Cricket: Kiwis can shine in the shortest game

Dan Vettori believes the days of a fun approach are long gone. Photo / Getty Images

It's an old line but, on the eve of the second Twenty20 world championship, it's worth another thought.

Right now, it seems the shorter the game the better New Zealand's prospects of success.

Consider that our test cricket is ordinary at present. Failure to beat the West Indies last summer was a big disappointment, losing the subsequent series to India merely expected.

So we're crash-hot at Twenty20 then? Well, just a minute ...

It wasn't so long ago that New Zealand were on a seven-game losing run. Throw in a tie against the West Indies and they went 15 months without a Twenty20 win.

They have won three of their past four - two against the Indians, who this month are defending their title won in the inaugural event in South Africa two years ago - but the nature of the game leads to a line of thinking that New Zealand have as good a chance as several other teams.

They have matchwinners with the bat, headed by Brendon McCullum, Jesse Ryder, Martin Guptill, Ross Taylor, Scott Styris and Jacob Oram, steady fast-medium bowling options, without a genuine pacy spearhead, and top-class spin.

It is a hit or miss game, but if you can string enough hits together in a tournament where the finalists will have played seven matches, you're in business.

New Zealand have a solitary International Cricket Council-run tournament title to their name, the Champions Trophy in Kenya nine years ago. They are the semifinal team. That has seemed their lot over many years.

So if New Zealand win, brilliant. If not, well it's only Twenty20 innit?

If you subscribe to that viewpoint, you missed a sight at the Sydney Cricket Ground in February.

New Zealand had been deprived of a chance to win their Chappell Hadlee ODI series 3-2 by the fickle Brisbane rain, then headed down the coast for the one-off Twenty20 clash two days later.

Chasing Australia's no-more-than-adequate 150 for seven, New Zealand finished on 149 for five. Nathan McCullum clubbed a six off the last ball, leaving a pile of "if onlys" to hang about the New Zealand dressing room.

Afterwards, captain Dan Vettori came to face the media. Rarely had he seemed so down. Down, and angry.

He admitted it had been one of the worst days of his captaincy. Chances to beat the Aussies don't plonk into the lap like ripe apples. This one had been badly squandered.

Was he hurting? You bet, and it was "only" Twenty20.

Vettori subscribes to the view that the days of a funsy, frivolous approach to three-hour cricket at top level are long gone.

He believes they ended at the first world championship, when players realised it meant something, it was, bottom line, a world title, being contested by countries, as opposed to the businesses of the Indian Premier League.

And what a funny old game this Twenty20 is. The Indians were strongly opposed to it when it was first put up. They could see it devaluing the cash cow of 50-over ODIs on the subcontinent.

Then MS Dhoni led India to a thrilling win in the final in South Africa, over rivals Pakistan. From there, the cricket world went haywire.

India sensed an opening, Lalit Modi, a previously barely-heard-of Indian administrator, became the guv'nor of the IPL and cricket life has never been the same.

New Zealand warmed up for their opening match against Scotland tomorrow with wins over Bangladesh, lightweights Ireland and the Netherlands, and then India.

But they hit a substantial judder bar on Wednesday when Australia eased past them. From 21 for five there was no coming back and that's the thing.

A side can recover from 20 for three to put up a decent score in the 50-over contest. The shorter the game, obviously the less time to put things right.

Which is why New Zealand's top four - McCullum, Ryder, Guptill and Taylor - are key to their chances.

All score runs fast, although Ryder is well out of sorts going into the tournament.

Players such as Styris, Oram, Peter McGlashan, Nathan McCullum, James Franklin, Neil Broom and Brendon Diamanti can muscle things along.

Bowlers who average six runs an over are doing well. Look for plenty of changes of pace, slower balls, yorkers from a New Zealand attack who will rely more on the collective effort than individual star turns, Vettori excepted.

What of the rest?

Expect India to put up a robust defence of their title; Australia and South Africa will be strong, so no surprises there.

A longish shot? Sri Lanka.

But New Zealand must be in the hunt.