Afghanistan v New Zealand (IT's GONNA BE A CRACKER OF A MATCH) at Abu Dhabi-- 11/7 Sunday (D), Match #40, Group 2

[thierry henry]

As great an effort as that not-catch was by Mitchell, it's worth noting that if he'd been standing where he should've been that would've been a straightforward chance.

I think he was probably standing where he was supposed to stand

 

[SteveNZ]

Making the semi is a pretty creditable result considering the absence of Ferguson and a safety-first selection policy, as well as being in the same group as India and Pakistan.

Yeah - people are saying the other group was harder to get out of, and very true given 3 teams only lost one game against major nations. But we still had to be professional and get the job done against India and Afghanistan in particular, and did. On the strength of our bowling, which has been outstanding.

Interested in the safety-first policy, do you mean with the squad initially or those within the squad? What would this have looked like with a bit more gambling involved?

 

[The Hutt Rec]

We also weren’t that far off in the first game against Pakistan, and that was without any real lead up series, and Ferguson missing and unable to be replaced by Milne. So I’m a bit surprised to see us being totally written off by most.

 

[veganbob]

Is it worth considering Todd Astle in place of Milne for the semifinal?
Milne has done fine so far but he looks hittable and I think Astle vs England would be a better choice.. 3 spinners!
If we need a 3rd seamer- Mitchell and Neesham can chip in a over or 2 each

 

[Flem274*]

We also weren’t that far off in the first game against Pakistan, and that was without any real lead up series, and Ferguson missing and unable to be replaced by Milne. So I’m a bit surprised to see us being totally written off by most.

it's the usual world stage fare. "we're better than you!' cry the teams nz send home.

 

[Moss]

Interested in the safety-first policy, do you mean with the squad initially or those within the squad? What would this have looked like with a bit more gambling involved?

More a reference to the squad initially - especially with regard to someone like Finn Allen, given that very few in the lineup appear to be able to go hard from ball one. Was debated quite heavily in a different thread IIRC. If Allen is deemed too inexperienced, Munro would have been the best option. Wouldn’t have been a need for the Mitchell experiment then, though he’s made a decent fist of it. Obviously no other candidates screaming selection just yet, but NZ need to work towards that ASAP.

On the bowling front, would’ve had Milne in the original squad though that’s irrelevant now (and Southee has been terrific for the most part - interested to see if Duffy and Kuggs have an increased role to play going forward).

Also felt there was a case for Ajaz as well as Latham as w/k batsman, but the pitches have been quite different from what they were in Bangladesh so probably not a case of NZ missing a trick here.

 

[SteveNZ]

More a reference to the squad initially - especially with regard to someone like Finn Allen, given that very few in the lineup appear to be able to go hard from ball one. Was debated quite heavily in a different thread IIRC. If Allen is deemed too inexperienced, Munro would have been the best option. Wouldn’t have been a need for the Mitchell experiment then, though he’s made a decent fist of it. Obviously no other candidates screaming selection just yet, but NZ need to work towards that ASAP.

On the bowling front, would’ve had Milne in the original squad though that’s irrelevant now (and Southee has been terrific for the most part - interested to see if Duffy and Kuggs have an increased role to play going forward).

Also felt there was a case for Ajaz as well as Latham as w/k batsman, but the pitches have been quite different from what they were in Bangladesh so probably not a case of NZ missing a trick here.

Yeah, that's an issue for me too and has been for a while with our T20 side - hitting from ball one. To me, Chapman's selection was the head scratcher, especially when they didn't then take him to Bangladesh after picking up for the World Cup. We had 3 other spin options, Chapman hadn't overly impressed for NZ previously and they had better finishers in Neesham and Mitchell (more on him in a bit). Finn Allen would have been a much better squad member.

I floated Latham as a squad member but the pitches haven't necessitated it.

I don't like the Mitchell thing, either. Complete Hail Mary that gave off the impression they felt they needed to be funky to have any chance. He hasn't gone badly (nor as well as some people seem to be portraying) but he's a finisher. I don't like that you could come into a World Cup and try something two games out in warm-ups you've never hinted at before. Conway/Guptill gives the LH/RH combination and Mitchell is a very cool-headed finisher.

What the Mitchell opening selection has done too, is stifle Glenn Phillips. Phillips should be at 4. The guy has piled on runs around the world, and quick runs too, but we've squeezed him down and made him a finisher (he's not one) and he's now going into a semi-final with less time at the crease and form than could have otherwise been the case. Glenn Phillips is a freak, he's far from the finished product but he's a guy who you need to win T20 tournaments. We've not harnessed that and I feel as if our batting line-up management has been poor.

 

[The Hutt Rec]

I reckon Williamson and Conway are too similar to be at 3/4 as well. If they both come in at a similar time and take a while to get going, it really kills the momentum of the innings.

 

[SteveNZ]

I like Conway with Guptill, too, in a way. Gup used to struggle with Munro on the days Manu couldn't get it off the block, he'd feel like he had to go 10x harder. With Conway, who gets off strike, it frees Gup up to play the game the way it comes naturally to him.