Caps focused on No 1 as world final beckons
Kane Williamson is playing it cool as the Black Caps try to make history against Pakistan. By Fred Woodcock.
All roads lead to Hagley Oval in Christchurch today as the Black Caps play their final test of the summer, with much more than just a test – and series – win on the line against Pakistan.
Because of the way they have played in the previous three tests this season – a dominant 2-0 win over the West Indies and a thrilling 101- run win in the first test against Pakistan – their fourth and final test ( yes, quite incredibly test cricket for the summer ends just as the new year starts) has taken on greater significance.
They are still in the hunt for the World Test Championship final at Lord’s in June. Without going into all the permutations (it’s complicated), the Black Caps simply need to beat Pakistan and then hand their fate to other teams.
More tangibly and immediate, and significant in the eyes of most cricket followers given it’s a reward for sustained performance over several years, New Zealand would officially climb to No 1 in the world test rankings for the first time with a win (or a draw) this week.
That record has been built on a run of 16 successive test matches without defeat on home soil, dating back to 2017, but also some respectable away form too, save for the 3-0 hammering by Australia last summer.
The No 1 ranking is not the only milestone on the periphery of this final test; a win would be their sixth in succession, a New Zealand record, and it would also be the first time they have completed a perfect home season in a multiple-tour summer.
‘‘The team has come a long way in terms of bringing an element of consistency mainly to their behaviours, which I think has been really important, simple values which are important to our group and to Kiwis, simple things we want to commit to dayin day-out,’’ captain Kane Williamson said of their success.
‘‘That doesn’t always reflect in the performance being perfect – very rarely is it perfect – but certainly it can help a team grow, and it has contributed to the team moving in that direction.’’
In typical fashion, though, Williamson, himself newly minted as the No 1 ranked test batsman in world cricket, was playing down focusing on anything other than what they must do to win this test.
‘‘Every game you play, every test you play, any opportunity to win a test you want to take, but to get into those positions naturally there is just so much hard work, from the first period of play to perhaps late in the match, so for us that’s the focus.
‘‘[Rankings] are very difficult things to control – they sort of move every day. There’s so many things you can’t control it’s not worth trying. For me it’s always just been about making the biggest contribution as you can to the team, and that’s where you get the most satisfaction and enjoyment.’’
Williamson is keeping all bowling lineup options in play, till he’s had a final look at the pitch this morning.
The captain will also wait till that point before committing to batting or bowling first, though his opposite, Mohammad Rizwan, was more obliging, saying it would be a bowl- first ground. That has certainly been the case historically, with no captain having elected to bat first in any of the seven tests at Hagley Oval.
The big selection call for the Black Caps brains trust is created by Neil Wagner’s absence, as a result of two broken toes.
Two of pace bowler Matt Henry and allrounders Daryl Mitchell and Mitchell Santner will play.
On Hagley Oval, Henry is the best wicket-taking option of those three, despite a modest test record of 30 wickets at 50.16 from his 12 tests.
New Zealand didn’t play a spinner against India last summer, though the weather looks good this week so the pitch could dry out somewhat which would be a tick in the Santner column. And the Black Caps would be more than happy with Mitchell as a fourth seamer option.