WI tour of NZ, 2008/09, 1st T201st Twenty20 - New Zealand vs West Indies, Eden Park, Auckland25-Dec-2008 15:30:00 IST
Auckland: New Zealand bowler Ewen Thompson has a
no-frills game plan ready if he gets the nod to make his
international cricket debut in the Twenty20 series against the West
Indies.
Thompson, who turned 29 last week, is the new face in the New
Zealand team to play Twenty20 matches in Auckland tomorrow and in
Hamilton on Sunday.
The Central Districts medium pacer agreed the shortened format is
a difficult place make an international debut but he had decided to
stay true to what had largely worked for him in all forms of
domestic cricket over the past two seasons.
New Zealnad's all-rounder Jacob Oram missed the drawn Test series
against the same opponents due to a calf strain and also sat out the
visit to Australia in November because of a back problem which had
forced his early return home from the tour of Bangladesh.
Coach Andy Moles, who took over from John Bracewell at the start
of the domestic season, is glad to have Oram available for the
Boxing Day encounter under the Eden Park floodlights.
After a drawn test series with the West Indies, he could sense
his New Zealand teammates were desperate for a 2-0 win in the
Twenty20s ahead of the five-match one-day series starting in
Queenstown on New Year's Eve.
Like test opening batsman Tim McIntosh this month, Thompson had
no qualms about making his international debut less than a year out
from his 30th birthday.
Of the present squads, only four from each side played in that
match -- Scott Styris, Brendon McCullum, James Franklin and Jeetan
Patel for New Zealand and Chris Gayle, Shivnarine Chanderpaul,
Denesh Ramdin and Jerome Taylor for the West Indies.
Only Twenty20 played between Newzealand and Westindies at same
ground ended with tied.
Highlights of the match
|
New Zealand |
West Indies |
| Coach |
Andy Moles |
John Dyson |
| ICC Ranking |
7 |
10 |
| Key Players |
Ross Taylor, Daniel Vettori, Jacob Oram, McCullum |
Ramnaresh Sarwan, Chris Gayle, Jerome Taylor, Xavier
Marshall |
| Stats and Trivia |
McCullum is New Zealand's most successful Twenty20 batsman.
In 16 games he has scored 323 runs at 23.07, at a strike-rate
of 120.07, with a best of 45. McCullum has never been out for
0 either. |
Gayle's ten sixes in what is the highest international
Twenty20 score, during game one of the ICC World Twenty20, is
the most for an individual innings. |
| Weather |
The Auckland forecast says partly cloudy, but by
the time the match starts the conditions should have cleared
up and a cool evening is on the cards. |
| Pitch |
The Eden Park pitch has traditionally suited
batting, not always providing the bowlers sharp bounce or
speed, and there could be more of the same for this Twenty20
outing. |
| Current Form |
LLLLL |
LLWLW (Most recent last) |
| Head to head |
Total 1, WI 0, NZ 0, Tied 1 |