Andrew Ellis took a ripper of a catch, Tom Latham put a smile
on Dad's face and Dean Brownlie was unlucky but earned a pass
mark.
All in all the Black Caps' three rookies played pretty well
and helped New Zealand post a comfortable 90-run win in the
opening one-dayer against Zimbabwe in Dunedin yesterday.
Ellis was the best-performed of the three. He took the
important catch to remove the Zimbabwe captain Brendon
Taylor, chipped in a valuable 33 and took one for 34 from
eight overs.
Nineteen-year-old left-hander Latham had the extra pressure
of his father, former international Rod Latham, watching from
his deck chair on the edge of the boundary.
Tom took eight balls before he got off the mark with a lovely
drive through the covers. Rod gave a pump of his fist and
welcomed the moment with a broad smile.
Brownlie has played for New Zealand at test and twenty/20
level but was making his one-day debut and looked threatening
until he was superbly run out for 19.
Black Caps captain Brendon McCullum gave the newbies the nod
of approval.
"I thought Dean Brownlie had limited opportunities at the
crease because of the run out but he looked pretty composed.
We've seen what he can do in the test arena already. I
thought he was pretty good.
"Andrew Ellis was outstanding with the ball and smart with
the bat when the time came to put together that partnership.
"I thought Tom Latham looked incredibly composed for a young
fellow and showed that he is certainly not out of place at
this level."
McCullum conceded he had a few nerves going into the match
with three players on debut.
"I couldn't asked for much more from those guys today. I
thought they were brilliant in everything they had the
opportunity to do. I think that is a great sign for the
future as well."
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