Black Caps’ armchair ride
In the end it was an armchair ride, on and off the Basin Reserve.
New Zealand captain Kane Williamson hailed ‘‘a brilliant allround performance’’ as the West Indies middle order self-destructed with the bat a second time, and the hosts sealed victory by an innings and 67 runs in the first cricket test.
It took the bowlers - led by man of the match Neil Wagner who took a career-best 9-141 - 106 overs to finish the job but a West Indies collapse hastened the end on day four.
From an imposing 231-2 on a dream batting surface they lost
5-57 either side of lunch including their two best batsmen Kraigg Brathwaite (91) and Shai Hope (37). By 2.30pm it was all over, West Indies flailing to 319 all out and poor Miguel Cummins writhing on the turf after a nasty hit above the knee from Trent Boult.
Wagner, his fellow bowlers and debut wicketkeeper Tom Blundell, continued the Wellington test victory tradition of a limousine ride up Mt Victoria with accompanying refreshments.
It was largely smooth travel on the field, too, after Wagner’s 7-39 saw West Indies fold for 134 on day one after losing the toss. Some dreadful shots and a well targeted short-pitched barrage did the trick, when the pitch offered less seam assistance than New Zealand expected.
‘‘In the first innings we were fairly fortunate, as well as bowling very well and exploiting the bounce. A lot of dismissals weren’t a regular thing on a first day of a test match,’’ Williamson said.
‘‘We knew as the wicket got flatter it would be a tough job to bowl them out, and it was. At 200-2 the bowlers were exceptional to change their tack and play the long game and be patient.’’
There was no swing, minimal seam movement but the bounce remained.
Spinner Mitchell Santner slammed on the brakes and took the key wicket when he trapped Braithwaite lbw after a 315-minute fightback. Matt Henry and Colin de Grandhomme, new owner of New Zealand’s second-fastest test century (off 71 balls) also kept it tight and eventually Roston Chase, Sunil Ambris and Shane Dowrich gave it away.
It was the fifth result in the last five Basin tests, with New Zealand beating Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and West Indies and losing heavily to Australia and South Africa. That accurately sums up the Black Caps’ standing in the test game.
This young, improving West Indies side should have been put away and they were, as their
22-year winning drought in New Zealand continues.
‘‘I wouldn’t say we surrendered. We just tried to be positive and there was no point just staying out there with two days left in the game,’’ captain Jason Holder said.
‘‘We had to knock off the deficit. I don’t think anybody was reckless at any stage.’’
Holder’s side have bounced back this year, beating England at Headingley after a heavy defeat. The bowling attack is handy and Brathwaite, Hope and young Shimron Hetmyer can certainly bat, but they were way too far behind the game in Wellington after just two sessions.
‘‘There’s no need to panic, it’s one test match gone and it’s a chance to put things right. Hamilton will probably be similar conditions… hopefully we can put up a good first innings total and control the game.’’
New Zealand will also be motivated to finish strongly in Hamilton, starting on Saturday, given their next test isn’t till late March against England.
Wagner aside, de Grandhomme and Blundell were the obvious stars with their respective tons in the first innings of 520-9 after hard toil from Jeet Raval, Ross Taylor and Henry Nicholls.
If Seddon Park offers some more swing and seam movement, with Tim Southee likely to return, nothing less than a 2-0 series sweep will be expected after a clinical start in Wellington against mixed resistance.
After just one game and four days of international cricket, Neil Wagner’s season is a quarter done.
The 31-year-old is seemingly in his cricketing peak, taking 9-141 against the West Indies at Wellington’s Basin Reserve for his best figures in a match.
But Wagner’s peak may be under-utilised. The Black Caps play only three more tests this summer, and his involvement in international white ball cricket is non-existent.
Wagner won’t look back on his career as wickets taken, or five wicket hauls snared.
He rates things by test victories, and this season he only has the chance to add four to his name.
‘‘In terms of four tests, it’s kind of the nature of the schedule, I suppose,’’ Wagner’s captain, Kane Williamson said.
‘‘After playing quite a few tests in previous years and looking like playing quite a few more in the next few, it’s just the way it’s panned out.’’
As for Wagner’s form with the red ball, Williamson was full of praise.
While he’s made a name for his short pitch, aggressive bowling, Williamson said Wagner’s ability to change the plan and roll with the punches has seen him take his game to another level.
‘‘He’s been brilliant. His ability to bowl that short pitched bowling as accurately as he does is not an easy thing to do,’’ Williamson said.
‘‘You don’t see many bowlers able to do that, that accurately and for that long a period of time.
‘‘But one thing with Neil, certainly in the last couple of years, one of his biggest assets has been his fuller length as well. He’s bowled a number of overs for not many runs taking on different roles with the ball in hand.
‘‘The nature of [his bowling], you might go for a few, but you’ll create opportunities as well and he was able to change his length today and bowl really well and really economically as well.’’
The Basin Reserve wicket never offered much for the bowlers.
Although green on day one, lateral movement off the deck was minimal but the bounce was there for all to see. Williamson described it as a fine test match wicket.
Where New Zealand struggled most was in getting movement through the air.
It is well documented that bowlers struggle to get the Kookaburra ball to swing unless playing in the friendliest of conditions, and the ball is being reviewed at the end of the season by New Zealand Cricket.
Seam bowlers generally prefer the Duke ball used in England, but both Williamson and Wagner played a straight bat to suggestions the ball was leaving the bowlers frustrated.
‘‘I think in terms of seam movement, it does come down to the surface, but I think it was a really good cricket surface,’’ Williamson said.
‘‘There’s a number of factors in terms of swing. It’s very hard to pinpoint one. It could be overheads, it could be seam position, it could be a number of things.’’
Wagner described the going as ‘‘tough’’ with the Kookaburra ball.
‘‘I mean, the ball’s the ball at the moment, and everyone is bowling with it,’’ Wagner said.
‘‘At the end of the day you’ve got to make the most of it you can out in the middle. I think scenarios and conditions can sometimes be a factor when the ball does go soft or go out of shape, and that happens.
‘‘I do like the Duke balls. They are nice balls and they do swing. When they get scuff marks on them it’s quite nice to bring them back, and you can shine them... and obviously they have a pronounced seam which is nice as well.’’
If Trent Boult, one of the world’s finest swing bowlers, couldn’t get movement through the air over the past four days, you wonder if anyone could with the current ball.
It would be no surprise to see the bowlers campaigning for a switch to Dukes for the 2018-19 season, and for Wagner to be pushing for more test matches to roll the arm over in.