Southee’s place in the sun
After slogging it out on a lifeless day-four Basin Reserve wicket, Tim Southee is licking his lips to return to a happy hunting ground.
Black Caps new ball duo Southee and Trent Boult both have outstanding test records in their five matches at Christchurch’s Hagley Oval, venue for the second test against Sri Lanka, starting on Boxing Day.
Southee has taken 27 wickets at an average of 20.9 at the ground, including seven for the match against England in April, where tailender Ish Sodhi batted doggedly for more than three hours to save the test and help New Zealand win the series 1-0.
Boult has excelled at Hagley too, snaring 28 wickets at 24.4 in five tests, an ominous sign for Sri Lanka’s top order.
The Hagley wicket is known for its pace and bounce. Head groundsman Rupert Bool and his team pride themselves on creating a good, fair pitch that offers something for bat and ball.
While there is usually a strong green tinge to the wicket on day one, it typically browns off and become decent for batting as the match went on. The average first innings total in five previous tests from the side batting first is 308.
Southee took match figures of 8-142 against Bangladesh in Christchurch in 2017 and was named man of the match. He shone in the first test at the venue in the Boxing Day match four years ago against Sri Lanka with 6-108 across both innings.
‘‘There’s obviously a little bit in there for pace bowlers and I’ve been fortunate enough over the past how many tests to get a little bit out of it,’’ Southee told Stuff.
‘‘It’s about hanging in there for as long as you can [with the ball]. It’s a ground where you can get your rewards later in the day or in clumps at certain stages throughout the day.’’
Southee and the Black Caps attack endured a frustrating time of it in the second innings of the first test in Wellington after Sri Lanka were 20-3 at stumps on day three.
They were thwarted by a brilliant fourth-wicket partnership between Kusal Mendis and Angelo Mathews, who both scored unbeaten tons in an unbroken 274-run stand. A docile Basin wicket and stiff northerly wind which further dried out the pitch didn’t help Southee and the quicks either.
‘‘It was probably one of the toughest days we’ve had in New Zealand conditions,’’ Southee said.
‘‘We turned up on day four thinking hopefully if we could stick at it for long enough than it would give us a chance, but a lot of credit has to go to the way Mathews and Mendis stuck at it. They didn’t give us a chance all day.’’
Having played only in the third test win against Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates due to the spin-friendly wickets, Southee made an immediate impact in home conditions.
Sri Lanka had few answers for him in their first innings with Southee taking 6-68. He claimed a further two victims in Sri Lanka’s second dig to finish with match figures of 8-120.
Southee, 30, who has 232 test wickets, is poised to overtake Chris Martin (233) into third place on New Zealand’s all-time wicket chart during the second test.
Sir Richard Hadlee (431) and Daniel Vettori (361) are the only New Zealanders to have taken 300 or more test wickets.