Blundell century keeps New Zealand hopes alive in Mount Maunganui Test
But England retain a slender lead entering Day 3.
But England retain a slender lead entering Day 3.
Test Match Update: ENGLAND 325–9 and 79–2. NEW ZEALAND 306 all out.
England lead by 98 runs.
Watching Test Match cricket live in the dead of night from the other side of the world presents many dilemmas and none more so than when the grand old game doffs its cricketing cap to the forward thinking progress of sporting entertainment under the excitement of night time floodlights. Rather than the already late 11pm start time here in England, a day/night Test Match necessitates the even later start time of 1am and so by 3am and the game’s first official break in play for “lunch”, this is now deemed “tea” and two and a half hours later, “lunch” is now taken by the players on the other side of a world where an English cricket fan will be peering through the outside gloaming of a morning about to break, with breakfast being the order of the day rather than a lunch at tea-time, and all before a final session of play under the floodlights in the dark of New Zealand as the dawn of light breaks for a new day here in England. All in all, it can be rather discombobulating.
I’m a veteran of 11pm starts, either with today’s foes New Zealand or their feisty Australian neighbours. By 1am and the correctly named “lunch” break you have 40 minutes for a shower and a freshly brewed cup of tea before the afternoon session in the sunshine of an English dark and deadened night and by 4am you’re fighting off the sleeping terrors with chocolate biscuits and then my friend, you’re in the home straight until 7am and another glorious day/night/yesterday and tomorrow of watching Test Match cricket from a mystical land far, far away.
Here’s the first session of today’s play coloured with a flavour for the first two fascinating hours of Test Match cricket shot through the prism of the sleep deprived and discombobulated disposition of a cricket fan celebrating his birthday with far too much fun, and far too much sleep inducing birthday cake.
1.36am NEIL WAGNER caught Robinson bowled Broad (27)
Starting the day on 37–3, Wagner accompanied opening batsman Devon Conway in the quaintly old fashioned “Night Watchman” role from the end of the day’s play yesterday and rather than simply doggedly defending he took the attack to the England bowlers. For 21 minutes and 11 runs, Wagner provided a perfect foil to his accomplished and established batting partner before he hooked one too many times in the direction of Jack Leach on the boundary. Bespectacled Leach juggled the rather rudimentary catch not once, twice or even three times, more like six or seven as the ball slipped and slithered from his grasp, and several other body parts, as he collapsed to the turf but crucially, with the ball now safely in his grasp. Sadly for Leach and bowler Broad, he’d over-stepped, the ball was called a “no-ball” and Leach’s juggling act was all in vain.
Bowling a “no-ball” in cricket is indefensible and Wagner rather continued with the theme of attack rather than defence by dispatching Broad for a boundary 4 before two consecutive and huge boundary 6’s. The veteran English bowler took his revenge with his fourth delivery and a slower ball the Kiwi bowler, come batsman, could only tamely loft in the direction of Ollie Robinson.
Wagner’s quickly accumulated 27 runs from just 32 balls faced had been way more than expected of his emergency batting role and New Zealand were now 82–4 with the dangerous Daryl Mitchell, and man in form, striding to the wicket.
1.50am DARYL MITCHELL lbw bowled Robinson (0)
Last summer was a golden one for Mitchell on the reverse tour here in England but here he scratched around without scoring from 9 balls before he, in the cricketing vernacular, “shouldered arms” and didn’t play a shot to his 10th delivery, a sharp, jagging inward delivery from Robinson adjudged LBW (Leg Before Wicket) and he rather disconsolately trudged back toward the Pavilion without even troubling the DRS and TV umpire.
New Zealand had added just a single run in 14 minutes and were teetering on the brink of collapse at 83–5.
2.05am Mid-Session Drinks Break
New Zealand add a further 4 runs to their total and are 87–5 at the mid-session break. With new batsman Tom Blundell yet to score, Devon Conway remains 42 not out at the break, having added 25 runs hence far today from his overnight total of 17.
3.05am Tea Break — New Zealand 138–5
In the remaining hour of the session, a 51 run partnership between a now fluent Devon Conway (72 not out) and Tom Blundell (21 not out) ride out the storm of a batting collapse to see the hosts at a rather more steady 138–5 at the break.
Sessions two and three today, be it under fading daylight or the brilliance and spectacle of the artificial floodlights illuminating the Bay Oval, were a roller-coaster of a ride for the hosts as they almost reached parity on first innings with their visitors, before rather releasing the pressure valve in a poor final session under lights in which they eventually snagged two late English cricketing victims. They would fall just 19 runs short of reaching England’s 1st innings total but they would’ve fallen far, far shorter had it not been for the performance of the day from their wicket-keeper batsman Tom Blundell. Resuming at 21 not out at the start of the afternoon session, he soon saw Devon Conway, again in the cricketing vernacular, “bounced out” by a short pitched ball from England captain Ben Stokes and just 4 overs later, all-rounder Michael Bracewell limply chipped a simple catch to the England captain off the bowling of Jack Leach, and New Zealand were once again teetering on the brink of falling way short of their visitors first “dig” with the bat.
Ably assisted by the lusty boundary blows and 30 runs from Scott Kuggeleijn and Tim Southee, Tom Blundell took centre stage with 19 boundary 4’s and 1 boundary 6 in his 138 from 181 balls received and by the time of his tired and limp catch to Jimmy Anderson that ended his team’s innings, his captain and colleagues were keen to re-take the field and return the pressure upon the England batsmen. To fall 19 runs short chasing parity and now the chance to bowl at England under the glare and conditions changing floodlights was an absolutely ideal situation for New Zealand and yet they rather squandered a position of strength to end day day two behind on my cricketing scorecard.
Neil Wagner was again expensive, as too captain Tim Southee, as they allowed the England opening partnership of Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett to race rather easily to 52 before the hosts debutants saved their Test Match day. Blair Tickner was as expensive as his veteran bowling colleagues but he crucially snagged an edge from the bat of Duckett that flew easily into the hands of Tom Latham at 2nd slip and fellow debutant Scott Kuggeleijn followed suit minutes later by snagging an under edge from the bat of Zak Crawley and England were 68–2 before limping to the end of the day’s play with Stuart Broad now on “Night Watchman” duty on 6 runs beside established batsman Ollie Pope on 14.
So England have a 98 run lead entering day 3 of this intriguing Test Match and rather a roles reversed position from this morning with a stand in batsman standing watch over the established batsmen to come for a team who will now doubt be looking to emulate what New Zealand have done today. Accumulate 300+ runs and in the absence of a number of batsmen scoring a half century of runs each, one batsman to score a notable, game defining, big century.
As Tom Blundell did today.
Yet another beautifully exciting and enticing first session of play is in the offing tomorrow. Can Stuart Broad, in the cricketing vernacular once more, “hang around” with established batsmen as they accumulate possibly game defining runs or will have the cricketing “licence” to try and score big, rapid runs? Time for an Ollie Pope century? A much needed one for ex skipper Joe Root? Can Harry Brook thrill us all once more with another stunning display of batting artistry? Or will Tim Southee’s nagging persistence, the erratic yet wicket taking ability of Neil Wagner or will debutants Blair Tickner and Scott Kuggeleijn have a wicket taking debut to remember?
Time will tell.
It always does.
Thanks for reading. My day 1 re-cap from this Test Match is linked below, as are my two most recently published articles from outside of the cricketing world:
England take charge after Day 1 in Mount Maunganui
12 wickets tumble under the New Zealand lights.medium.com
Derby delight for Liverpool as the Reds drop the Blues
Liverpool 2 Everton 0, 13th February 2023.medium.com
“The Square” (2017)
Bizarre tale of a society in need of help.medium.com