NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Sport / Cricket / Black Caps

Cricket: Opener shows How it's done

By David Leggat
Reporter·
26 Dec, 2007 04:00 PM4 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Jamie How reached 88 before slicing the ball straight to long-off. Photo / Paul Estcourt

Jamie How reached 88 before slicing the ball straight to long-off. Photo / Paul Estcourt

KEY POINTS:

Jamie How accomplished two things at Eden Park yesterday: regained his batting confidence and thrust his hand skyward to grab back his test spot next month.

His 88 steered New Zealand to a resounding six-wicket win with 7.2 overs to spare, making 203 for four in the opening
ODI against Bangladesh.

The squad for the first test against Bangladesh will be named on Sunday. He missed the two tests in South Africa a few weeks ago but despite an ordinary test record, averaging 14 in six tests, he deserves another chance.

Yesterday he drove impeccably and, as he gained in assurance, his strokeplay flourished. On other days he might have gone leg before to the second ball of the innings from Mashrafe Mortaza, missing an attempted pull, but got better as he went along.

How's innings of 90 and 76 in South Africa during the ODI series attracted attention but he lost his way in Australia, although he wasn't alone in that.

Yesterday there were good partnerships, including one of 90 with Brendon McCullum - full of rumbustious strokes until inexplicably spooning a full toss back to the bowler Farhad Reza - and 67 with Peter Fulton, who got to 35 comfortably before holing out to deep cover.

But How wasted a royal opportunity for his maiden ODI hundred, slicing left arm spinner Shakib Al Hasan high to long off.

There were some untidy moments in the New Zealand innings, and wickets were conceded softly, but the important point was that it was a win, and batsmen had a chance in more comfortable circumstances than they've enjoyed recently to feel the bat on ball.

The innings of the day, however, in terms of splashing colour all over Eden Park, came from Bangladesh's captain, Mohammad Ashraful. He shared an excellent 97-run stand for the third wicket with 18-year-old opener Tamim Iqbal which threatened to put some real heat on New Zealand's batsmen.

It took only 91 balls, and was easily a Bangladesh record against New Zealand for any wicket. The pair had the wood on New Zealand's bowlers before falling in quick order to poorly judged shots.

By the time Iqbal, having just completed his third ODI 50, sliced to third man, they had taken Bangladesh to 136 in the 27th over and were toying with the New Zealand attack. A target well in excess of 250 beckoned.

Iqbal was circumspect early but tucked in later on. But Ashraful is this team's standout performer. Short but fearless, he averages only 22 in ODIs, but clearly believes backward steps are for ballroom dancing.

There's a degree of hit or miss to his batting, but when he's on he is well worth the admission, and yesterday he arrived at the crease with his team's hopes squarely on his shoulders.

Based on what followed from the Bangladeshi middle and lower order, this is a situation with which he's not entirely unfamiliar.

In what seemed no time, he had flown to 25 off his first 12 balls. He pulled ferociously, drove with class and on a couple of occasions produced audacious flicks high to the fine leg boundary from outside offstump, shots requiring nerve and skill.

Much of his strokeplay had a dismissive quality to it. But the departures of Iqbal and Ashraful in quick succession had the effect of pulling the bathplug.

Ashraful, having completed his 12th ODI 50, was aghast to find he had swung Oram straight to deep mid wicket, his 70 having taken only 57 balls.

Five wickets fell in the space of 33 balls. And what's more, the runs dried up.

New Zealand's bowlers, largely - and worryingly - ineffective when the big stand was in progress, did stick at the job.

But Martin, Mills, Oram and Gillespie all had good patches. Patches, however, don't always win matches.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Save

    Share this article

Latest from Black Caps

Black Caps

Vettori among star-studded group in ICC Hall of Fame

09 Jun 06:34 PM
Premium
Sport|cricket

New Black Caps coach's home is Hawke's Bay

08 Jun 02:55 AM
Black Caps

‘Biggest challenge in the game’: New Black Caps coach on rise of T20 leagues

06 Jun 04:00 AM

Why Cambridge is the new home of future-focused design

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Black Caps

Vettori among star-studded group in ICC Hall of Fame

Vettori among star-studded group in ICC Hall of Fame

09 Jun 06:34 PM

Daniel Vettori is the fourth Kiwi to be inducted.

Premium
New Black Caps coach's home is Hawke's Bay

New Black Caps coach's home is Hawke's Bay

08 Jun 02:55 AM
‘Biggest challenge in the game’: New Black Caps coach on rise of T20 leagues

‘Biggest challenge in the game’: New Black Caps coach on rise of T20 leagues

06 Jun 04:00 AM
New Black Caps coach: Ex-South Africa boss is appointed

New Black Caps coach: Ex-South Africa boss is appointed

05 Jun 10:31 PM
Clean water fuelling Pacific futures
sponsored

Clean water fuelling Pacific futures

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • What the Actual
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven CarGuide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP