Love Kane, but his ND team mate Santner is like his little pet project. After 23 tests he averages an awful 44 runs/wkt with the ball!! Would be a negative/defensive selection. Wagner & de Grandhomme can both do a job holding up an end. Should play Patel if the pitch is dry.
Conway to score big on debut? Pressure on the old stager Taylor to get runs. Wil Young is breathing down his neck. Jamieson to prove a handful down the slope?
Otherwise English are yes there for the taking, if can see off Broad & Anderson. Real shame Boult is not available.
But I think we can go in as favourites against India in Southampton. A billion and half Indians will hate the thought of losing to little old NZ - admittedly they mostly have bigger problems day to day at the moment!
Well done Black Caps. Bring on India. David verus Goliath. Would be a massive achievement to be crowned first World Test Champions. But whatever the result there is a huge amount to like about this current NZ cricket team.
Up the cricket. Would rather have a decent test series of 3-5 tests against any top 4 nation than a one-off final test, but! Seeing we’re here, all in. Cmon Kiwi!
Urrrrrrrrrrrrgh. Has Southee's dropped chance of Pant, cost us victory?
His 3rd dropped slips catches over 2 tests in England (he missed the Egbaston Test). Might be time to leave the cordon. Conway's a sometime keeper, so should have good hands.
World Test Champs. Fudgeen eh! Out of superstition spent 2 hours standing up walking around (no wickets lost), after 2 wickets had fallen whilst was sitting down. Great to have the old dog Taylor hit the winning runs.
A model for other NZ teams, that even if you don't have the biggest playing base, or most cash you can still succeed, against the odds. Much of which is about getting it mostly right off the field, and having the best systems, player development, team first culture, strong leadership, long term planning etc etc etc.
Some learnings for a team & club like Wellington Phoenix FC, for sure - who are themselves starting to look like they are getting it mostly right at HQ.
Stags v Canterbury. The reds needing 35 off 30 balls. 5 wickets down. Enter Doug Bracewell. By the time he finished his over the Reds needed 9 from 20 balls Time to retire Doug, You snatched a loss from the jaws of victory.
Ajaz gets a 10-fer!!! Bowls out the country of his birth by himself. The 3rd man in test history to achieve such a feat.
Goes past NZ legend Sir Richard Hadlee's best figures of 9-52 in an innings in the process.
Stunning effort 👏👏👏
and even with that effort he's not selected for the test against the bangers - I'll bet Stead is regretting that decision, watching his 4 swing bowlers struggle and the opposition spinners giving us all kinds of trouble.
Well done Bangladesh. Knocked over the world test champions on their home turf. Cue Phoenix at Melbourne City tonight!
Nice call! South Africa's even looking like a possibility of knocking over India at the time of writing (111-2 chasing 240 in the 4th innings). Good day for the underdogs.
England will still lose to Australia though (even though it's early days in that one), some things never change.
Well done Bangladesh. Knocked over the world test champions on their home turf. Cue Phoenix at Melbourne City tonight!
Nice call! South Africa's even looking like a possibility of knocking over India at the time of writing (111-2 chasing 240 in the 4th innings). Good day for the underdogs.
England will still lose to Australia though (even though it's early days in that one), some things never change.
That game has been awesome to watch on Nightshift ;)
Well done Bangladesh. Knocked over the world test champions on their home turf. Cue Phoenix at Melbourne City tonight!
Nice call! South Africa's even looking like a possibility of knocking over India at the time of writing (111-2 chasing 240 in the 4th innings). Good day for the underdogs.
England will still lose to Australia though (even though it's early days in that one), some things never change.
That game has been awesome to watch on Nightshift ;)
It wasn't even close in the end; the biggest sweat was the rain holding out, not India getting 10 wickets!
2022 has been a fun year so far (if you don't look at it from a NZ only perspective)... it's good for test cricket to have Bangladesh and SAF winning matches against big teams. Even England has lasted past day 3 and had someone get a century! I much prefer this over the saturation of T20 matches.
Alright, back to normal service. Black caps 349-1 after day one. Pretty much the near perfect response after the upset at Bay Oval the other day. Rosco would probably have been expecting a bat today on that green top, but gets to put his feet up (pads at the ready I'm sure) in his last test match before retirement.
Blackcaps looking for 600+ at this rate and to have the Banglas in under pressure for 10-20 overs before stumps tomorrow evening.
yep, normal service has resumed, Bangers getting trounced. Chasing 521 in the 1st they are 11-4 Boult and Southee being their destructive selves. At this rate they'll be batting again within 24 hours
Not that they have anything to prove after years of quality service for NZ, but Southee and Boult have come out with a purpose today in their bowling. Good carry and swinging the ball to excellent effect here.
They were otherwise too short and too back of a length in Tauranga to really trouble Bangladesh on a very flat wicket, add to that, a touch down on pace too which was probably the most disappointing aspect for mine.
Get the feeling the group were all given a very stern word during the build up to this test too, which looks to have paid off so far.
Almost forgot the South African series was starting today. Saw an update on my phone that SA been rolled for 95. Matt Henry in for Boult (sat out this one for the birth of his 2nd or 3rd child from what I understand) and he nabs 7-23!
At least I'll get to see us bat the remainder of the afternoon. 😁
you are also ignoring the fact that as always the Chch pitch is a green one with loads of moisture so it swings like a bugger. Plus Henry bowled really well.
