Cricket: Innings score of 500 'on the cards'

AB de Villiers.

An innings score of 500 should be just around the corner, according to Mathew Sinclair.

"I still think, and I remember [former England international and ex-Central Districts coach] Dermot Reeve talking about it, that there'll be a score of 500," Sinclair says, reflecting on Australia's world record 417 against Afghanistan at the Waca, Perth, on Wednesday.

He felt quality cricketers performing on the global stage, such as Chris Gayle and AB de Villiers, were giving the code a timely fillip.

"Goodness me, AB de Villiers - one-day cricket and how it's going is changing so quickly."

He felt a lot more thought was going into batsmen's shots.

"The postage-stamp size of our [NZ] grounds won't be so great for the bowlers but, then again, it's an entertaining sport so we want spectators going to watch cricket and big scores."

Sinclair said the Black Caps' game on Sunday should be about bowlers claiming top-order scalps within the first 10 overs to maximise the use of the two new balls as well as batsmen going right through to 50 overs with a win-toss, bat-first mentality.

"We saw that a little bit yesterday with [Australian opener] David Warner against Afghanistan."

Any captain should be batting first at McLean Park, he said labelling it a "strange decision" from United Arab Emirates skipper Imran Tauqir to elect to bowl.

"They've actually been based in Napier for some time so you'd think they would have known what they were up against," he said of the minnows' 129-run loss to Pakistan.

Sinclair said Hawke's Bay fans must pack the stadiums.

"Just embrace it because it's actually a World Cup on our shores. While they [Afghanistan] are minnows they have had some good results."

The hosts won't be taking them lightly.