Cricket: Black Caps continue historic home success

Trent Boult celebrates with teammates. Photo / Getty

New Zealand's rousing 2-0 series win over Australia not only returned the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy to the right side of the Tasman; it also enhanced an outstanding home record in ODI cricket.

The victories at Eden Park and Seddon Park took New Zealand's record since the start of 2015 to 26 wins from 30 completed ODIs at home, the best run since New Zealand played their first ODI at Lancaster Park against Pakistan in 1973.

The only comparable run of limited-overs success came over a 10-year period from 1976-86 in which 18 matches out of 22 completed games were won, four lost. That in itself tells a story of how the volume of ODI cricket has grown in a generation.

The run includes New Zealand's march to the final of the 2015 World Cup, but it also shows how frequently Sri Lanka have been regular recent visitors. Three of the four losses have been to them.

The overriding point is that New Zealand have become a formidable opponent on home soil. The significance of the series win over Australia should not be undersold.

This was the bounce back from the 3-0 loss to the Aussies in December. Certainly New Zealand were helped by the absence of key batsmen Steve Smith and David Warner, but a less than full strength Australia gave the series a decent shake, notably through the booming century of allrounder Marcus Stoinis at Eden Park in game one.

The series win mattered particularly for those players who had been through hoops in Australia. But New Zealand coach Mike Hesson pulled out his broader brush.

"It is important for everybody. We won it a year ago, lost it [in December] and certainly deserved to get it back here. We're delighted the way when we were under pressure we fought back."

Any areas Hesson was less than enthusiastic about?

"You're always looking to fine-tune but when you've beaten the No1 side 2-0 you can't have too many concerns."

Hesson pointed out one of the big pluses in recent months is the productivity of most players called in, often at short notice, to cover for injuries.

The most recent was Dean Brownlie, in for opener Martin Guptill - battling a hamstring niggle - at Seddon Park on Sunday, and making his best ODI score, 63, to help Ross Taylor push New Zealand to 281 for nine, a total Australia threatened for a time before being whistled away by man of the match Trent Boult.

"I'm really delighted for Dean. He had quite a specific role against that attack," said the New Zealand coach. "We needed someone who could play the swinging ball and deal with pace. We hoped Dean would do that and he performed extremely well."

Hesson liked that most of those called in "were able to deliver straight away".

"It's a good sign that we don't rely solely on one or two players. It's important for us we keep developing depth in all forms."

And New Zealand's good home run extends to the other two formats.

In nine tests since the start of 2015, New Zealand have won seven, against Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Bangladesh, and lost just two, to Australia.

In eight T20 internationals - the form in which New Zealand are ranked No1 - they have won seven, the sole loss against Pakistan at Eden Park last January, by 16 runs.

Next up are South Africa, who are poised to leapfrog Australia to No1 in the ODI game. New Zealand are third.

New Zealand's home ODI record since start of January 2015
(excludes abandonments or N/R)

Played: 30
Won: 26
Lost: 4

Opponents

Sri Lanka: 11 games, won 8, lost 3
Australia: 6 games, won 5, lost 1
Pakistan: 4 games, won 4
Bangladesh: 4 games, won 4
South Africa: 1 game, won 1
Scotland: 1 game, won 1
Afghanistan: 1 game, won 1
England: 1 game, won 1
West Indies: 1 game, won 1

​Next best: February 1976-March 1986: Played 22, won 18, lost 4