Review of New Zealand’s performance in the ICC World Cup 2011
No one gave a chance to the New Zealand team before the start of the ICC World Cup 2011, but they went on to play the semi-final of the mega event against all the odds. The last eight months have not been very fruitful for Kiwi cricket, as they faced a humiliating
defeat in http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750 and Pakistan as well.
The Kiwis raised their game in the showpiece event and performed above their expectations. They finished at the fourth position after the group stage with eight points in six matches. Daniel Vettori and company won comprehensively against the smaller teams
like http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Green-c60723 finished at the top of group A.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/South-Africa-c757. No cricket pundit was rating
New Zealand in their knock-out encounter against the Proteas, but they went on to qualify for the semi-finals by thrashing Graeme http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Smith-c90598 and company out of the competition.
The Kiwis heavily rely on Ross http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Taylor-c92915, as he is by far their best batsman in all formats of the game. Although he was lucky in his initial half of the innings against Pakistan, but went on to showcase his talent and class at the lower part of the innings
when he regularly struck http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Abdul-Razzaq-c41623 out of the park.
Taylor is a naturally gifted batsman with an amazing eye-hand coordination, but unfortunately he has not been consistent enough for the Black Caps since the last one year. Brendon McCullum is a true match-winner, but just like Taylor, he is not able to perform
consistently for his country which is expected of him being a senior player.
However, the biggest positive for the New Zealanders was the performances of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Martin-c74834 Guptill and Jesse Ryder in big matches. Both are still young and can serve Kiwi cricket for many more years to come.
Tim Southee was the pick of the bowlers for New Zealand in the mega event, as he finished at number three in the top wicket takers list in the World Cup with 18 scalps in eight matches. He proved that he has the ability to perform on batting pitches as well
and does not need cloudy conditions all the time to trouble the batsmen.
The Black Caps heavily rely on their captain Daniel Vettori, but he struggled with fitness throughout the tournament as he twisted his knee during fielding against Pakistan. He has resigned from captaincy of the national team and announced retirement from
international T20 cricket.
New Zealand cricket has gone through a dark period in last six months, but the young pool of players has shown promise in the World Cup. Let us hope that these guys can take New Zealand cricket forward and become a more competitive unit in the future.
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