qpeedore
SOTM Winner - July 2014
No pictures in this update. Honestly, the pictures really hold me back, I think.
Pitch report ? Day 5
This match looks like it is all going Bangladesh?s way and the pitch will continue to offer the bowlers plenty of help. Wickets are going to fall at regular intervals unless the batsmen choose to stick themselves in there and really play the innings of the lives.
Ryder speaks to the cameras this morning. He refuses to say if New Zealand would be going for the win or for the draw, but with three wickets already down they had a lot of thinking to do. They needed a big partnership if they wanted to survive the day but they definitely had the talent with which to build an innings.
Play ? Day 5
The batsmen seemed to have no plans about going for the victory today and they played as defensively as possible. That made things a little harder for the bowlers, but with the pitch as it was things were never too hard and it took Sharif just a few overs to settle into a nice rhythm and unsettle both batsmen a couple of times before he got the wicket of Taylor with one that kept lower than usual. The ball hit the pads and the umpire responded in affirmative to the appeals. Replays suggested the ball may have clipped the leg stump. New Zealand were 57 for 4 and the last true batting pair was at the crease.
They played the ball well, though, taking a page from the Bangladeshis and leaving alone the wide balls. Soon Kitchen was nearing fifty and the spinners were really not troubling the batsmen despite getting an abundance of turn from the pitch. The fifty partnership came up with a single past backward point and Bangladesh were starting to look a little weary in the field. New Zealand went to lunch with the score at 111 for 4, still 293 needed to win but that did not seem to matter at that time.
After lunch Wells brought up a hard-earned fifty with a single down the ground. Saleh was in a tight spot again and he decided to go with his proven partnership breaker, Tamim. That ploy did not work, however, and now Wells was closing in on his fifty as well.
He got there with a couple of runs to the left of third man and in the process brought up the 100 stand between the two men. Bangladesh were at a loss as to what to do and New Zealand took advantage of that, getting themselves to tea without losing any further wickets. 224 runs were needed from the final session but that was not important at all.
After tea it continued to be more frustration for Bangladesh as the batsmen just hung in there no matter what. Saleh took the new ball as soon as it was due, hoping that it would work but even that was not effective. In addition to that, Kitchen had gotten himself into the 90s and looked set for a century.
It was Mahmud who finally broke the 159-run partnership with a brilliant piece of fielding from his own bowling to get rid of Wells for 80. Bangladesh were in with half a chance again with 5 wickets to get in the final hour of the match. But Franklin had played well in the first innings and he would want to repeat that in this innings as well.
The loss of one half of a big partnership often brought about the loss of the other batsman and Kitchen would not reach his century after all, as he fell in the very next over, getting a faint edge to Nadimuddin. He went for 95 off of 235 balls and after almost 6 hours in the crease. 6 wickets down and 50 minutes of play to go.
Tuffey and Franklin took up about 20 more minutes before Shakib had Tuffey bowled for 4. 3 more wickets for Bangladesh and 33 more minutes for New Zealand to bat out.
Southee did his job of staying in the crease and it was only in the final over that he was out, giving third man catching practice and Sharif his second 5-wicket haul of the match. There was still time for even more heroics from the seamer, though. If he could take the final two wickets in the remaining five balls, he would be talked about in cricketing stories for just about forever.
Gillespie came to the crease to find three slips, a gully, a point, silly mid off, short leg, and an orthodox mid off and mid on waiting for him. He took his guard and prepared to face a bowler who would be on top of the world after getting a five-for.
Sharif bowled. The ball was aimed at the stumps and moved in off the seam. Southee glanced it off his legs for a single to bring the more capable Franklin on strike. The fielders closed in for him as well. Runs were not important.
The third ball was speared at the off stump. Franklin jammed the bat down just in time. Three balls to go.
The fourth ball was a little too short for Franklin to bother with and it passed harmlessly to the keeper.
The fifth ball was aimed at middle stump but Franklin was able to defend into the off side. Bangladesh had no chance of winning now and the final ball of the match was another straight ball that was defended by Franklin.
End of New Zealand innings ? 248/8, Kitchen 95, Sharif 5-65
Match drawn
Post-match, Saleh says that it was the partnership of Wells and Kitchen that cost Bangladesh the victory. They just stuck in there and refused to get themselves out. But he was happy that his side had dominated for so much of the match and on another day, the result might have been different.
Shuvagoto Hom is the man of the match and he says that his maiden Test ton is something that he has looked forward to for a long time now. He says that with this out of the way he can just focus on playing his cricket because the critics are sure to keep quiet for a while. His only regret is that Bangladesh could not win the match to make the memory even sweeter.
Ross Taylor congratulates Wells and Kitchen for their amazing partnership, saying that it was due to them that the match was taken to a draw. Bangladesh had bowled superbly, but they had little experience with winning matches and taking 20 wickets seemed like a hard task for them. He is happy to have won the series, though, and now he and his team can look forward to the one days coming up.
He collects the trophy and walks over to his team as they start celebrating. The Bangladeshis give them some applause before leaving the limelight to the Kiwis. They walk over to the New Zealand supporters and start celebrating with them as well as the cameras cut to the analysis.
Pitch report ? Day 5
This match looks like it is all going Bangladesh?s way and the pitch will continue to offer the bowlers plenty of help. Wickets are going to fall at regular intervals unless the batsmen choose to stick themselves in there and really play the innings of the lives.
Ryder speaks to the cameras this morning. He refuses to say if New Zealand would be going for the win or for the draw, but with three wickets already down they had a lot of thinking to do. They needed a big partnership if they wanted to survive the day but they definitely had the talent with which to build an innings.
Play ? Day 5
The batsmen seemed to have no plans about going for the victory today and they played as defensively as possible. That made things a little harder for the bowlers, but with the pitch as it was things were never too hard and it took Sharif just a few overs to settle into a nice rhythm and unsettle both batsmen a couple of times before he got the wicket of Taylor with one that kept lower than usual. The ball hit the pads and the umpire responded in affirmative to the appeals. Replays suggested the ball may have clipped the leg stump. New Zealand were 57 for 4 and the last true batting pair was at the crease.
They played the ball well, though, taking a page from the Bangladeshis and leaving alone the wide balls. Soon Kitchen was nearing fifty and the spinners were really not troubling the batsmen despite getting an abundance of turn from the pitch. The fifty partnership came up with a single past backward point and Bangladesh were starting to look a little weary in the field. New Zealand went to lunch with the score at 111 for 4, still 293 needed to win but that did not seem to matter at that time.
After lunch Wells brought up a hard-earned fifty with a single down the ground. Saleh was in a tight spot again and he decided to go with his proven partnership breaker, Tamim. That ploy did not work, however, and now Wells was closing in on his fifty as well.
He got there with a couple of runs to the left of third man and in the process brought up the 100 stand between the two men. Bangladesh were at a loss as to what to do and New Zealand took advantage of that, getting themselves to tea without losing any further wickets. 224 runs were needed from the final session but that was not important at all.
After tea it continued to be more frustration for Bangladesh as the batsmen just hung in there no matter what. Saleh took the new ball as soon as it was due, hoping that it would work but even that was not effective. In addition to that, Kitchen had gotten himself into the 90s and looked set for a century.
It was Mahmud who finally broke the 159-run partnership with a brilliant piece of fielding from his own bowling to get rid of Wells for 80. Bangladesh were in with half a chance again with 5 wickets to get in the final hour of the match. But Franklin had played well in the first innings and he would want to repeat that in this innings as well.
The loss of one half of a big partnership often brought about the loss of the other batsman and Kitchen would not reach his century after all, as he fell in the very next over, getting a faint edge to Nadimuddin. He went for 95 off of 235 balls and after almost 6 hours in the crease. 6 wickets down and 50 minutes of play to go.
Tuffey and Franklin took up about 20 more minutes before Shakib had Tuffey bowled for 4. 3 more wickets for Bangladesh and 33 more minutes for New Zealand to bat out.
Southee did his job of staying in the crease and it was only in the final over that he was out, giving third man catching practice and Sharif his second 5-wicket haul of the match. There was still time for even more heroics from the seamer, though. If he could take the final two wickets in the remaining five balls, he would be talked about in cricketing stories for just about forever.
Gillespie came to the crease to find three slips, a gully, a point, silly mid off, short leg, and an orthodox mid off and mid on waiting for him. He took his guard and prepared to face a bowler who would be on top of the world after getting a five-for.
Sharif bowled. The ball was aimed at the stumps and moved in off the seam. Southee glanced it off his legs for a single to bring the more capable Franklin on strike. The fielders closed in for him as well. Runs were not important.
The third ball was speared at the off stump. Franklin jammed the bat down just in time. Three balls to go.
The fourth ball was a little too short for Franklin to bother with and it passed harmlessly to the keeper.
The fifth ball was aimed at middle stump but Franklin was able to defend into the off side. Bangladesh had no chance of winning now and the final ball of the match was another straight ball that was defended by Franklin.
End of New Zealand innings ? 248/8, Kitchen 95, Sharif 5-65
Match drawn
Code:
**********************************************
New Zealand - 2nd Innings
----------------------------------------------
J Raval c Mahmud b Sharif 6
B McCullum c Saleh b Sharif 1
J Ryder b Sharif 5
R Taylor lbw b Sharif 18
A Kitchen c Nadimuddin b Al Hasan 95
S Wells c & b Mahmud 80
J Franklin not out 7
D Tuffey b Al Hasan 4
T Southee c Mahmud b Sharif 18
M Gillespie not out 1
B Arnel
----------------------------------------------
Extras: (nb8,w1,b1,lb3) 13
TOTAL: (8 wkts, 105 overs) 248
**********************************************
O M R W
----------------------------------------------
D Mahmud 15 2 38 1
M Sharif 34 12 65 5
R Haque 15 5 31 0
S Al Hasan 20 2 58 2
M Mahmudullah 8 0 21 0
T Iqbal 7 1 19 0
N Islam 6 0 12 0
----------------------------------------------
Fall of Wickets:
1-6 2-12 3-13 4-57 5-216
6-218 7-225 8-247
**********************************************
Match Drawn
**********************************************Post-match, Saleh says that it was the partnership of Wells and Kitchen that cost Bangladesh the victory. They just stuck in there and refused to get themselves out. But he was happy that his side had dominated for so much of the match and on another day, the result might have been different.
Shuvagoto Hom is the man of the match and he says that his maiden Test ton is something that he has looked forward to for a long time now. He says that with this out of the way he can just focus on playing his cricket because the critics are sure to keep quiet for a while. His only regret is that Bangladesh could not win the match to make the memory even sweeter.
Ross Taylor congratulates Wells and Kitchen for their amazing partnership, saying that it was due to them that the match was taken to a draw. Bangladesh had bowled superbly, but they had little experience with winning matches and taking 20 wickets seemed like a hard task for them. He is happy to have won the series, though, and now he and his team can look forward to the one days coming up.
He collects the trophy and walks over to his team as they start celebrating. The Bangladeshis give them some applause before leaving the limelight to the Kiwis. They walk over to the New Zealand supporters and start celebrating with them as well as the cameras cut to the analysis.
