Colin de Grandhomme, New Zealand all-rounder, World Cup 2019 player full profile: De Grandhomme's versatility makes him a match-winner

Colin de Grandhomme moved from Zimbabwe to New Zealand as a young man and quickly started turning heads with his power hitting. Some of the stories include a ball being hit onto the motorway overbridge from Victoria Park, into the University carpark from Colin Maiden Park and into the North Stand of Eden Park’s main oval while playing on Eden Park’s outer oval. But along with the power, de Grandhomme started also getting attention for his heady bowling. Despite not being particularly quick, he started picking up wickets regularly and doing it frugally. His pace was slow enough so he had to find other ways to get batsmen out, which led to him being capable of swinging the ball both ways and regular hitting the seam. That was most evident on his Test debut, where he destroyed Pakistan’s top order with a spell of 6/41 that included four of the top six batsmen. In ODI cricket, he has not been as incisive with the ball, averaging over 50 with the ball in the past 2 years, but he has been economical, going at less than 5 runs per over (the seventh best economy rate of any pace bowler to have bowled at least 80 overs to top teams in that time) . With the bat he’s had a couple of big performances, but (like most lower order big hitters) has been inconsistent, scoring 30+ at a strike rate of 100 or more in only one-third of his innings. This isn’t as high as the New Zealand fans might like but it’s still more frequent than most similar players (Marcus Stoinis 19 percent, Glenn Maxwell 31 percent, Kieron Pollard 19 percent, Andile Phehlukwayo 8 percent, Chris Woakes 11 percent). His two roles are quite different in the match, a steady, consistent and defensive bowler and an explosive, inconsistent and attacking batsman, but if he comes off with both of them, he could win a number of matches for New Zealand. For all the latest news, opinions and analysis from ICC Cricket World Cup 2019, click here