New Zealand have always been the underdogs when they have taken on South Africa, irrespective of the format and the venue. Things were no different when the teams met for the opening ODI of a new battle at the Bay Oval. And, the way the South Africans dominated the hosts in the opening one-dayer, it was a reiteration of the fact that precious little has changed in contests between the two over the years. New Zealand may have gotten the better of Asian giants like India and Pakistan at home, but against South Africa, they continue to struggle.
It is not difficult to figure out where New Zealand lost the match. They clearly did not put up enough runs on the board, batting first. The fact that your number seven makes 99, and yet your entire team is dismissed for a poor 230 demonstrates how poorly you have batted. They just never got going during their innings, and in the end it was the key reason for their easy loss. The bowlers fought hard, but all South Africa needed was one good partnership to get them home safely. The Proteas got the same, as a result of which, the win was a breeze in the end for South Africa.
New Zealand’s batsmen were guilty of not carrying on after getting into double figures. Batsmen are bound to fail, as Martin Guptill did at the top of the order, with his 5 from 29 balls. However, all the following four batsmen got into double figures. Jimmy Neesham made 16, Dean Brownlie 24, skipper Brendon McCullum 16 and Tom Latham contributed 29. These figures in itself prove that New Zealand could have done a lot better than what they eventually ended up with. In fact, if you take away last man Trent Boult’s contribution, they might not even have crossed the 200 mark.
The most significant effort obviously came from Luke Ronchi, who blasted 99. When the team is under pressure, it is very difficult to come up with such sizzlers, which is what makes Ronchi’s effort all the more praiseworthy. He definitely deserved better support from the rest of the batsmen though. Having said that, South Africa’s bowling was also top notch. Everyone chipped in to make it a complete bowling effort. The fact that all six bowlers used were among the wickets, and four of them claimed two wickets each, is ample proof of the kind of dominance they maintained over the Kiwis.
For the Kiwis to compete, they needed the bowlers to come up with something spectacular. Trent Boult delivered a highly probing spell, during which he claimed two big wickets. But, there was not much in the form of back up for him. South Africa, on the other hand, needed their experienced hands to stand up, and captain AB de Villiers and JP Duminy did the needful. In the end, New Zealand’s weaknesses stood exposed against a superior South African side.
--By A Cricket Analyst
