New Zealand cricket's middling summer

It's been a middling, mixed-up New Zealand cricket summer, characterised by a return to relatively moderate form since injury and then the Indian Premier League robbed the national team of captain Kane Williamson and star batsman Devon Conway. It's also been an unusual season, if only because the three forms of the game were clearly delineated - there were 10 T20Is in the Gulf and India, followed by six tests - two in India and four in New Zealand - and wrapped up with that now obscure, little-known format, the one-day international - three home matches against the plucky associate nation of the Netherlands.

Performance-wise, New Zealand standards slipped over the summer. In the Gulf T20s New Zealand performed reasonably well, beating India, Scotland, Namibia, Afghanistan, and England, and only losing to Pakistan and Australia. Then on to India, where the home team thrashed New Zealand 3-0, with none of the matches close. The two tests in India that followed were a mixed bag, with one hard-fought draw in Kanpur and a drubbing by 372 runs in Wankhede.

The mixed form continued back at home for the four tests against Bangladesh and South Africa, two each. At Mt Maunganui Bangladesh enjoyed its first test victory over New Zealand, before the home side took revenge inside three days in the second and final test in Christchurch. Then against South Africa it was the reverse - New Zealand snaffled the first by an innings and was thumped in the second. Both 'series' only go to show that two-match test series are ridiculous contests; both Bangladesh and South Africa should've had a third test decider.

After a rained-off solo T20 against the Netherlands, an IPL-depleted New Zealand enjoyed three ODIs against the same team, which proved entertaining and at times more closely-fought than the home side might have expected.

T20 Internationals (won 5, lost 5)

In the T20s Martin Guptill and Daryl Mitchell excelled in the batting, scoring at a strike-rate of over 130. Trent Boult and Tim Southee performed admirably as the spearhead of the strike bowlers, while Ish Sodhi and Mitchell Santner supported with spin, with Sodhi proving rather more expensive. 

Start date	Format	Vs	Location	Result
26 Oct 21	T20	Pakistan	Sharjah	Lost 5 wickets
31 Oct 21	T20	India	Dubai	Won 8 wickets
3 Nov 21	T20	Scotland	Dubai	Won 16 runs
5 Nov 21	T20	Namibia	Sharjah	Won 52 runs
7 Nov 21	T20	Afghanistan	Abu Dhabi	Won 8 wickets
10 Nov 21	T20	England	Abu Dhabi	Won 5 wickets
14 Nov 21	T20	Australia	Dubai	Lost 8 wickets
17 Nov 21	T20	India	Jaipur	Lost 5 wickets
19 Nov 21	T20	India	Ranchi	Lost 7 wickets
21 Nov 21	T20	India	Kolkata	Lost 73 runs

T20 batting:
Martin Guptill 360 runs at s/r 136 incl three 50s (hs 93)
Daryl Mitchell 244 runs at s/r 133 incl one 50 (hs 72*)
Kane Williamson 216 runs at s/r 116 incl one 50 (hs 85)
Glenn Phillips 139 runs at s/r 114 (hs 39*)
Devon Conway 129 runs at s/r 108 (hs 46)

T20 bowling:
Trent Boult 16 wickets at econ 6.83 (best 17/3)
Tim Southee 12 wickets at econ 6.61 (best 16/3)
Ish Sodhi 10 wickets at econ 7.93 (best 17/2)
Mitchell Santner 6 wickets at econ 6.70 (best 27/3)
Adam Milne 4 wickets at econ 8.22 (best 17/1)

Test matches (won 2, lost 3, drew 1)

Devon Conway and Tom Latham racked up plenty of runs for the test side, but no other batsmen made a significant impact. The highlight was undoubtedly Latham's 252 in the second test against Bangladesh in Christchurch. In the bowling department all five front-line bowlers contributed admirably, with the luckless Ajaz Patel being the record-maker with his ten-for at Wankhede, only to be dropped on return to New Zealand thanks to the selectors' allergy to including spinners in the test squad at home.

25 Nov 21	Test	India	Kanpur	Draw	Southee 144/8, Latham 95 & 52, Young 89
3 Dec 21	Test	India	Wankhede	Lost 372 runs	Patel 225/14 incl 119/10, Mitchell 60
1 Jan 22	Test	Bangladesh	Mt Maunganui	Lost 8 wickets	Conway 122, Nicholls 75, Young 52 & 69
9 Jan 22	Test	Bangladesh	Christchurch	Won inns & 117 runs	Latham 252, Conway 109, Blundell 57*, Boult 43/5 (1st inns)
17 Feb 22	Test	S.Africa	Christchurch	Won inns & 276 runs	Henry 23/7 (1st inns) & 58*, Nicholls 105, Blundell 96, Southee 35/5 (2nd inns)
25 Feb 22	Test	S.Africa	Christchurch	Lost 198 runs	De Grandhomme 120*, Mitchell 60, Conway 92

Test batting:
Tom Latham 446 runs at 44.6 incl one century & two 50s (hs 252)
Devon Conway 388 runs at 64.7 incl two centuries & one 50 (hs 122)
Will Young 301 runs at 30.1 incl four 50s (hs 89)
Henry Nicholls 280 runs at 28.0 incl one century & one 50 (hs 105)
Tom Blundell 237 runs at 26.3 incl two 50s (hs 96)

Test bowling:
Tim Southee 24 wickets at 27.8 incl two 5/wkts (best 35/5)
Kyle Jamieson 20 wickets at 29.2 (best 82/4)
Ajaz Patel 17 wickets at 22.1 (best 119/10)
Neil Wagner 15 wickets at 27.9 (best 102/4)
Matt Henry 14 wickets at 16.1 incl one 5/wkts (best 23/7)

One-day internationals (won 3)

Marked by the final three innings for New Zealand by the stalwart Ross Taylor, the three late-season ODIs against the Dutch allowed Will Young to rack up two centuries and Tom Latham to knock a powerful 140 not out. With the next ODI World Cup only 18 months away, New Zealand will need to start scheduling one-day fare if the team is to put up any successful effort in India.

29 Mar 22	ODI	Netherlands	Mt Maunganui	Won 7 wickets	Tickner 50/4, Young 103*, Nicholls 57
2 Apr 22	ODI	Netherlands	Hamilton	Won 118 runs	Latham 140*
4 Apr 22	ODI	Netherlands	Hamilton	Won 115 runs	Young 120, Guptill 106, Henry 36/4

ODI batting:
Will Young 224 runs at 112.0 (s/r 97) incl two centuries (hs 120)
Tom Latham 171 runs at 171.0 (s/r 113) incl one century (hs 140*)
Martin Guptill 114 runs at 38.0 (s/r 81) incl one century (hs 106)

ODI bowling:
Kyle Jamieson 6 wickets at 18.3 (econ 4.85)
Michael Bracewell 5 wickets at 19.2 (econ 5.05)
Matt Henry 5 wickets at 13.4 (econ 4.32)
Blair Tickner 5 wickets at 17.6 (econ 5.86)