England conquer the Mount. The capital is next
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By Rahul Patil
England 1st innings 325 for 9 declared (Duckett 84, Brook 89, Wagner 4/81). New Zealand 1st innings 306 all out (Conway 77, Blundell 138, Robinson 4/54, Anderson 3/36). England 2nd innings 374 all out (Root 57, Brook 54, Foakes 51, Tickner 3/55, Bracewell 3/68). New Zealand 2nd innings 126 all out (Mitchell 57*, Anderson 4/18 Broad 4/49). England won by 267 runs.
Winning and losing are part and parcel of sport. Hence losing a test match is definitely an acceptable outcome. However, what was disappointing to see was that the Blackcaps threw in the towel without any resistance whatsoever in their second innings. Chasing 394 to win in the fourth innings of a test is difficult anywhere in the world. But being all out for 126 in 45.3 overs to lose by 267 runs in the first session of day 4 in a home test is pretty embarrassing. For the first two days New Zealand displayed the grit and determination required to match England but a poor day 3 with the ball and bat meant that the writing was on the wall.
With this defeat it will be the third series in a row at home that the blackcaps have not managed to win. Last year they drew both their home series i.e. with Bangladesh and South Africa. In an era where teams are extremely strong in home conditions this trend of not managing to win at home is quite concerning.
Captain Tim Southee and coach Gary Stead are both confident that a day test played at the Basin Reserve in Wellington with the traditional red ball will definitely improve the performance of New Zealand’s top order. But pink ball or red M/s Anderson and Broad i.e. the most successful bowling partnership in test cricket ever will still land it on a coin, extract any swing on offer and move the ball both ways at decent pace. Their follow up act in Ollie Robinson is also fast making a name for himself as a worthy successor.
The good news is that Matt Henry is back from paternity leave and should share the new ball with Tim Southee. This means Neil Wagner can go back to his first change role after a bit of a nightmare with the ball in the last test. Ish Sodhi has been released from the team which means the Blackcaps will play four seamers and Bracewell. This in turn means that one of either Scott Kuggeleign or Blair Tickner will miss out. Both picked up 4 wickets each at the Mount although Tickner’s wickets came at a lower price. Kuggeleign though has another string to his bow with his abilities with the bat. Coach Stead also voiced his support for the struggling Henry Nicholls and it seems like he will get another opportunity in Wellington.
The real test though will be to find a way to stop England’s super-fast scoring rate which allows them to dictate terms. A lot of thought therefore will have to be put into planning before Friday. Coming up with plans for every individual batter that includes line, length and field settings would be a good start. International cricket is no longer one size fits all. The batters on the other hand will have to work out a way to survive the opening spell from Anderson and Broad. There is no substitute to spending time in the middle to get your rhythm going.
The news coming out of Wellington is that the Basin Reserve has been sold out which is not surprising considering the brand of cricket England are playing. There were more English supporters at the Mount than locals and I expect this trend to continue in Wellington too. At this stage the weather isn’t looking great over all five days but then taking the weather out of the equation is another feature of ‘Bazball’. New Zealand haven’t lost a test series at home for the last 6 years (since the loss to South Africa in 2017). You can bet your bottom dollar that McCullum and Stokes will be doing all they can to change that.
In another part of the world the Australian cricket team is trailing 2-0 in a four test series. Life is not that bad after all.
Rahul’s probable English XI – Crawley, Duckett, Pope, Root, Brook, Stokes, Foakes, Robinson, Broad, Anderson and Leach (No change expected from the 1st test)
Rahul’s probable Blackcaps XI – Latham, Conway, Williamson, Nicholls, Mitchell, Blundell, Bracewell, Henry, Wagner, Southee and Tickner/Kuggeleign
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