Astute Chapman puts his mature chops on display

Behind the boyish charm and the cherubic smile that rarely left his face during the press conference, it's easy to overlook that Mark Chapman has been walking the road of international cricket for over 14 years. From scoring a century on ODI debut for Hong Kong, to crafting a career-best 132 for New Zealand earlier this year, his journey has quietly stitched together one of the most underrated international careers in modern cricket. The 30-year-old played a similarly underrated hand of 45* off 32 against MI New York, a knock that steered his side to a tense two-wicket win.

With the game already set up by a ferocious half century at the top of the order from Mitch Owen, Chapman maturely shunned his attacking instincts as wickets tumbled around him. In recent years, Chapman has evolved into a fearsome ball-striker. His breakout performance against Pakistan in 2023, where he was named Player of the Series, served as a definite stamp to his explosive abilities. But on this occasion, those attacking instincts were shelved.

"When you bat in the middle, you have to pride yourself on taking games deep and finishing games off," said Chapman. "And I was glad today it worked out. Doesn't work out all the time, but, yeah, I guess, from the tournament perspective, when you're in tournament play, it's these close games that you need to get over the line that makes the difference at the end of the round robin".

A sweep heavy operator, Chapman, quite astutely, shed that stroke from his armoury as well particularly against his countryman Michael Bracewell. He swept just once in 14 balls of spin. The decision showcased the level of elevation in his game awareness. With no turn on offer, Chapman's decision to refrain from his 'go to' shot throws light on his ability to gain complete control on his muscle memory. Every stroke in Chapman's unbeaten 45 felt like a drop distilled from the rigours of decade and a half long international journey. At 30, generally considered a batsman's peak, Chapman appears to have blossomed at full bloom as a batsman.

"At the start, I was batting with Mitch Owen. So it was about giving him the strike. He's a tremendous ball striker, and then it's just about assessing as you go. I thought Jack Edwards batted beautifully as well. Unfortunately, run out today, and then we just lost wickets through the middle. So, you just have to assess how hard you go and who you go against. You know, I guess they used their resources early. So it sort of brought us a couple of overs at the end. As you saw Pollard bowled that last over there"

The win affirms Washington Freedom's position at third on the points table, opening up a comfortable four-point lead over MI New York, who remain in fourth place after 4 games. Freedom have been marred by the spate of injuries this season, particularly in their fast bowling department. Spearhead Lockie Ferguson has been unavailable since the start of the tournament, Ben Sears is still nursing a warm-up injury caused ahead of their second game, and Jason Behrendorff has already returned home after being declared unfit. Against that backdrop, captain Mark Chapman lauded his depleted bowling unit for holding their nerve at the death and reining in MI New York after a blistering start in the powerplay.

"I think the theme here has been chasing is, is your preference if you've got the choice. But, you know, I guess it was a used surface, the same surface as yesterday, so probably a fraction slower. But yeah, I mean, I guess for us, it's just about assessing the conditions. Thankfully, we get to have a look. But obviously the boulders have to, have to do the job up front. And I think today, we pulled them back really nicely after they had a really good start. And to keep them under 200 was outstanding. And then thankfully, what we were able to chase it"

A new dad now, Chapman at 30 is still looking to get an established role in the New Zealand team. He'll hope the new arrival at home marks one for his own in the New Zealand middle order too.