I don’t think the batting slump is acceptable: Vettori
New Zealand captain, Daniel Vettori lamented the poor display of his side’s batting against Pakistan in the fourth One Day International (ODI) at Napier.
“I think we walked off the park after batting thinking 300 was a par score...but being five for 80 at McLean Park (Napier), I don’t think that’s acceptable,” Vettori stated before pointing out that the pitch was a batsman deck.
The Black Caps fell to 79 for the loss of five wickets on a pitch that is favourable for batting. Vettori blasted a familiar top-order capitulation on a tour that has been laden with disappointing performances from their top five batsmen. The late middle-order
recovered with Brendon McCullum, Nathan McCullum, and James Franklin steering their team to a respectable total of 262 for the loss of seven wickets.
Franklin was the leading scorer for his side as he managed to score 62 runs off 75 balls, hitting seven boundaries. However, the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/New-Zealand-c754’s rotation policy. He was
recalled after opening batsman Jesse Ryder was ruled out of the game due to a finger injury, suffered in a domestic match.
Nathan reached his maiden half-century, remaining unbeaten at 53. But the Black Caps’ skipper stressed on the fact that the soft dismissals at the top-order is worrisome ahead of the World Cup.
“I was pleased with the way James and the two McCullums scrapped to give us a score...but five for 80 is just not good enough,” Vettori disappointingly added.
The total was not enough to keep Pakistan at bay as the men in green pulled off another nail-biting victory to lead the six-match series 2-1. Test captain, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Misbah-ul-Haq-c1972 smashed an unbeaten 93 off 91 balls and his innings served as a backbone for their successful
chase.
However, the Kiwis’ bowling attack and fielding efforts cannot be faulted as they restricted the touring party at 84 for the loss of three, as wickets kept on falling at regular intervals. The bowlers performed well on a relatively pancake-flat surface with
breakthroughs coming till the penultimate over of the game. Scott Styris lead the way as he claimed three wickets off 40 runs from nine overs. But Vettori’s reluctance to use all his overs backfired as the first three balls of the 48th over stamped
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755’s win.
However, Vettori remained confident that his team can bounce back in the last two games but added that individuals need to step up.
“...one individual performance wins the game. We need two of those to give ourselves a chance in Hamilton and http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Auckland-c766 (in the next two games),” Vettori added.
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