell Santner do some of the final run chasing bit too. But none of them are entitled finishers, are they? Perhaps, a Jimmy Neesham - whose finishing powers were unknown before the 2019 World Cup - would fit into this role. Frankly, it’s really a headache for the selectors, but it’s extremely important for the entire management to make his issue their primary focus with the WT20 just seven months away.
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