 The second T20I between New Zealand and Australia will be played
on Sunday at Christchurch. The Aussies easily won the first game by a margin of
six wickets and with four overs to spare and they will look to make it 2-0 and
19 wins out of a possible 21 games that they have played this summer.
The biggest issue for the Kiwis was their batting, much in the same manner
as the West Indian and Pakistanis faced while facing up to the Aussie quicks.
Not too many bowling line-ups in the world can boast of bowlers who can consistently
bowl at speeds of more than 150 km/hr and in Shaun Tait and Dirk Nannes,
the Aussies have two.
Click Here to Watch New Zealand vs Australia LiveAnd it is not only the pair above, but also the likes of Mitchell Johnson,
who ended with three wickets who can make the ball talk and make life miserable
for the opposition which the Kiwis found in the game. This is a lesson that
the New Zealand batsmen will need to take from the Wellington game, as Christchurch
could offer much more pace for the bowlers, and hence, make life difficult for
the Kiwi batsmen.
While the hosts may not want to panic so quickly, they will have to come out
with a strategy against the Aussie bowlers - probably to see through the opening
spell and go after the rest of the bowling which is perceptibly not as strong
as Tait, Nannes and Johnson.
For the Aussies, they will know that such a possibility could exist, and it
would be wonderful to see if they have any strategy to overcome such an eventuality.
After all, the bowlers of the likes of Steven Smith and Dan Christian
have not really been tested too much by the opposition, and they will look to
get the backup staff to get the job done as well.
The Kiwis, on the other hand, have a relatively inexperienced batting line-up,
and if one could daresay, a weak one as well. With James Franklin coming
in so high up the order, one gets the feeling that the Kiwis could look at getting
in another specialist batsman and try to get the batting a trifle more strong.
Especially given that Franklin does not bowl these days too much and hence he
is playing as a pure batsman and not an all-rounder.
The Kiwis could also think of getting Jacob Oram up the order in order
to give him more opportunity for him to bat. A score of 150 looks a must for
the Kiwis to win the game.
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