Cricket: Skipper loves the 3-4 punch

Sports Editor at Large·Herald on Sunday·

13 Dec, 2014 04:00 PM5 mins to read

Kane Williamson (left) and Ross Taylor are in sterling form. Photo / Photosport

With the World Cup looming, New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum has declared he wouldn't swap his Nos 3 and 4 for any other combination in the world, in any form of the game.

McCullum, winner of the Herald Sporting Achievement of the Year for his groundbreaking 302 against India at the Basin Reserve in February, is in a rich vein of form himself but says, for prolific consistency, New Zealand's never had a combination like Ross Taylor and Kane Williamson.

"I have talked a lot about how I wouldn't swap Tim Southee and Trent Boult for anybody, and that was when they were ranked 30 and 40 in the world," McCullum said. "It's a lot easier to say that now they're in the top 10.

"Ross and Kane, in key batting positions, I wouldn't change them for the world either. They're both prolific all around the world. I said last year when Rossco was batting like a dream and I'd repeat it now in regards to Kane as well, that we should just be enjoying the fact that we are watching two masters at work."

Williamson proved that again yesterday in a man-of-the-match performance. He was controlled at the crease, scoring 70 not out from 91 balls, to lead New Zealand to a four-wicket win over Pakistan. It was also his sixth 50 in seven ODI innings.

Taylor missed out, scoring only two, but is well on track to becoming New Zealand's most prolific century maker. He has 12 in tests, second equal with John Wright and behind only his mentor Martin Crowe (17). He also has 11 in ODIs, behind only Nathan Astle's 16 - Astle's combined total of 27 is also the standard setter.

With eight and three centuries in tests and ODIs respectively, Williamson has got a lot further to go but, at 24, has time on his side.

"Often we look back and say, 'how great was that player', but we might not celebrate them as much as we should while they're playing," McCullum said. "Kane and Ross are two guys we should be sitting back and enjoying watching them at work. They're not going to get runs every time but, geez, they're banging them out at the moment."

McCullum took over as captain when Taylor was jettisoned in controversial circumstances by coach Mike Hesson. If anything, his batting has grown more steely, more balanced, since losing the leadership.

"He's prolific in terms of his output," McCullum said. "He's grown as a team man in the last little while and, understandably, it took him some time to integrate back into the group and probably for a period of time his focus was more about his own game.

"What we see now is a guy who is pretty content in the environment. He's having a lot more impact in terms of leadership post-captaincy than what he did initially. It was a shit time. Everyone understands that. There were some wedges driven that didn't need to be."

The New Zealand captain, who is missing the one-dayers in the UAE to give him a breather ahead of a huge summer of cricket, even praised the way Taylor and Williamson celebrated centuries. Unlike other batsmen around the world, there are no histrionics, just a calm acknowledgement to team-mates and the crowd and then back to work. It's a 'non'-celebration McCullum expects to see a lot more of in the coming years.

Scoreboard

Scoreboard from the second ODI between Pakistan and New Zealand.

PAKISTAN
Hafeez c Latham b Henry
76
Shehzad c Ronchi b Henry
0
Khan c Taylor b McClenaghan
6
Shafiq b Henry
1
Sohail c Taylor b Anderson
33
ul Haq c Ronchi b Henry
47
Ahmed c Latham b McClenaghan
23
Afridi c Vettori b Milne
27
Riaz c Taylor b Milne
14
Tanvir lbw McClenaghan
14
Irfan not out
0
Extras (1lb 1nb 9w)
11
TOTAL (for 10 wkts, 48.3 overs)
252

FOW: 1, 11, 20, 97, 163, 172, 209, 231, 248, 252.
Bowling: M Henry 10-0-45-4 (3w),
M McClenaghan 9.3-0-56-3 (5w 1nb),
A Milne 10-0-53-2 (1w), D Vettori 10-0-48-0, A Devcich 2-0-14-0,
C Anderson 7-0-35-1.

NEW ZEALAND
Brownlie b Afridi
47
Devcich run out (Hafeez)
58
Williamson not out
70
Taylor c Ahmed b Sohail
2
Latham c Tanvir b Sohail
3
Anderson b Sohail
10
Ronchi c Tanvir b Afridi
36
Vettori not out
13
Extras (6lb 2nb 8w)
16
TOTAL (for 6 wkts, 46 overs)
255

FOW: 103, 129, 138, 148, 167, 225.
Bowling: S Tanvir 6-0-30-0 (2w), M Irfan 10-0-50-0 (2w 2nb), W Riaz 9-0-58-0 (2w), S Afridi 10-0-47-2 (1w), H Sohail 9-0-48-3 (1w), A Shehzad 1-0-7-0, A Shafiq 1-0-9-0.