Cricket Banter

Matt Henry has taken wickets for fun during his spells in County Cricket in England, & has an impressive record for New Zealand in ODI's. He's clearly an accomplished bowler, but 37 wickets at an average of 46 hasn't done his skills justice. But he's had limited opportunities, just 14 Tests. Only made the side for this match, due to Trent Boult attending the birth of his child. The time he didn't waste another chance, his 7-23 was the joint best for New Zealand in home Tests, equal to none other than Richard Hadlee, in 1976 at Wellington against India.
All his dismissals were caught behind the wicket, other than one lbw, good accurate bowling which was richly rewarded.

NZ v SA 1st Test Christchurch day 2 Close
NZ won the toss & elected to field
SA 95 (49.2 overs) Hanza 25 Henry 7-23
NZ (39 overs) Nicholls 105 Blundell 96 Henry 58 no Wagner49 De Grandhomme 45 Olivier 3-100 Markram 2-27 Jansen 2-96 Rabada 2-113
SA 34-3 (9 overs) Bavuma 22 no Southee 2-20

New Zealand put the pitch into perspective on day 2. I wasn't a 95 all out surface. Wagner played the perfect role of a Nightwatchman after returning the next day, with an aggressive knock. Nicholls century set up the innings, keeper Blundell just fell short of his, as he looks to cement his place in the side after the retirement of the dependable B J Watling. Then a 94 run partnership for the 10th wicket between De Granhomme & Matt Henry put the game well beyond South Africa, before Southee & Henry made inroads into the Proteas top order.

AUS v SL 4th T20I Melbourne
AUS won the toss & elected to field
SL 139-8 (20 overs) Nissanka 46 Mendis 27 Assalanka 22 Jhye Richardson 2-20 Kane Richardson 2-44
AUS 143-4 (18.1 overs) Maxwell 48 no Inglis 40 Kumara 2-22
Australia won by 6 wickets

IND V WI 2nd T20I Kolkata
WI won the toss & elected to field
IND 186-5 (20 overs)Pant 52 no Kohli 52 Iyer 33 Chase 3-25
WI 187-3 Powell 68 no Pooran 62
India won by 8 runs

(18-02-2022 13:02 )Boomerangutangangbang Wrote:  New Zealand put the pitch into perspective on day 2. I wasn't a 95 all out surface. Wagner played the perfect role of a Nightwatchman after returning the next day, with an aggressive knock. Nicholls century set up the innings, keeper Blundell just fell short of his, as he looks to cement his place in the side after the retirement of the dependable B J Watling. Then a 94 run partnership for the 10th wicket between De Granhomme & Matt Henry put the game well beyond South Africa, before Southee & Henry made inroads into the Proteas top order.

It is like this game is being played on two different surfaces! SA are tumbling second dig now too (same lack of application though) after NZ made plenty. An Inns win for the world champions (should always be reminded of that fact) seems inevitable!! I guess - like every touring nation - SA had interrupted prep, but it is almost as if they were presented with the day one conditions, and simply gave up?? What has happened to the once mighty proteas?? On paper, they should be WC contenders themselves.

As expected South Africa didn't offer much resistance, aside from Bavuma (41) & Verryenne (30), as they were knocked over for 111 in 41.4 overs. Southee was the pock of the bowlers with 5-35. Matt Henry was awarded Man of the Match with 9-55 & 58 not out.
All the signs before this series was that South Africa could compete, after a spirited performance against India. Clearly two very capable bowling attacks, but New Zealand have the edge with a much more experienced & settled batting line-up, despite having to cope without Williamson. Losing Keegan Petersen for the series disrupted the South Africa batting order. He took the Man of the Series award against India, batting at 3, & he will be playing for Durham this season to further his development.
After an innings & 276 run defeat it will take some turnaround to level the series with just one match remaining. New Zealand have yet to win a Test Series against the Proteas, but look strong favourites to do so.

Bavuma typified the Proteas approach Booms. He and others (including Elgar to an extent) were - i am convinced - poorly 'alligned' at address. Bavuma in particular seemed to be in a position where he thought he was aligned to off stump, but to me he was actually (and mistakenly obviously) playing for offside 'fourth' stump, meaning that he was inevitably 'chasing' the ball that left him. Part of that was due to the 'skills' of Southee and the rest dragging him across, but his trigger was landing him (and others) in no mans land. Maybe not a big fix with time, but they don't have that with such a short tour.

India v West Indies 3rd T20I
West Indies won the toss & elected to field
IND 184-5 Surayakumar 65 Venkatesh Iyer 35 no Kishan 34 Shreyas Iyer 25
WI 167-9 Pooran 61 Shepherd 29 Powell 25 Harshall 3-22 Chahar 2-15 Venkatesh 2-23
India won by 17 runs

Bangladesh v Afghanistan 1st ODI Chattogram
Afghanistan won the toss & elected to bat
Afghanistan 215 (49.1 overs) Zadran 67 Rahmat Shah 34 Mustafizur 3-35 Shoriful 2-38 Shakib 2-50 Taskin 2-55
Bangladesh 219-6 (48.5 overs) Afif Hossain 93 no Miraz 81 no Fazalhaq Farooi 4-54
Bangladesh won by 4 wickets