New Zealand who often played second fiddle to their more illustrious trans-tasman rivals Australia in limited overs cricket, shed their long standing tag as noteworthy challengers and rose to become a formidable force in one day international cricket under the able captaincy of Brendon McCullum and Kane Williamson during the last decade.
Carrying on their glorious legacy, The 'Black Caps' continued to impress with their superlative performances at major ICC events, making it to two successive World Cup finals, although they ended up as the losing finalist in both the 2015 and 2019 editions to Australia and England respectively.
The Kiwis ODI lineups boasted of some of the finest cricketers of that decade in Kane Williamson, Trent Boult, Brendon McCullum and Martin Guptill; but they always believed in building a winning strategy around collective performances rather than individual brilliance. It indeed was the all-round strength of their ODI unit which turned them into a dangerous opponent for even the best on their day.
So let us have a look at the cricketers who could well be the best fits at their respective positions to make up a Dream Kiwis ODI XI for the decade goneby
Kane Williamson, the most accomplished and technically sound strokemaker was 'Black Caps' batting behemoth in the middle order.The ever dependable Williamson used his eye catching stroke play and sound temperament to graft runs with effortless ease and often steadied the innings, providing the sheet anchor to his more flamboyant partners.His staggering consistency with the willow earned him a well deserving place alongside Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, David Warner and Babar Azam as a top notch ODI batsman during the decade.For yet another decade, Ross Taylor was the perennial workhorse with the bat for the Kiwis, playing both the grafter and accelerator's role to perfection. The powerfully built Maori who excelled at fortifying a strong foundation could also step up the scoring rate with his pugnacious hitting.
Taylor's consistency at notching up runs was second to none and his longevity to perform at the highest level continued to spell bound his teammates and opponents.
Amid the big guns; Tom Latham, Grant Elliot, Henry Nicholls and Luke Ronchi were meaningful contributors with the bat for NZ in white ball cricket.
New Zealand Had Some Brutal Power Hitters To Provide Late Flourish Down The Order
The Kiwis were lent depth and balance in their ODI team courtesy a spree of very fine all-rounders in Scott Styris, James Neesham, Colin De Grandhomme, Corey Anderson and Jacob Oram who were equally adept with the willow and red cherry.
Boult, Southee And Co. Made For A Fearsome Seam Attack
The 'Black Caps' could share honours with the Australians, Indians and South Africans for having the most lethal ODI seam attack that wreaked havoc on opposition in seam friendly conditions back in their den.
The deadly pace duo of Tim Southee and Trent Boult were great exponents at swinging and seaming the new ball and getting the early breakthroughs for their team consistently. Meanwhile, injury prone seamer Kyle Mills enjoyed tremendous success in the ODI arena with his uncanny ability to pick up heaps of wickets.
The red hot menacing pace of tearaway speedsters Lockie Ferguson and Matt Henry was spine chilling and added more venom to an already potent seam attack.
Military Medium pacers like James Neesham, Colin De Grandhomme, Jacob Oram and James Franklin added depth and variety to their pace attack on seam friendly decks. Speed demons Hamish Bennett and Adam Milne had their moments under the sun in their sporadic appearances for the Kiwis.
Early in the decade, the contributions of Jesse Ryder, Scott Styris, Daniel Vettori, Jacob Oram, Nathan McCullum, James Franklin and Neil Broom in building a strong foundation for the team that bloomed in the second half of the decade is noteworthy.
New Zealand Best Probable ODI XI (2010-2019)
Bowlers: Mitchell McClenaghan, Lockie Ferguson, Ish Sodhi, Adam Milne
New Zealand ODI Record (2010-2019)
Played: 192
Won: 98
Win Percentage: 51%
Performance in ICC World Cups (2010-2019
2019 - Finalist, 2015 - Finalist, 2011 - Semifinalists