BLACKCAPS coach Mike Hesson is looking forward to tonight’s opportunity to claim the One-Day International Series in Harare’s distinct conditions.
With matches starting at 9am local time and conditions proving to be exacting early on, the toss is an important factor “and it’s important, whether we’re asked to bat or bowl, that we deal well with that first hour,” he cautions.
“I think if you look at both games so far, the first 10 overs were challenging. They turn into quite flat wickets over here, but initially the ball holds in the wicket, especially with a hard seam.
“Martin Guptill and Tom Latham could have got frustrated the other day and given it away, but the fact that they got through that, and then carried on to see us through right to the end, was a very composed and professional performance.”
The opening effort was one for the Almanack with Latham’s unbeaten century his first in One-Day Internationals and Guptill becoming the fastest man by some distance to score 4000 ODI runs for the BLACKCAPS.
“Four times in our history we’ve had players go past 1000 runs in a calendar year, and three of them have been this year, and they’re all currently playing — Kane, Ross and Gup. It’s really special.”
‘Hess’ also enjoyed watching 22-year-old leg-spinner Ish Sodhi spring back from a rough first game in Zimbabwe to shine in the second. Already capped at Test level, he took his maiden ODI wicket in his second match, then ripped into a three-for that put the Zimbabwean line-up on its knees.
Sodhi has previously found white ball success domestically in New Zealand by pushing the ball through quicker: drawing on that experience paid dividends to his confidence.
“Ish made a really good transition. In the first game, he’d looked for wickets and bowled a little bit too slowly, on a surface that became a little bit easier to play. In the second game, he made the necessary adjustments. We want him to bowl into the wicket and get some variation there, and I thought he did that beautifully. He certainly deserved the three wickets he got.”
Regardless of the result of tonight’s must-win encounter — and make no mistake, the BLACKCAPS play to win, Hesson has already achieved certain pre-tour goals from the ODIs in Harare.
“We’ve got five guys from our 2015 World Cup squad and a mix of guys making the most of their opportunities — and it’s been so far, so good. Over the course of the tour, we’ll have other guys getting their opportunities, and likewise we expect them to grab it.”
The match begins at 7pm NZT and is live on SKY from 6.50pm. The Zimbabwe leg of the tour will conclude with a Twenty20 International on Sunday.
