Cricket: Batting stats tell sorry tale of surrender by top order

American writer Gregg Easterbrook once wrote that if you torture numbers, they'll confess to anything.

That theory does not apply to the Black Caps' 2010 one-day batting statistics.

They seem a blatant admission of guilt; the equivalent of walking into a police station with hands up.

This year, New Zealand's top six batsmen have steadily become more responsible for the team's woes and it has usually come down to the tail to try to score the runs.

In February and March, against then-easybeats Bangladesh and top-ranked Australia, the Black Caps won five of eight games.

Since August and before last night, they had won one of nine completed matches against Sri Lanka, India and Bangladesh on the subcontinent. Those countries are hosting the World Cup in less than three months.

The Black Caps have slipped from fourth in the world in March to seventh.

Certainly there was an expected chasm between India, the world's second-ranked team, and New Zealand (regardless of the hosts resting Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, MS Dhoni and Harbhajan Singh) for this series. What underlines the current plight is the 4-0 loss to Bangladesh in October. Even Zimbabwe beat Bangladesh in Dhaka last week.

Many facets make up the wellbeing of a cricket team but a look at the numbers shows the onus desperately needs to go on the top six.

A strong tail is a bonus, most recently witnessed in the first one-dayer against India when a ninth wicket partnership of 67 between Nathan McCullum and Kyle Mills brought some respectability to an already foregone conclusion.

The clinical evidence indicates a lack of partnerships, a lack of responsibility and possibly a lack of technique.

If bowlers and all-rounders are needed to score too many runs, they are less likely to have the energy with the ball, or in the field.

India's top six batsmen, who have scored 86 per cent of the side's runs in their 24 games this year, allow bowlers to rest longer and concentrate on their core task.

New Zealand's top six have scored 63 per cent of their runs in 17 matches. Sheer probability says the Black Caps will be disadvantaged.

It must be stressed New Zealand's performances with the bat in those first eight games were of a reasonable standard.

As the table demonstrates, they were still not on a par with their Indian counterparts. But they have spiralled downwards since.

Every Black Cap needs to keep his pads handy because not once this year have just six batsmen been used in completed matches.

India have managed that feat on eight occasions - one-third of the time.

The team are restricted by the absence of proven performers Jesse Ryder and Jacob Oram.

But another consequence is that individuals will be doing themselves no favours in the eyes of Indian Premier League franchise owners who have the opportunity to a) see them live and b) mould their financial futures.

Daniel Vettori, Brendon McCullum and possibly Ross Taylor still have decent chances of getting a contract in the January auction but it might be a struggle for other Black Caps, given present form.

The matches have shown neither the talent nor the spectacle to get IPL owners envisaging whirring turnstiles and bulging pockets with a few bargain buys.