A return of wishes, a debut to remember
Windies openers - Chris Gayle and Evin Lewis - had begun the first one-dayer in quite an uncharacteristic manner, playing out four overs without scoring a run off the bat. With nothing to gain in their unfamiliar styles, they soon resorted to what they do best - attack. When New Zealand new-ball duo of Tim Southee and Trent Boult couldn't produce much from their nine-over spell, Kane Williamson made a double switch.
Coming on to bowl the 11th over, Doug Bracewell bagged two wickets off his first two deliveries, dismissing a dangerous-looking Gayle and a yet-to-get-off-the-mark Shai Hope. "I was ready - a few nerves early on and then to get a wicket first ball made things a bit easier," Bracewell said, speaking of Gayle's dismissal. "I was hoping the boys would knock him over early.
"We've talked about plans and obviously he's a pretty destructive player, so obviously you've got to keep it pretty tight to him and thankfully I got one in the right area first-up and he managed to nick it."
Stuart Law, the Windies coach, had said after the match that the team bowling first had an advantage and Bracewell agreed with him. "I think it was a pretty good wicket - a touch on the slow side.
"I guess bowling first we wanted to get something out of it and it was a little bit tennis-bally and slow early on. I think the wicket got better as the day carried on."
It was as good a return to international cricket as Bracewell would've expected, probably even better. Having been sidelined from cricket for nearly a year after he fell and injured his knee last December. The period outside cricket just became a tad bit difficult after he was caught for the third time for drink and drive offence and was sentenced to 100 hours of community service.
"The first couple of games I was nervous and I guess anxious at the same time," Bracewell said after New Zealand's five-wicket win in Whangarei. "I wasn't quite sure how I was going to go after a winter of rehab and a bit of hard work. I'm not going to lie, it was pretty tough. I was quite sore but I managed to get through and now it seems to get better each day."
He finished with career-best figures of 4 for 55 to help restrict Windies for 248 for 9 after putting them in to bat. Despite his fine efforts, he isn't assured of a regular place in the side. It will be a tough battle for him to retain that place once Colin de Grandhomme returns. It's a fact he knows well and has gone the extra mile to improve his batting.
"It's (batting) something I've been working pretty hard at lately. I've been given the opportunity for Central Districts to go out and sort of play with some freedom at six or seven and I've managed to have a good start for the season so I'm feeling really good with the bat. I'm hoping I can show I've got the ability down at No 8, No 7."
While eyes were on Bracewell's performance, Todd Astle, making his ODI debut, also wanted to catch the attention. And the legspinner did pretty well at that, returning with figures of 3 for 33 from 10 overs.
Not surprisingly, his phone was flooded with congratulatory messages after the game. "There was some really nice messages of support... it was nice to get that on the back of having waited for a number of years to wait for my ODI debut, and to do it in such fashion was special," Astle said.
"[Canterbury coach] Gary Stead was one, yep. Pretty short and sharp: 'Well done, mate, good on ya'."
More than just having a good debut game, he picked up wickets at crucial intervals - breaking the biggest partnership of the match by dismissing Shimron Hetmyer, trapping the highest scorer of the game (Evin Lewis) and then scalping the wicket of Ashley Nurse. His wrong 'uns had the Windies batsmen in all sorts of trouble.
Astle believes the team will have a long look at the replays to figure him out for the next encounter. However, he is confident that he has the game to tackle them even after all the research is done on him by the opposition.
"Any little bit of doubt you can create, that's what I'm trying to bring with bowling those variations and wrong 'uns," Astle said on Thursday (December 21) in Christchurch. "You're only going to be unknown for a certain period of time. There will now be lots of video footage, so it's just trying to stay one step ahead."
New Zealand will be without the senior players Kane Williamson and Tim Southee for the remainder of the series, and will be captained by Astle's Canterbury teammate Tom Latham.
Even Windies are likely to be without their star batsman Chris Gayle, who fell ill during the first one-dayer. His condition will be assessed later on Thursday, but Astle hopes to see the Jamaican in action.
Windies openers - Chris Gayle and Evin Lewis - had begun the first one-dayer in quite an uncharacteristic manner, playing out four overs without scoring a run off the bat. With nothing to gain in their unfamiliar styles, they soon resorted to what they do best - attack. When New Zealand new-ball duo of Tim Southee and Trent Boult couldn't produce much from their nine-over spell, Kane Williamson made a double switch.
Coming on to bowl the 11th over, Doug Bracewell bagged two wickets off his first two deliveries, dismissing a dangerous-looking Gayle and a yet-to-get-off-the-mark Shai Hope. "I was ready - a few nerves early on and then to get a wicket first ball made things a bit easier," Bracewell said, speaking of Gayle's dismissal. "I was hoping the boys would knock him over early.
"We've talked about plans and obviously he's a pretty destructive player, so obviously you've got to keep it pretty tight to him and thankfully I got one in the right area first-up and he managed to nick it."
Stuart Law, the Windies coach, had said after the match that the team bowling first had an advantage and Bracewell agreed with him. "I think it was a pretty good wicket - a touch on the slow side.
"I guess bowling first we wanted to get something out of it and it was a little bit tennis-bally and slow early on. I think the wicket got better as the day carried on."
It was as good a return to international cricket as Bracewell would've expected, probably even better. Having been sidelined from cricket for nearly a year after he fell and injured his knee last December. The period outside cricket just became a tad bit difficult after he was caught for the third time for drink and drive offence and was sentenced to 100 hours of community service.
"The first couple of games I was nervous and I guess anxious at the same time," Bracewell said after New Zealand's five-wicket win in Whangarei. "I wasn't quite sure how I was going to go after a winter of rehab and a bit of hard work. I'm not going to lie, it was pretty tough. I was quite sore but I managed to get through and now it seems to get better each day."
He finished with career-best figures of 4 for 55 to help restrict Windies for 248 for 9 after putting them in to bat. Despite his fine efforts, he isn't assured of a regular place in the side. It will be a tough battle for him to retain that place once Colin de Grandhomme returns. It's a fact he knows well and has gone the extra mile to improve his batting.
"It's (batting) something I've been working pretty hard at lately. I've been given the opportunity for Central Districts to go out and sort of play with some freedom at six or seven and I've managed to have a good start for the season so I'm feeling really good with the bat. I'm hoping I can show I've got the ability down at No 8, No 7."
While eyes were on Bracewell's performance, Todd Astle, making his ODI debut, also wanted to catch the attention. And the legspinner did pretty well at that, returning with figures of 3 for 33 from 10 overs.
Not surprisingly, his phone was flooded with congratulatory messages after the game. "There was some really nice messages of support... it was nice to get that on the back of having waited for a number of years to wait for my ODI debut, and to do it in such fashion was special," Astle said.
"[Canterbury coach] Gary Stead was one, yep. Pretty short and sharp: 'Well done, mate, good on ya'."
More than just having a good debut game, he picked up wickets at crucial intervals - breaking the biggest partnership of the match by dismissing Shimron Hetmyer, trapping the highest scorer of the game (Evin Lewis) and then scalping the wicket of Ashley Nurse. His wrong 'uns had the Windies batsmen in all sorts of trouble.
Astle believes the team will have a long look at the replays to figure him out for the next encounter. However, he is confident that he has the game to tackle them even after all the research is done on him by the opposition.
"Any little bit of doubt you can create, that's what I'm trying to bring with bowling those variations and wrong 'uns," Astle said on Thursday (December 21) in Christchurch. "You're only going to be unknown for a certain period of time. There will now be lots of video footage, so it's just trying to stay one step ahead."
New Zealand will be without the senior players Kane Williamson and Tim Southee for the remainder of the series, and will be captained by Astle's Canterbury teammate Tom Latham.
Even Windies are likely to be without their star batsman Chris Gayle, who fell ill during the first one-dayer. His condition will be assessed later on Thursday, but Astle hopes to see the Jamaican in action.
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