New Zealand in England May - June 2013

[MUFC1987]

That's all we needed, an Aussie to slate one of our bowlers and a wicket occurs.

Could be carnage though unless we get these two and McCullum quickly.

 

[Adarsh]

No way back for England from here. Lead's gonna be 250+ with time left in the match. I don't think England can bat out two long long days.

 

[MUFC1987]

We're going to have to bat for what, 2 days at the most? Factor in a lead into that at some point and I'd say it's entirely possible. It's been done in the past in Australia, so I wouldn't be writing us off just yet.

 

[Owzat]

No way back for England from here. Lead's gonna be 250+ with time left in the match. I don't think England can bat out two long long days.

There's every chance they won't have to, between the kiwis batting on too long taking maybe a session out of the equation, and possible further lost play due to light, England may only have to bat 3-5 sessions which is entirely possible as the kiwis are already well into that territory.

If England wipe out the deficit there probably won't be a lot of time left to get any runs. The kiwis haven't been in this situation enough perhaps to be confident of winning, I think they know England should make 300+ 2nd innings and aren't happy to declare.

They probably could and should (have), their main problem will be taking 10 wickets again and if England did get 250+ in front then they should back themselves to chase down any runs. At the moment England are gaining an advantage from the match pretty much for the first time. They will psychologically want to bat 4-5 sessions to make sure of the draw, I cannot see more than the odd rare scenario where England bat again, and win.....................

Or put another way, the kiwis may not get a better chance to win a Test in this series, Michael Yawn and plenty of England captains have worried more about losing than trying to win, against India in 2007 (?) I believe that cost us the series as we ran out of time in one Test and couldn't win any.

 

[barmyarmy]

I reckon the weather will save us here. Hard to see how we could have got a draw with 5 uninterrupted days but good chance of saving the game now as Owzat says.

 

[CG123]

There's every chance they won't have to, between the kiwis batting on too long taking maybe a session out of the equation, and possible further lost play due to light, England may only have to bat 3-5 sessions which is entirely possible as the kiwis are already well into that territory.

If England wipe out the deficit there probably won't be a lot of time left to get any runs. The kiwis haven't been in this situation enough perhaps to be confident of winning, I think they know England should make 300+ 2nd innings and aren't happy to declare.

They probably could and should (have), their main problem will be taking 10 wickets again and if England did get 250+ in front then they should back themselves to chase down any runs. At the moment England are gaining an advantage from the match pretty much for the first time. They will psychologically want to bat 4-5 sessions to make sure of the draw, I cannot see more than the odd rare scenario where England bat again, and win.....................

Or put another way, the kiwis may not get a better chance to win a Test in this series, Michael Yawn and plenty of England captains have worried more about losing than trying to win, against India in 2007 (?) I believe that cost us the series as we ran out of time in one Test and couldn't win any.

Why would they have declared before the rain came today? The plan would've been to declare an or so before the end of play, and the session was cut short around two hours before the time they would've played to. If it turns out to be a draw like it probably will, you're hard pressed saying that New Zealand should've forced the issue more when one and a third days have now been wiped out. Yes this will in all likelihood be our best chance to win a match this series, but very few captains would've pulled the plug today before that rain came. (Btw I'm not exactly sure what you're getting at in some parts, but you mention NZ running out of time a lot so I thought I'd reply to that)

Looking ahead McCullum will probably come out and look to add some more quick runs, before declaring halfway through the session. That means that we'll have about four sessions to bowl England out in, taking into account that one of the days will probably end early because of bad light, and we might need to chase down some runs at the end.

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I reckon the weather will save us here. Hard to see how we could have got a draw with 5 uninterrupted days but good chance of saving the game now as Owzat says.

If this was the end of day two then game over, or if we had those two hours this afternoon (with no more interruptions on day's 4 and 5 either) then probably game over as well, but it's fair to say that England are probably going to have their arses saved here, and they'll probably go on to win in Wellington and Auckland.

 

[StinkyBoHoon]

almost had a heart attack when I saw Martin 36* for new zealand before I realised it was bruce.

 

[Epic]

Surely he's got to declare now...

 

[barmyarmy]

Isn't that more than Chris's career runs?

 

[Gone4aDuck]

Isn't that more than Chris's career runs?

He has scored 123 runs in 71 test matches!

 

[Sedition]

Lol at Compton. Anyone watching would think scoring a hundred against NZ actually meant something judging by that reaction. Got excited for a moment when I thought he succumbed on 99, but alas it was only Cook

 

[Haarithan]

Hello GABBA 2010. Nice to see you again.

 

[Owzat]

Lol at Compton. Anyone watching would think scoring a hundred against NZ actually meant something judging by that reaction.

Yeah, I mean getting carried away at your FIRST TEST CENTURY. What a tool................... Also, regardless which Test, if he hadn't scored one this series there's a good chance he might not have got another chance.......................



So the kiwis batted on, albeit quickly with 58 runs added off just eight overs which England should be embarrassed by. Still that is 10 overs scratched off.

As I suspected, England look far more composed 2nd innings and now the kiwis will be desperately hoping for a collapse. England still have a lot of work to do, but batting to tea looks quite probable and the kiwis may have already blown any chance they had of winning, maybe not through batting on, but by not getting 3-4 wickets by the close of play.

Still England have thrown them a chance, the nightwatchman. There's a good chance Finn will perish quite early and so the kiwis could force some momentum, maybe get a second early wicket and England will not look so comfortable with three down, still behind, and still with five hours, say, to go. Of course there is no law saying the first wicket has to be the nightwatchman, a lapse in concentration or complacency could get shot of Compton.

Shame this match didn't have five days, still not 100% convinced the kiwis would win if there were another day after tomorrow. England's bowling though needs serious review, while I agree with playing four bowlers only I think without Swann it maybe ought to be four seamers and I'm unconvinced as previously stated by Finn (and Broad, although he has his moments)

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I reckon the weather will save us here. Hard to see how we could have got a draw with 5 uninterrupted days but good chance of saving the game now as Owzat says.

I think we could have got a draw in a five day match, then again maybe we wouldn't have been put in had it not rained the first day, or maybe we wouldn't have thrown wickets away.

We've bowled pretty poorly, batted very poorly, up to half way. But I think the kiwis are still below par as a Test side and England have already shown they can claw back the game with two hundreds and scope perhaps to make maybe even 500+ second time around. Maybe it would have been close, but I still wouldn't have been convinced they'd win.

I still maintain that maybe their captain is so used to the kiwis losing that it was still weighing on his mind when they didn't declare overnight. He's used up 10 overs, fair do's none of us would have known England would be quite so assured batting second time around, but usually the best time to be bowling is first thing. They'll have to hope that buys them some wickets tomorrow, if England are only three down at lunch I think the draw is all but in the bag.

Why would they have declared before the rain came today? The plan would've been to declare an or so before the end of play, and the session was cut short around two hours before the time they would've played to. If it turns out to be a draw like it probably will, you're hard pressed saying that New Zealand should've forced the issue more when one and a third days have now been wiped out. Yes this will in all likelihood be our best chance to win a match this series, but very few captains would've pulled the plug today before that rain came. (Btw I'm not exactly sure what you're getting at in some parts, but you mention NZ running out of time a lot so I thought I'd reply to that)

Looking ahead McCullum will probably come out and look to add some more quick runs, before declaring halfway through the session. That means that we'll have about four sessions to bowl England out in, taking into account that one of the days will probably end early because of bad light, and we might need to chase down some runs at the end.

I was talking about overnight declaration, you do know you can declare during an interval...................?!?!?

I'm not talking about foresight, hindsight, or any kind of knowledge above and beyond what is in front of the captain(s), I'm talking about knowing you need to take 10 more wickets and therefore getting on with it. The 58 extra runs might be seen by some as a bonus, but the kiwis still now face the tough task of taking 10 wickets and it's not proving as easy second time around without the England batsmen throwing away their wickets.

Yes, plans may be spoiled by the weather, but you have to go with the flow and make decisions based on what the situation is at the time, not based on what you would have liked to have done if the plans weren't spoiled. Point is the captain may have liked to push on and score quick runs, but with the weather a constant issue and time running out you have to adapt. I'm taking my car in to get something fixed this morning, if it had snowed heavily overnight then I would probably change my plans and wait for better weather.

It's certainly no good sticking to plan A regardless.

 

[cricket_icon]

Compton and Cook batted really well but the first part of this test has shown England turning up "cold" for yet another series. Then again, this side has shown great ability to rebound and really give everything when the chips are the down.

 

[barmyarmy]

Is that an Aussie with a short memory I see above? If I recall correctly Aus were unable to beat NZ in Aus last time they played them...

I hope the rest of the lineup bats as well cos this is still a "lose the game" position.