Three things: Williamson's class, Anderson's luck and Australia's impatience

In the days of bigger bats, power plays and fielding restrictions, One Dayers have become a game of high total versus higher total. On a bright day in Auckland, in a small bandbox of a stadium in Eden Park, Australia and New Zealand delivered a cracking thriller that had their fans in state of delirium and on the edge of their seats. A lot of cricket followers on Social Media say “Give me any day a low scoring cliff hanger over any of those batathons”. A lot of the times, the low scorers are due to the prevailing conditions on the pitch or from the clouds above. In Auckland, it was a benign pitch devoid of grass under a near cloudless sky. Let’s dig a little deeper in to the match and look for some reasons. Australia have declared for ages now that they want to play an aggressive brand of cricket. They have picked players in their side that suit that narrative and strategy, especially with the bat. With the inviting sight of short straight boundaries and a good pitch, Aaron Finch and David Warner looked to be batting as if they wanted to set New Zealand 400. [caption id=“attachment_2128395” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Williamson’s class was the difference between New Zealand and Australia. AFP[/caption] However, there was reasonable bounce in the wicket. Kiwi bowlers – Tim Southee and Trent Boult – have shown the ability to swing the new ball under any condition. Aussies ought to have respected that. Even as the openers got off to a blazing start, New Zealand made a quick breakthrough and tried to bring a sense of calm to the proceedings by introducing the cagey Daniel Vettori early. As Boult was brought back for a second spell, all hell broke loose. In a passage of play that can only be described as chaos, Aussie batsmen instead of digging in and playing percentage cricket, were still looking to take their chances. One would have thought with the spate of wickets, they would recalibrate their targets and adjust accordingly. It didn’t help their cause that one batsman who has shown that ability for Australia lately – George Bailey – was dropped from XI to make way for Michael Clarke. Clarke’s lack of game time showed in his scratchy 12 (off 18 balls) and the tame way he got out. As good as Australia have been coming in to the World Cup, and the impressive way they mauled England two weeks ago, there seem to be some frailty to the batting order that can be exploited by a good bowling line up. Similarly, New Zealand have been riding high in this tournament, making short work of England, Sri Lanka and Scotland. Their bowlers are fabulous. Their fielders make Spider-Man look positively lazy. However, there is a pre-determined way most of their batsmen approach their game, save for the supremely gifted Kane Williamson. What should have been an easy stroll in the park, especially after the explosive start by Brendon McCullum, became such a struggle, a life-long smoker would make climbing the mountain look easy in comparison. 78-1 became 79-4 and and 131-4 became 146-9. Corey Anderson should go out and buy a lottery ticket tonight. He might hit the jackppot. It’s still a mystery how he survived the probing spell from Starc. That allowed him to take full toll of a Mitchell Johnson over which allowed New Zealand the breathing space. Even then, it became quite close. Perhaps it was pressure. Perhaps it is a middle order that hasn’t had much game time in the middle due to their extraordinary bowling attack. Perhaps, they too can only play – like the Aussies earlier – in an aggressive fashion. Whatever the reason, their frailties when facing high quality fast bowling was exposed today. The only difference between the two teams in the final equation was the class of Williamson. Both sides will have to take stock of their batting line ups and reinforce them. Perhaps, the out of form Ross Taylor’s position needs to be looked at. Perhaps Australia need to find a way for Bailey to be in the XI. Though both teams contrived to give the fans an extraordinary match, they must be cognizant of their flaws. If they do address them, well, they could provide us with another classic when they meet, possibly, again in the knockout stage.