NEW ZEALAND TOUR OF AUSTRALIA, 2020

Latham expects batsmen to improve on slow Sydney wicket

by Cricbuzz Staff • Published on Sat, Mar 14, 2020, 07:36 AM

Spinners bagged 7 wickets in the first ODI and proved very difficult to get away © Getty

New Zealand's wicketkeeper-batsman Tom Latham has put the onus on the team's batsmen to recover from the first ODI defeat and quickly adapt to the tough conditions in Sydney. Should the series go on, despite COVID-19 concerns that have ended many-a-tournaments abruptly already, the second ODI will be played at the same venue, and expected to be played on the same pitch.

In response to Australia 258 for 7 in the series opener, New Zealand folded for just 187, with Martin Guptill's 40 and Latham's 38 the only contributions of note. Latham reckoned the problem for the visitors was down to being unable stitch partnerships together - the 51-run alliance between Latham and Colin de Grandhomme for the sixth wicket was the team's best.

"I think the way we managed to pull the game back after that opening partnership was really good, and the spinners did a great job through the middle. Unfortunately with the bat, we weren't able to put partnerships together on a surface that was getting harder and harder to bat on. The surface I think is going to be the same one on Sunday so we're going to have to find a way to make things work," Latham said after the defeat.

The Sydney surface proved to be a sluggish one, where run-making didn't come easy. Even Australia didn't have a comfortable time with the bat, but held onto wickets and were powered by Marnus Labuschagne effort from the middle-order after David Warner and Aaron Finch provided a positive start. New Zealand just couldn't replicate that, or keep the scoreboard ticking which eventually led to their downfall. Latham hopes the batsmen find their own ways to combat the challenges of the pitch, come Sunday.

"It looks like a used wicket. We're going to have to try to adapt to the surface as quick as possible - that's something as a group we've done reasonably well over the past and fingers crossed we can do that on Sunday. It is important you try and go through your processes around what you want to do and try and execute a gameplan.

"For every individual it's going to be slightly different how they want to go about things. It is a slow wicket and does make scoring a little harder so it's about trying to find ways to keep the scoreboard ticking over and trying to face less dots and I guess if you can put the pressure back on them, then fingers crossed the scoreboard keeps ticking."

In the midst of a WHO-declared, fiercely-spreading pandemic, the first ODI was played in an empty SCG, with players having to jump over to the stands and fetch the ball everytime a batsman sent it there. With most other cricket being in a suspended state at the moment, the least that is expected of this series is to continue without any fans in the stadium.

"Obviously it's a unique situation that we're faced with but at the end of the day it's still a one-day international and you're playing for your country," Latham said.

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Latham expects batsmen to improve on slow Sydney wicket

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