Anderson and Leach rip through the Black Caps
Day 2: New Zealand v England. Basin Reserve, Wellington.
Day 2: New Zealand v England. Basin Reserve, Wellington.
Hello and welcome to day 2 of the 2nd and final Test Match of England’s brief winter tour to New Zealand and their last but one match before their hotly anticipated Ashes clash with our collective cricketing cousins from Australia later this summer.
Today’s welcome is from a star filled, crisp, clear and cold Wellington in the heart of England as we cross to another Wellington 11,000 miles away and a rather gloomy and grey skied capital city of New Zealand that everyone hopes will not result in the forecasted rain later in the day, and a replica of yesterday that curtailed the day’s play nearly two hours and 25 overs early. As a result, this evening’s/morning’s play was commenced half an hour early for an extended two and a half hour first session that contained 7 wickets, a farcical stumping, a declaration, dropped catches, cricketing “lives”, 132 total runs, boundary 4’s and 6’s galore, and a rampant England team riding the crest of a revolutionary wave.
England started day 2 with a commanding 1st innings total of 315–3 with the mighty centurions of yesterday Harry Brook on 184 not out and Joe Root 101 not out.
Without further ado, let’s skip to it shall we?
Act One: Kamikaze Kricket!
9.42pm HARRY BROOK caught and bowled Henry (186)
Yesterday’s swashbuckling hero added just 2 runs to his overnight total before drilling a caught and bowled chance directly back to the impressive Matt Henry. The Kiwi bowler juggled a sharp catch off his arm and body before grasping the catch one handed as he fell to the wicket, but Brook was gone and only seconds after batting partner Joe Root had brought up their 300 run partnership (300 run partnership!) with an audacious reverse scoop for a boundary 6!
10.14pm BEN STOKES caught sub (Kuggeleijn) bowled Wagner (27)
The England captain’s innings was a half an hour cameo affair including two cricketing “lives” (dropped when on 13 by the substitute fielder Scott Kuggeleijn before he survived a close shout for Leg Before Wicket when on 21) but the intent for quick runs was there from the outset. Stokes’ first three run scoring shots went for boundary 4’s before, in the cricketing vernacular, he “slogged” one too many times and limped a simple catch to the same substitute fielder who’d dropped him 14 runs earlier.
10.21pm BEN FOAKES stumped Blundell bowled Bracewell (0)
Foakes lasted just 7 minutes and 5 balls at the crease before he comically overbalanced to a leg side delivery from Bracewell and fell flat on his face! A yard short of his crease, he scrambled and inched his way back but it was too late, Blundell whipped off the bails and in the chase for quick runs England had toppled from their overnight score of 315–3 to now, 363–6.
10.39pm STUART BROAD lbw bowled Bracewell (14)
Broad followed the template set by captain Stokes by bludgeoning 14 quick runs from 17 balls received before trying to sweep the spin bowling of Michael Bracewell and was trapped LBW (Leg Before Wicket). I immediately gave it out, so did umpire Rod Tucker and despite the referral to the DRS or TV Umpire, Broad was, in the cricketing vernacular once more, “plumb” and “dead” in front of his stumps with the TV replay confirming the ball would’ve crashed into the top of his middle stump.
10.48pm DRINKS BREAK — England 401–7 (Root 142 not out)
In the chase for quick runs, England had added a further 86 runs for the loss of 4 wickets this morning with ex captain Joe Root steadfast in his determination to continue to provide a backbone to their first innings.
11.11pm OLLIE ROBINSON caught Southee bowled Henry (18)
Matt Henry deserved this, his fourth wicket of the innings, and just one ball after seeing Robinson given a cricketing “life” after a faintly ridiculous dropped catch by his wicket-keeper, Tom Blundell. It was the easiest of catches for the gloveman behind the stumps but no matter, the very next ball Robinson tamely poked a simple catch to Kiwi captain Tim Southee at the mid-off position, and I predicted a quick England declaration, the decision which followed 9 minutes later.
11.20pm DECLARATION — England 435–8 declared (Root 153 not out)
Joe Root compiled another 52 runs this morning as he struck that fine balance between run accumulation whilst ensuring he stayed for the duration of the innings. Whereas yesterday he barely reached the boundary for his first 50 runs, his last 50 runs this morning started with a reverse scoop for a boundary 6 before he scattered 2 more 6’s and a handful of boundary 4’s in yet another remarkable innings for his country.
With Root approaching his milestone of 150 and there being 40 minutes of the opening session still to play, it was an easy and obvious decision for Ben Stokes to declare. With 10 minutes lost to the change in innings, Stokes could now unleash his strike bowlers in James Anderson and Stuart Broad for 30 minutes pre the lunch break as well as having them fresh once more for another attacking onslaught after the 40 minute break for lunch. It’s a tactic as old as cricketing time: the bowling team are playing with the house’s money and cannot lose whilst the batting team are under serious, serious pressure, and cannot win.
Step forward James “Jimmy” Anderson once more.
11.33pm DEVON CONWAY caught Foakes bowled Anderson (0)
Kiwi opening batsman Devon Conway lasted 3 minutes, 3 balls, 5 total team balls received and just 1 team run before he edged the tiniest of nicks through to Ben Foakes behind the stumps. There was a muted appeal at first before captain Stokes was persuaded to challenge the original umpire decision of not out. The DRS replay showed the faintest of edges, Conway was on his way, and New Zealand were 1–1.
6 runs later, and that no win situation for the hosts was readily apparent once more.
11.52pm KANE WILLIAMSON caught Foakes bowled Anderson (4)
With just 8 minutes remaining of the elongated opening session of play, the dangerous Williamson wafted at a somewhat wide delivery from Anderson he could only edge behind to wicket-keeper Foakes, and New Zealand were now 7–2 and in all sorts of trouble.
12.03am LUNCH BREAK — New Zealand 12–2 (trailing by 423 runs)
Act Two: Anderson and Leach rip through the Kiwi top order
Commencing the second session of the day at a precarious 12–2, it would take England just 11 minutes to push New Zealand further toward the precipice of a 1st innings collapse, and it was that man James Anderson once more.
12.51am WILL YOUNG caught Foakes bowled Anderson (2)
With just 2 runs from 9 balls received, Young was the recipient of an unplayable cricketing “Jaffa” from Anderson that snagged the shoulder of his bat and a simple edge once more through to wicket-keeper Foakes, and New Zealand were 21–3 and in exactly the same trouble, and on exactly the same score, as their tormentors were in their 1st innings. However, whereas England through Brook and Root stabilised their innings before compiling an astonishing 300+ run partnership, there would be no such rearguard action from the hosts.
1.50am TOM LATHAM caught Root bowled Leach (35)
The first of Leach’s three wickets was mired in controversy as Latham reviewed the initial umpiring decision of out as he felt the looping catch presented to Joe Root at 1st slip came off his armguard rather than his bat or gloves. The DRS replay appeared to show, frame by painstaking frame, the ball flicking his glove before his armguard, he was adjudicated as out, before he disconsolately trudged back toward the pavilion. It was hard on Latham who’d scored over half of his team’s total of 60–4 at this point, but he had to go.
2.11am HENRY NICHOLLS caught Pope bowled Leach (30)
Nicholls together Latham had been the backbone of resistance for the hosts before he attempted a reverse sweep that was brilliantly taken by Ollie Pope at the “Short Leg” position. Like Latham it was hard on Nicholls but if Pope’s catch here was brilliantly taken, you ain’t seen nothing yet!
2.45am DARYL MITCHELL caught Pope bowled Leach (13)
Now fielding at the “Silly Mid-Off” position (as per the image above and yes it’s termed silly mid-off and yes it’s silly!) Pope snags a brilliant a close in catch to dismiss the dangerous Daryl Mitchell, such a thorn in England’s side during New Zealand’s reverse tour to England last summer, and the session ends with the immediate break for tea and with New Zealand struggling and collapsing on 96–6.
Minutes later, and with the white clouds above darkening to the shade of the pitch black dark here in a different Wellington in England, your humble cricketing correspondence departed for bed fearing rain on the other side of the world.
Act Three: Rain curtails another Test Match day once more
Only 40 minutes of play was possible in the third and last session of the day before, in a repeat of yesterday, the rains fell heavily late in the day, cancelling out the last two hours of play. In the 40 or so minutes played, the hosts took their pre-tea total of 96–6 through to an end of day 138–7 due in no small part to the big hitting counter-attack of their captain Tim Southee who finished the day 23 not out from just 18 balls received but they also lost one further wicket, that of all-rounder Michael Bracewell for 6, another of the day’s “caught and bowled” victims, this time to Stuart Broad.
Afterword
12 wickets fell in another rain shortened day that also saw 258 total runs scored between the teams. With only 2 days of a 5 day Test Match complete, the weather in a faraway Wellington will perhaps be the deciding factor as if the hosts do not score 98 runs in the remainder of the 1st innings, England captain Ben Stokes will have a game defining decision to make:
(a) Enforce the “follow-on” and make New Zealand bat immediately again or
(b) Let his batsmen loose to build upon whatever already big lead they have to post an impossible total to chase and slowly but surely take the wickets required for an 11th win from his 12 games as captain.
As ever, the first hour of play tomorrow is crucial and here’s hoping the New Zealand weather does not spoil an otherwise intriguing Test Match in the grandest of all games.
See you tomorrow!
Thanks for reading. My “Cricket” library contains every Test Match from England’s recent overseas tours to Australia, Pakistan and the West Indies or alternatively, a link below to my re-cap of yesterday’s play on day 1 here in Wellington:
Harry Brook and Joe Root put the Kiwis to the sword
Day 1: New Zealand v England. Basin Reserve, Wellington.medium.com