New Zealand roll over soft Bangladesh top

New Zealand are three and zero, oh my. Today they won the game with the ball and then decided to see if they could reinjure Kane in the easy chase. They did. Bangladesh’s top order went marshmallow again and ultimately cost their team the chance of winning. Shakib Al Hasan was also injured. All in a bad day to be a captain. Bangladesh are one and two, and in the poo.

Trent Boult is good with the white ball (JK)

Boult told Mike Atherton that he’d worked on his knuckleball for two and a half years. That is a very long time. And it was worth it because he got another wicket with one today. The global feed put this up today, and from it, you can see Boult’s seam-up ball, his cutter and then the knuckleball. You could also add to this his cross-seam delivery and the three-quarter seam ball. It means that he has five deliveries available to him now. And because he is a left-armer, he can bowl them over and around the wicket. So at any stage, he has five options available to him.

I think a few years back he was very new ball dependent. The older he gets the better he is all the way through the innings. He’s already got a case for an ODI legend status, and he’s upgrading.

Last three years he hasn’t played many ODIs, but this is the record of all bowlers against other World Cup teams. Boult is bottom left corner, with 28 wickets, 18 average and 4.3 runs per over. This is such a good record for a retired guy. Maybe that is part of it, when he plays now, he really plays.

Let’s look at him in his happy place, the powerplay. Again, just miles ahead of anyone else. He’s been pretty much his own tier. Today he took a wicket first ball. But we already knew this.

But here is what I did not think I’d see, Boult also dominating the death. Now some of this is small sample sizes. However, it is also just that he has bowled really well in the death with the 90 balls but he also has ten wickets there. I mean, look at him.

Trent Boult is probably the best all-innings white ball bowler he has been right now. And he was pretty good before.

Is Lockie back? (JK)

Boult’s form also comes at a good time because Lockie Ferguson has been trash.

I showed this before, but Lockie is on here too. And he is all the way back here. He has been terrible, just terrifically awful in white ball cricket for a while. I think he was underrated before, at his best He was one of the best bowlers in the World. But he hasn’t been like that for a while.

Today was different though, I know there was some pace in the wicket. He mentioned that in his interview. There was also bounce. But I have seen him bowl on wickets like this in England, and he didn’t look this good. He just appeared to be that little bit faster. I still think he needs to push into the low 150s. But he was not far away.

He bowled that Lockie Ferguson length, and really forced the Bangladesh batters to beat him off their nipples. There was some width given at times. But the ball that I really liked was one that was a free hit. Mushfiqur - who batted beautifully until a ball rolled along the ground and took him - was on strike and he knew Lockie would go short. And he did. But the ball was so fast and vicious following him, that he couldn’t score off it. It’s the best ball I have seen Ferguson bowl this tournament, and it’s the kind of delivery that is always great.

So was it the Bangladesh batters and wicket, or is Lockie back?

Bangladesh’s weak top order (JK)

This is two games in a row now they have lost wickets up the top. You see the way they bowled under lights, and really even 40 more runs could have been interesting. But they barely got the runs they did

Is Glenn Phillips the best seventh bowler of all time? (SAK)

Glenn Phillips is the man with the golden arm. He currently has a bowling strike rate of just 29.4, incredible numbers for a part-time option. He bowls the number of overs you would expect from a 7th bowler, though he has bowled twice at position five and 11 times at position six. But the crazy thing is that he has bowled a lot fewer than he usually does in a World Cup in India, and he has still picked up Root, Moeen and Shanto, some pretty good players of spin in there.

He is the World Cup’s best strike bowler. The Mitchell Starc of New Zealand.

Daryl Mitchell bowled at the death (SAK)

Today was only the 3rd instance of Daryll Mitchell bowling at the death in ODI cricket. That is fine and everything, but he bowled one over. The final over. Now clearly Williamson got his sums wrong, or just thought it wouldn’t matter with so many wickets down. But Mitchell bowling the last over, and his first over, was just a ridiculous moment, and frankly. I would like to see more of them.

Kane Williamson and run chases (SAK)

It is almost as if Kane Williamson has the perfect game to tackle these sorts of chases from low-scoring games which tend to get a bit tricky at times. He really epitomises the ice-cold player you want in your team just for such situations.

Think of the hundred against South Africa from the last World Cup. Plus, he can afford to bat like a Bevan or Dhoni while chasing, with the hitting power of Mitchell and Phillips around him. The stability he provides allows the others to play their natural game in this New Zealand setup.

Kane and Shakib’s injury (JK)

Kane called his thumb a bit fat and colourful, which makes it sound lovely really. But he was already struggling with his knee in the field and again in his innings. Even if the thumb is fine, the last thing they needed was Kane getting hit from a random throw and more issues with his fitness. He probably would have rested next game anyway.

Shakib Al Hasan bowled, but clearly had an injury and had to leave the field. This looked worse, and if it is a strain, then chances are he misses a couple of matches.