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World Cup 2023: 'Nicest guys' who have found the winning edge
Absence of big names have rarely clouded New Zealand’s sense of self worth as they seek to go all the way
This is a New Zealand side that, mind you, is still waiting on Kane Williamson to get match fit. Tim Southee—one half of their best ODI opening bowling attack ever—is recovering from a thumb injury. As is Lockie Ferguson, who has a unique ability to generate fearsome pace with a frame not quite of a conventional fast bowler. Individuals should never matter in a team sport.
But, by design, cricket filters the scrutiny to one-on-one confrontations and matchups, reducing non-strikers, fielders, the spectators and even the scenarios into mere numbers. How did then New Zealand, without the long shadow cast by some of their most experienced aces, absolutely overwhelm defending champions England in Thursday’s World Cup opener?
New Zealand are always the nicest guys in cricket, often highlighted as a quality more redeeming than their penchant to be a side greater than the sum of their parts. With them, skills don’t necessarily have to be curated according to formats or needs. Breaking down Thursday’s performance highlights that even more.
First, onto the headlining act—a scintillating 270-run partnership between Devon Conway and Rachin Ravindra. You can call Conway a proper white-ball convert—scoring a double hundred on Test debut in England to stake a claim for that position in the shorter formats. But he has also kept wickets in more than half of his career T20Is.
At the international level, Ravindra is very much a work in progress—a bowling allrounder who had never batted higher than No 6 before Thursday’s match. But in keeping with New Zealand’s culture, he also happens to be an excellent List A batter with three hundreds in domestic cricket.
“I wasn't surprised at all,” said Glen Phillips in a press conference ahead of their match against Netherlands, on Sunday. “Obviously, I've played a lot of cricket with him back home and he actually plays a very aggressive brand of one-day cricket. Being up the top of the order, he likes to play with a lot of flair. He plays that square drive incredibly well, which with the new ball is an absolute asset.”
Phillips is no dummy with the bat either, having made a name for himself as an enforcer in the T20 franchise league market. Like Conway, he was born in South Africa. And true to New Zealand’s ethic, he is also a multidimensional player—batter, livewire in the field, a part-time wicketkeeper as well as the kind of off-break bowler that probably doesn’t figure high on the threats list.
Phillips had dismissed Moeen Ali too but since his other scalp happens to be Joe Root who was looking primed to propel England to over 300, New Zealand might be tempted to stay set in their ways.
The ball itself wasn’t wicket-taking per se. But Phillips’s reputation may have caused a slight sense of overconfidence that probably prompted Root to go for a reverse sweep and completely miss its trajectory. It’s a confidence booster nevertheless.
“My bowling has been coming along for quite a while now,” said Phillips. “It's really nice to have the backing of the coaching staff and obviously the captain as well regardless of whether it's Kane or Tom, to be able to go out there and then look at me and go: ‘Okay, we can use them for this specific role’ and if that sort of opportunity comes up throwing me the ball and saying Hey, you know we're all a team in this together and we need you to do this role for us at the moment.’”
In Trent Boult, Matt Henry and Mitchell Santner lies the bulk of New Zealand’s bowling expertise. But it’s these moments of innovation and hunch that supersede analysis and matchups to make the game truly unpredictable. It’s also a quality New Zealand have carefully nurtured to produce allrounders in the truest sense while being consistent—they haven’t lost an ODI at home in this World Cup cycle—and yet never be favourites at a World Cup.
This time too, New Zealand have accepted the odds against them. Shrewd side that they are though, New Zealand have also pretty much worked out the tournament in their head.
“India have the home advantage and they play incredibly strong cricket at home,” said Phillips. “But with Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, that's still a semi foreign condition to them. So (it’s important) for us to be able to go out there and try to adapt as quickly as possible on the day. I think that's what we pride ourselves on understanding—that you get one shot at each team and it comes down to who can adjust to the conditions on the day.”
One down, against England no less, trust New Zealand to stay alive to their multitasking side while charting out the best possible route to another World Cup final.
