Tagged with: Stat Attack
Coming into the fourth day of the first Test between Pakistan and New Zealand, Pakistan were 37/0 with a further 139 runs to win and all of their wickets in hand, so none of what was to follow would’ve been possible had Kane Williamson not opted for double spin to start the day.
The retirement of Alastair Cook has gotten plenty of response over in England and around the world, Jimmy Anderson was even moved to tears talking about his old mate. And amidst all the glowing references we were treated to one last masterclass in Cookie’s final innings.
The Test summer began a very long time ago with a couple routine wins against the West Indies, took a long break so that fellas could give a white ball a good whack, then resumed with an instant classic series victory against England.
Well now that was unexpected. The only thing crazier than the Blackcaps skittling the English for 58 is the idea that we could be disappointed at the end of it that the Cappies didn’t slice them off for less.
Alright amigos, we’ve already taken a good punt at the Blackcaps and their batting abilities over the kiwi ODI summer so now it’s time to cast attention towards those purveyors of the round-arm arts, the bawdy bowlers.
Rrecency bias tends to shadow a lot of sporting assessment so it’s easy to forget that the Blackcaps won eight ODIs in a row before the Poms rolled up. So how did the lads stack up when you take the whole home summer and slide it under the microscope? That’s what we’re gonna find out.
It’s lovely to see the Blackcaps winning these days. There were some tough times in there, we’ve had to do the hard yards to get here. Third innings collapses, pathetic death bowling, complete battlers filling out the team, Shane Bond’s injured back… times were tough.
It’s still funny to think that before the 2015 World Cup, Trent Boult could hardly get a run in the ODI team. He’d already stepped up as a Test match swing king but the shorter formats were a different story.
That was a handy little dash of red ink for Taylor. Not just because of the unbeaten 104 run partnership with his buddy that earned another ODI win for the Blackcaps but also because he tipped his career average back over 45.
It began honestly enough, 1/0 after the first over of the season for both teams. Hamish Bennett keeping things tight. Sweet as. Bowling from the other end was 29 year old debutant Ollie Newton...
You already know that after a three test series in which the Blackcaps lost by 197 runs, 178 runs and 321 runs that the numbers aren’t gonna be too glamorous but it all tells a story so here goes.
With his ton in the first innings, Misbah became the sixth oldest man to score a test century. Ever.
Fellas like McCullum, Taylor, Guptill, Elliott, Boult and Southee all did fantastic things in 2015 but none quite measures up to the sustained magnificence of the one we call Prince Kane.
It’s hard to say why exactly, but no team quite flies off the batting handles to such incredible degrees like the Blackcaps do.