by Dave Crowe

Posted March 28

The rained out fourth one dayer at Napier had all the markings of a great match with the solid score set up by New Zealand. It was a splendid performance to reach 257 after such a strong start, then that stutter in the middle and the final flourish from Larsen,Nash and Bulfin.

Horne and Astle paced their innings remarkably closely. Right through their excellent opening partnership they were at virtually the same scoring rate. It was a shame to hear the negative comments of some of the television team at this point. They were wittering on about how you can't afford to lose wickets now because if you lose one or two then a couple more might go down and suddenly you are six for 120.

Now what sort of commentary is that? Formulaic to say the least. It was all about how one batsman had to stay there and get a big score otherwise the side was doomed. Well here's some news. No one player made 50 yet the solid batting effort took us through to such a good total.

When six were down for 211 there was more gloomy prognostication. Nash and Larsen then scratched around for a while but after they became established they really cracked it. The point overlooked by the doomsayers was that the bowling was very effective, especially at this stage. Both Cronje and Klusener were getting good shape, late swing allied to a tight line on offstump and an unscorable length.

You have to recognise quality and to realise that there are two sides playing out there. Twose and Parore had dealt to the potentially dangerous Boje by some really intelligent batting. The next move of Cronje, bringing himself and Klusener on, looked to be unconquerable but Nash and Larsen had the patience and the wit to wait and deal to them also, as soon as their length strayed.

Then Bullfin in his maiden one day international smashed that great sixer to clear the 250 mark. It was not Carl's debut for New Zealand for he played a starring role in the win by the Max Blaxks over the England Lions in the inaugural Cricket Max international series played 18 months ago. That was an exciting series and it is a pity that the organisers haven't repeated it.

It was alos a pity to talk with three young men after the rain came and to ask them how many runs they thought the Black Caps had made. We were in the brilliant Edgewater resort at Wanaka where I am leading an Istas golf tour group on behalf of my son Jeff. These three guys respectively replied 150, 120 and don't know. I asked them why they thought so lowly of the New Zealand cricket team and they said in effect that they are always losing.

I blame the media for this attitude and I told these guys so. Typical was the TV One report this morning when they said that "for once the New Zealand middle order got going.".Have a look back and you will see that the middle order, Harris, Nash, Vettori, Larsen and so on have done some great things for us. That's why I headed this piece with the word pity, because it is a pity that they are having to replay the match from scratch but it's an even greater pity that Kiwis don't recognise the efforts of their team. Another Pity
That sensational repeat match at Napier had a sad ending but it could have gone either way. The Proteas had all the luck but it's no use blaming the umpires. That caught behind made up for the one when Cairns smashed his fastest century at Christchurch against India.

The questions to be asked are: Should Larsen have bowled the last over? Should the lower batsmen have done better? Should a boundary have been saved somewhere to put the result out of South Africa's reach? These delicious questions will be argued for a while but the image that will stay in the mind forever is Nathan Astle's catch.

I thought Twose took an alltime great at Eden Park but this was even better. The swallow dive, the left hand outflung, and above all the ecstatic expression made it totally memorable.

Don't blame Nash. He had a plan but couldn't quite execute it to perfection. The same happened to Steve Waugh a few years ago at Hobart when he bowled a full toss to Mujtaba who put it over the fance with six to win. They haven't pilloried Waugh so why should we blame Nash? He has done some great deeds so cannot be a scapegoat over this one. Besides its a series that is going down to the wire and I can't wait for the final two games. The grounds will be full and buzzing.

A Darned Shame
Just when we needed to win a toss and excite the huge crowd with our scintillating batting the South Africans went and did it for us. It was mind boggling watching Cullinan in particular take us apart. The big mob got their money's worth all right but I felt for Vettori and Astle. Daniel had no price on that silly shape of a rugby ground and I think Flem should have used Roger. He is a useful bowler with more than 150 first class wickets to his credit. Importantly, he backs himself, one of the major reasons why he took another great outfield catch.. So now its Basin here we come with every hope of tying up the series three all. Let's hope so.

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