The Black Caps fielder has done it again with another stunning grab against Pakistan.
Rachin Ravindra’s headaches have eased but the affliction will now be spreading within the Black Caps camp.
A convincing victory over Pakistan kickstarted the Champions Trophy yesterday and came with a hitch: Gary Stead once again has too many match-winning batters to squeeze into the top order.
It’s a more pleasant dilemma than the alternative, and Ravindra was in slightly more pain than his coach when a ball lost in the floodlights crashed into his forehead earlier this month.
But now the cut caused by that blow has healed and the opener is back in the nets while nearing a return, it’s the selectors’ turn to experience some discomfort.
Will Young inflicted that on Stead and captain Mitchell Santner while setting up a 60-run win over the hosts in Karachi, playing the best knock of his ODI career to quiet the crowd and reignite the noise around his intermittent international career.
Opening alongside Devon Conway, Young resurrected an innings that had been faltering after his partner and Kane Williamson departed to leave New Zealand on 40-2, stroking 107 from 113 balls.
Tom Latham (118no off 104) then hit his own hundred and joined Glenn Phillips (61 off 39) in a backbreaking fifth-wicket partnership, plundering 122 from the final 11 overs to lift the total to 320-5.
Given a strong start was imperative in an abridged tournament – and given Young later acknowledged that “we were in a little bit of trouble” in the early overs – the opener’s contribution was the most decisive.
It was Young’s fourth hundred in 41 ODIs and undoubtedly the sweetest, with previous milestones reached in bilateral home series against the Netherlands (twice) and Bangladesh.
The Asian side are the next opponents in Rawalpindi on Monday, when victory will almost seal a semifinal spot ahead of the final group game against India. And New Zealand will be optimistic about securing such a result given their form in Pakistan, earning a fourth comprehensive win inside a productive fortnight.
Will Young in action against Pakistan. Photo / AFP
Young struggled in a successful tri-series that served as ideal preparation for this eight-team event, collecting 28 runs in three innings while Ravindra rested a weary head. The incumbent remained on the sidelines for the Trophy opener as Stead employed a “cautious approach”, but the coach was confident Ravindra would be available for the rest of the tournament.
Whether he plays is now the question – a once-unthinkable prospect given the 25-year-old is 15 months removed from cracking three centuries during another ODI event over the border in India.
Ravindra seized a top-order opportunity at that World Cup after Young had been rested from a warm-up fixture. The pair then played six group games together – Young opening with Conway, Ravindra at No 3 – before Williamson recovered from injury and Young became the odd man out.
It’s a position with which the 32-year-old has become unfortunately familiar.
Two months ago when England toured for three tests, coming off a starring role at No 3 in the unprecedented 3-0 sweep of India, Young had to make way for a returning Williamson while Conway, Latham and Ravindra all scuffled.
Opening in place of Conway for the third test, Young responded with 42 and 60 in a dead rubber, rewarding a public clamour for his inclusion.
It would be bold to again exclude the Central Districts man. Unlike the test series, when a fully fit Williamson was always going to be recalled, Ravindra returning from a head knock is no sure thing. Unlike the 2023 World Cup, when Ravindra was busy dispatching attacks all over India, now he is short of time in the middle.
As he showed while claiming player of the series in the India test series, Young is unflappable in the type of pressure that knockout cricket would bring. Omitting the batter before falling short in the chase for major silverware would be seriously painful.
