Colour as spotlight turns on NZ
beat Pakistan by 39 runs (Brisbane, Dec 2016) Time for Cricket Australia to try another venue, so step up the Gabba. Australia had this match under control most of the time, ahead by almost 300 at the turn, until late on when little Asad Shafiq played a terrific innings. Chasing 450, the last four wickets put on 230, Shafiq was second last man out for 137 made over close to six hours. The Aussies had a scare but their 100 per cent winning record under lights at home stayed intact. There’s a trend for rival skippers Kane Williamson and Joe Root to ponder at the toss tomorrow afternoon. Only once out of the eight tests has the skipper who won the toss opted to send the opposition in to bat. It didn’t work for him. Australia won the match in Adelaide late last year by 120 runs. The captain? The very same Root. Rain is threatening to dampen the test this week. But here’s a thought: you don’t need a full five days to complete a pink ball test. A full five-day test would involve 450 overs, or thereabouts depending on speed of over rates and issues such as light. Of the eight day-nighters only one has involved more than 400 overs — Pakistan’s win over the West Indies in Dubai in late 2016 took 420.1. In simple terms, that’s roughly the equivalent of a daytime test being over by tea on the fifth day. The shortest match was South Africa’s belting of Zimbabwe in Port Elizabeth late last year, the match needing just 151.1 overs. That was completed in two days. Three-day tests are not uncommon, so don’t despair if rain holds things up over the coming five days. And don’t forget there has yet to be a draw with a pink ball.
beat West Indies by an innings and 209 runs (Edgbaston, Aug 2017) A debut at home under lights for England and a cake walk. Alastair Cook hit 243 and captain Joe Root (above) made 136 to lay the platform and the hapless West Indies managed to last a combined 92.2 overs over two innings. So far the Windies don’t seem to fancy the lights. Lanka beat
Pakistan by 68 runs (Dubai, Oct 2017) The vagaries of conditions showed up in Dubai as Sri Lanka batted 159.2 overs in their first innings and lasted just 26 second time round. Shafiq, again, led Pakistan’s pursuit of 317 with another century, perhaps the batsman who most relishes batting against the pink ball.
beat England by 120 runs (Adelaide, Dec 2017) The sole occasion of these first eight tests that the toss-winning captain decided to sent the opposition in to bat. That man was Joe Root and 442 runs later England trailed by 215 at halftime and were left 354 to win. Root’s departure for 67 was the decisive dismissal as Australia marched to a 2-0 lead in the Ashes series, en route to a 4-0 victory.
Africa beat Zimbabwe by an innings and 120 runs (Port Elizabeth, Dec 2017) Short and sharp. All over in 151.1 overs inside two days. Opener Aiden Markram (above) scored a century; no Zimbabwe batsman reached 25. The most lopsided of the matches.