I was tempted to name the post "Kiwis survive the scare" but despite what happened today, I am still not convinced that the Kiwis were in any trouble. Thus I decided for a moderate title "It is two on the trot for the Kiwis".
When Scotland was put to bat by McCullum after winning the toss, Scotland had a start that they would like to forget. What we witnessed was excellent spells of swing bowling from Trent Boult and Tim Southee. The first over was a maiden from Southee followed by Boult who took two wickets (MacLeod and Gardiner) on consecutive balls and finally finished the over with 1/2 and that was the score of Scotland too then. Since Boult was on hat-trick, McCullum stationed five slips and a gully. Boult did not get a hat-trick but the attacking field remained in place for the rest of the over.
In the fifth over, it was Southee's turn. Southee was on a hat-trick, dismissing Kyle Coetzer and skipper Preston Mommsen on the first two balls. However he also could not get a hat-trick. At this stage, Scotland had slumped to 12 for 4 against some exceptional bowling. If not the lowest total of the world cup (36), Scotland's lowest total in world cup (68) seemed to be under threat. Southee finished his first spell at 5-3-11-2 whereas Boult finished his first and the only spell at 6-1-21-2.
At this point of time Richie Berrington joined Matt Machan at the crease. The ball was doing fair bit at this point of time. They showed excellent skill and courage to negotiate that initial movement and once the extent of movement slowly decreased, Machan and Berrington settled in.
Slow and steady, they reached 60/4 at the end of 20 overs. The first fifty had come in 101 balls and the second took only 59. A competitive total was on the cards when Matt Machan and Richie Berrington added 97 runs for the fifth wicket. In this process, Machan reached his 50. But that was not to be. McCullum seeing the game drift away brought in Corey Anderson to bowl. The change worked and in close succession both the batsmen departed to Anderson's short balls.
Matt Machan had scored 56 and Richie Berrington 50 before they got out. This was the first instance of two Scotland batsmen crossing 50 in the same World Cup game. These were the only two 50+ scores in this match. Their 97 runs stand was also the lone 50+ partnership in this match.
As soon as these two departed, the Scotland innings folded in 36.2 overs scoring a meager 142 which meant they lost their final six wickets for just 33 runs. There were 5 ducks in that innings of which 4 were golden ducks. This was the first instances in the world cup history when there had been 4 golden ducks in one innings. Both Anderson and Vettori finished with 3 wickets each. Vettori was the third bowler who was on a hat-trick in this game but did not have a batsman to come in to complete it, so he is still on hat-trick.
With the batting line up that New Zealand has, a target of 143 was never going to test them. Such a modest target and that too against a not much fancied team offered an opportunity to boost their net run rate. I believe that is what they would have had in their mind when they began their chase. But chasing out a small total is always a little bit tricky affair in that mindset. It might be that all these factors changed the way they would have normally approached the chase. As a result, they made the chase unnecessarily interesting and to say the least made a mess of it.
In the end, New Zealand wrapped up the win with more than half their overs remaining but they lost too many wickets to their liking in their chase, seven to be precise. More than the number of wickets, it was the way they lost those wickets. If it was not arrogance, it was recklessness in the way they approached their chase. For Scotland, Kiwi's approach meant more opportunity for them to pick wickets and that is what they did.
In spite of all those wickets, it cannot be really said that the Scots dented the host's chase. If the wickets were falling in regular intervals, so were the runs being scored freely. Scotland could have had New Zealand under slight pressure had they picked their chances. When Kiwis were at 22 for 2, Brendon McCullum's catch was dropped by Hamish Gardiner. They spilled another opportunity later in the innings when Corey Anderson was dropped by Iain Wardlaw, with the score on 119 for 5. If this catch was held, it could have been a huge moment for the Scots and the match itself. Though New Zealand were losing wickets on regular interval, they never lost sight of the target at any point of time and that might have encouraged the way they progressed.
Scotland have looked spirited throughout their defense of the modest target but they would have realized that they would need much more than that to beat the top teams in their group. New Zealand on the other hand made it two on the trot, but for sure looked vulnerable in their chase. It is very difficult though to conclude if their batting is really vulnerable or was it just a one off reckless display of batsmanship. Only time will tell.
When Scotland was put to bat by McCullum after winning the toss, Scotland had a start that they would like to forget. What we witnessed was excellent spells of swing bowling from Trent Boult and Tim Southee. The first over was a maiden from Southee followed by Boult who took two wickets (MacLeod and Gardiner) on consecutive balls and finally finished the over with 1/2 and that was the score of Scotland too then. Since Boult was on hat-trick, McCullum stationed five slips and a gully. Boult did not get a hat-trick but the attacking field remained in place for the rest of the over.
In the fifth over, it was Southee's turn. Southee was on a hat-trick, dismissing Kyle Coetzer and skipper Preston Mommsen on the first two balls. However he also could not get a hat-trick. At this stage, Scotland had slumped to 12 for 4 against some exceptional bowling. If not the lowest total of the world cup (36), Scotland's lowest total in world cup (68) seemed to be under threat. Southee finished his first spell at 5-3-11-2 whereas Boult finished his first and the only spell at 6-1-21-2.
At this point of time Richie Berrington joined Matt Machan at the crease. The ball was doing fair bit at this point of time. They showed excellent skill and courage to negotiate that initial movement and once the extent of movement slowly decreased, Machan and Berrington settled in.
Slow and steady, they reached 60/4 at the end of 20 overs. The first fifty had come in 101 balls and the second took only 59. A competitive total was on the cards when Matt Machan and Richie Berrington added 97 runs for the fifth wicket. In this process, Machan reached his 50. But that was not to be. McCullum seeing the game drift away brought in Corey Anderson to bowl. The change worked and in close succession both the batsmen departed to Anderson's short balls.
Matt Machan had scored 56 and Richie Berrington 50 before they got out. This was the first instance of two Scotland batsmen crossing 50 in the same World Cup game. These were the only two 50+ scores in this match. Their 97 runs stand was also the lone 50+ partnership in this match.
As soon as these two departed, the Scotland innings folded in 36.2 overs scoring a meager 142 which meant they lost their final six wickets for just 33 runs. There were 5 ducks in that innings of which 4 were golden ducks. This was the first instances in the world cup history when there had been 4 golden ducks in one innings. Both Anderson and Vettori finished with 3 wickets each. Vettori was the third bowler who was on a hat-trick in this game but did not have a batsman to come in to complete it, so he is still on hat-trick.
With the batting line up that New Zealand has, a target of 143 was never going to test them. Such a modest target and that too against a not much fancied team offered an opportunity to boost their net run rate. I believe that is what they would have had in their mind when they began their chase. But chasing out a small total is always a little bit tricky affair in that mindset. It might be that all these factors changed the way they would have normally approached the chase. As a result, they made the chase unnecessarily interesting and to say the least made a mess of it.
In the end, New Zealand wrapped up the win with more than half their overs remaining but they lost too many wickets to their liking in their chase, seven to be precise. More than the number of wickets, it was the way they lost those wickets. If it was not arrogance, it was recklessness in the way they approached their chase. For Scotland, Kiwi's approach meant more opportunity for them to pick wickets and that is what they did.
In spite of all those wickets, it cannot be really said that the Scots dented the host's chase. If the wickets were falling in regular intervals, so were the runs being scored freely. Scotland could have had New Zealand under slight pressure had they picked their chances. When Kiwis were at 22 for 2, Brendon McCullum's catch was dropped by Hamish Gardiner. They spilled another opportunity later in the innings when Corey Anderson was dropped by Iain Wardlaw, with the score on 119 for 5. If this catch was held, it could have been a huge moment for the Scots and the match itself. Though New Zealand were losing wickets on regular interval, they never lost sight of the target at any point of time and that might have encouraged the way they progressed.
Scotland have looked spirited throughout their defense of the modest target but they would have realized that they would need much more than that to beat the top teams in their group. New Zealand on the other hand made it two on the trot, but for sure looked vulnerable in their chase. It is very difficult though to conclude if their batting is really vulnerable or was it just a one off reckless display of batsmanship. Only time will tell.
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