New Zealand’s first series following the end of their World Cup campaign where they finished as runners-up saw them fall to a disappointing 3-0 defeat to hosts India.
The series, which started just three days after the World Cup final, was held in front of packed crowds in India who saw their nation win all three games by comfortable margins. Despite this, there were still a number of good performances from the New Zealand players. Below are our ratings for New Zealand’s individual performances this series.
Martin Guptill: 8.5/10
152 runs @ 50.66, SR 163.44
This series saw Guptill become the leading run scorer in men’s T20I cricket. Not only that but he put in three consecutive performances of high quality batting scoring 70 off 42 balls in the first game, 31 off 15 in the second and 51 off 36 in the third. An excellent series for the New Zealand opener.
Daryl Mitchell: 3/10
36 runs @ 12, SR 102.85
Mitchell was unable to carry his excellent form in the World Cup into this series and was clean bowled first ball in the opening match by a stunning bit of bowling by Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Following that he struggled for his 31 off 28 in the second match before falling for just five in the final game. With the ball, the only over he was asked to bowl all series was the final over of the first T20I where unfortunately he was unable to defend the 10 runs India needed to win.
Mark Chapman: 5/10
84 runs @ 28, SR 121.73
Started strongly with 63 off 50 balls however was unable to kick on from there with a slow 21 and a duck to follow. Still, his half-century was his first in T20I cricket for New Zealand and will no doubt provide him with the confidence that he can kick on and perform at this level.
Glenn Phillips: 5/10
34 runs @ 11.33, SR 121.42
Two ducks combined with a 34 off 21 for Phillips display the volatility of the T20 format more than anything. Add in his excellent boundary fielding and you could argue it was a par for the course series for the middle-order batter. Whilst he won’t be pleased with his performances, neither should he be too down about them either.
Tim Seifert: 3/10
42 runs @ 14.00, SR 95.45
12 off 11. 13 off 15. 17 off 18. A 3/10 feels cruel as had Seifert capitalised on any one of his three starts then the conversation over his series would be very different. But he didn’t, so it isn’t.
Jimmy Neesham: 1/10
6 runs @ 3, SR 31.57
This does not in any way mean that Neesham is a bad player. But it does mean he’s had two write-off games. In his two innings he scored 3 off 12 first time around and then 3 off 7 the next. He also only bowled two balls in the series which both went for six. Don’t forget that less than two weeks ago Neesham blasted his country into a World Cup final. S**t happens. Onto the next.
Mitchell Santner: 6/10
14 runs @ 14, SR 82.35, 4 wkts@ 19.75, Econ 6.58
A meh series with the bat but a very good series with the ball levels this out to a 6/10. In the absence of Williamson and Southee, Santner also captained the side in the final fixture.
Adam Milne: 2/10
1 wkt @ 86.00, Econ 12.28
Yeah, ouch. Two outings with the ball where the first saw his three overs go for 39 and the second seeing his four overs go for 47. Two games where he’s got a bit of tap unfortunately sees a low rating for Milne this time around.
Ish Sodhi: 5/10
1 wkt @ 44, Econ 7.33
Just the one wicket but two competent and economical performances with the ball. His spectacular caught and bowled to take the wicket of Rohit Sharma the obvious highlight.
Trent Boult: 5.5/10
3 wkts @ 32.66, Econ 8.16
Two good and one below average performance for Boult sees this level out to a 5.5/10. Nothing spectacularly good or bad to comment on although his knuckle ball to dismiss Venkatesh Iyer in the third match was an excellent piece of bowling.
Lockie Ferguson: 5/10
1 wkt @ 69, Econ 8.62
One good match (0-24) and one bad match (1-45). Ferguson is undoubtedly a high-class T20 bowler and it was a real boost for the Kiwi’s to see him back fit following his injury in the World Cup.
Tim Southee: 6.5/10
4 wkts @ 14.00, Econ 7.00
Those numbers may suggest that a 6.5 is harsh. But they are factoring in that Southee paired together one exceptional performance (3-16) with a below par one (0-40). Had those same final stats been produced from two matches of 2-28 then we’d be talking 7s.
Rachin Ravindra & Todd Astle: N/A
Just the one performance in the series for each. Ravindra scored 7 off 8 whilst Todd Astle’s three overs in the first match of the series went for 34 runs before Ish Sodhi took his place back in the side. Hard to critique either too hard given both only played one fixture.
