Another day, another venue, another top order collapse
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By Rahul Patil
What a difference a day makes. You could be batting on 184 overnight but you have to take fresh guard and start all over again. Brook creamed a straight drive ever so slightly in the air and Matt Henry in his follow through took a brilliant catch to end a magnificent innings. 21 for 3 had finally become 323 for 4. The rest of the batters including captain Ben Stokes tried their best to keep brand ‘Bazball’ alive and played some ridiculous shots. Joe Root at the other end used the reverse scoop effectively to bring up his 150. England declared on 435 for 8 to have a crack at the New Zealand top order for a niggly half hour before the lunch break.
What does normal look like when you are 40? A family, couple of kids maybe. A steady income, a six figure mortgage maybe. A life insurance policy, a rarely used gym subscription maybe. Playing outdoor sport for a club once in a while and then spending the following week recovering from all the aches and pains. School drop off’s, kid’s birthday parties and weekend barbeque’ s with family and friends maybe. A 7 seater SUV and a monthly train pass maybe. Making meal plans, doing the dishes, mowing the lawns and watching a Netflix series with your partner when the kids are in bed maybe.
None of the above involves being the number one ranked bowler in test cricket. Ask Jimmy Anderson and he will probably say “I’m not 40. I am 21 with 19 years of experience.” The fifer on debut against Zimbabwe at lords was in 2003 but 19 years later Jimmy still runs in with the same enthusiasm. If you want to get wickets at the Basin Reserve, you have to follow a formula. (Line + Length) x Patience = wickets. Sounds simple right? But ask Jimmy and he will tell you how hard he has worked to control that red ball and get it to do exactly what he wants it to. In the space of 27 deliveries he had New Zealand reeling at 21 for 3. Yet another top order collapse that they never recovered from. Life begins at 40 you know.
At the Mount Southee and Stead said that they were unlucky to start both their innings against the pink ball under lights. They said normal service would resume with the red ball in a day game in Wellington. The color of the ball has changed but New Zealand’s performance hasn’t.
Three poor shots by Latham, Nicholls and Bracewell and a brilliant reflex catch by Pope to dismiss Mitchell meant that New Zealand were soon reduced to 103 for 7. Another day, another venue and yet another top order collapse. The Blackcaps played a part time off spinner and his treatment in the first innings showed the lack of confidence the captain has in him. On the other hand, regardless of the wicket England always play a spinner and you can see that Stokes backs Leach up to the hilt. Leach responded to his captain’s confidence by picking up 3 wickets. Good spinners can perform on unresponsive pitches too. They just need to be backed.
We have only had just over four sessions of play in this test match but it already looks like only one team can win from here. The Blackcaps fan in me says that our top order has to come good at some stage during this series. If that happens then we might still be in for an interesting finish. If it doesn’t happen then some tough decisions will have to be made. Roll on day 3.
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