Cricket: Neil Broom makes the most of his second chance

Neil Broom. Photo / Photosport

Neil Broom needed to shine against Bangladesh in the one-day international absence of regular New Zealand No.4 Ross Taylor.

The 33-year-old made his recall count today in Nelson with a maiden century in the format.

Broom anchored the Black Caps innings with 109 runs off 107 balls, surpassing his best of 71 batting at No.6 against the same opposition at Napier in 2010.

He was in a league of his own. The next best score was 59 from Bangladeshi opener Imrul Kayes. No one else passed 40.

Broom had everything to prove after exiting the second year of his contract as a 'local' player with Derbyshire to return to international duty. The pressure was on, given Taylor's eye surgery was successful enough for him to score 82 off 41 balls in Central Districts' T20 defeat of Auckland in New Plymouth.

The Otago batsman proved a Nostradamus speaking about his prospects in the build-up.

"They're a decent attack, but there's nothing there to scare you pace-wise.

"The wicket's pretty slow. There doesn't tend to be a lot of pace in it, or demons."

In the aftermath he was more circumspect defending his struggling teammates.

"It was a tough deck for us, so to go out, get a hundred and win the game and series is pretty pleasing.

"Once they hit a good length it was hard to force it down the ground. We saw that throughout the day. There were no real partnerships.

"There was a lot on the line. I wasn't nervous but was just looking to be natural and clear the mind."

He also cleared the rope... three times.

Broom's average before this series was 17.52 from 22 innings, a mark that has risen to 23.20. He has more stability in his current role at No.4, compared to flitting around the order at No.6 or No.7 during that previous tenure.

"I was picked in a different role to exploit the powerplay [then]. Getting more time to establish an innings is good.

"Mind you it's a better feeling to win a game and series. If I was sitting here with a hundred and a loss going into a must-win match it'd be different."

A few nerves emerged on 99, but not for the traditional reasons. Trent Boult came to the wicket with New Zealand 228 for nine and one ball left in the 47th over.

"He's a bit of laugh," Broom quipped. "He said 'watch this block, mate. I'll be right in behind it'. It nearly bowled him."

Broom pushed a ball into the offside for a single to start the next over and complete his feat.

* New Zealand have called Jeetan Patel into their ODI squad for the final match of the series. The logic is that with the Nelson wicket slower than expected, he will be useful taking the ball away from Bangladesh's left-handers.