BackWorld Cup: Can Daniel Vettori spin it for New Zealand?
A man of Vettori's experience, and stature, can help galvanize a team towards a common purpose
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Auckland: Chasing a huge 394 runs in Wellington to win the quarterfinal against New Zealand, the West Indies were looking comfortable for just the briefest passage of play. Chris Gayle was swatting sixes in his most nonchalant manner and Marlon Samuels was playing the supporting role.
Trent Boult was on a spree, bowling his 10th over on the trot, and Samuels decided to take him on. He played the upper cut over third man and the ball looked like it would sail comfortably over the rope. Daniel Vettori, manning the boundary in the area, seemed to have little chance. Then he flew up. With uncanny timing, Vettori reached up. The ball stuck to his outstretched hand. At 35, the former New Zealand skipper had taken a catch that would put most younger cricketers to shame.
If anything, Vettori’s reaction afterwards was even calmer than his superbly timed jump. He just walked towards his mates, who ran at him in shock and joy.
“I couldn’t believe it. For him to leap up a couple meters in the air and stick out his paw," said Boult after the quarterfinal win. “I actually enjoyed the celebration afterwards. It was just a little strut. The best bit was seeing everyone just sprint towards him and grab him. It was very cool."
This is the veteran spinner’s last World Cup, and he almost missed out playing the tournament on home turf. Pained by a back injury for long, he had not been in the Black Caps’ preparatory plans. Vettori was out injured for most of 2013 and 2014, making a comeback to the national side as late as October last year.
Now he is on the cusp of something New Zealand have never managed to do—win an One-Day International (ODI) tournament for the first time since 2000, when they won their only tournament till date, the Champions Trophy. Going by their current superlative form, this will also be their best chance.
Since making his ODI debut in 1997, Vettori has found himself in the semifinals of a World Cup twice before—in 2007 and 2011—and lost both times. Now he is here again, third time in a row, hoping to change fortunes. A man of Vettori’s experience, and stature, can help galvanize a team towards a common purpose, something Sachin Tendulkar did with Team India four years ago.
This time, he has both momentum and the crowds on his side. There is a certain energy regarding the World Cup in New Zealand that is missing from the venues in Australia.
It isn’t lost on any New Zealand player, least of all Vettori, who is getting a raucous farewell wherever he is playing. “It feels strange having a World Cup at home; it still feels like a home series," Vettori has said ahead of that Australia game. “You don’t get an opportunity that often to play in front of 40,000 people who are all cheering for you."
Vettori’s playing role is every bit as crucial as the psychological edge he brings to the side. As the lone spinner, Vettori has provided the perfect foil to the fiery Kiwi pace attack. In the Australia match, he was introduced early into the attack after David Warner and Aaron Finch had got off to a blazing start, and helped pull things back with his clever variations of pace on an awkwardly small ground.
“No one expected spin to be a factor, least of all on a ground with tiny straight boundaries and on a pitch that did not offer any real purchase, but Vettori bowled superbly against Michael Clarke’s men," wrote former New Zealand skipper Stephen Fleming in his column for the International Cricket Council.
Vettori has led the spinners’ charge in this cup. He is the highest placed spinner in the top wicket-takers’ list, with 15 wickets in seven matches at an average of 15.73, completing 300 wickets in ODIs in the process. His economy rate of 3.84 runs per over is second only to Mitchell Starc’s 3.74, and far ahead of other top spinners.
On Tuesday, despite the presence of power hitters on both sides looking to make good use of the small boundaries, it is the wily flight of Vettori’s spin that could have a definitive say as to which team makes it first-ever World Cup final.
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