Nicholls counts his lucky charms
When Henry Nicholls peered out from the Basin Reserve players’ pavilion and saw West Indies skipper Jason Holder win the coin toss, he knew a torrid day was in store.
Just adding to the heartthumping tension, the Black Caps No 5 hadn’t passed 50 in 13 test innings since scoring his fifth test century, against Bangladesh in March last year. That was also the 99th and most recent test ton at the spiritual home of New Zealand cricket.
Seven hours later when stumps were drawn on day one of the second test in Wellington, Nicholls was still standing, having taken some punches, ridden his luck and fired a few back.
The left-hander under the most pressure of anyone in the New Zealand batting lineup was 117 not out in 15 minutes short of five hours, his team enduring some torrid stints to close on top at 294-6.
Against the second new ball a big Saturday morning looms but if Nicholls can counter-attack and
Kyle Jamieson and Tim Southee find the middle, a total near 400 would be a remarkable recovery. Already it’s the highest first innings in the last six Basin tests.
While none of his fellow top-six could pass 50 with the ball seaming and leaping from the deck, Nicholls stood tall and punished some awful West Indies fielding errors. Put down early at short leg, he skied one into clear air, hooked one for six just
clear of the boundary rider then the two big ones: dropped on 47, twice, by Darren Bravo at first slip.
‘‘You just try and move on from them, same as when you hit a boundary or anything else. It’s batting, it’s cricket, it’s pretty fickle so you focus on what you’re doing and try to make their bowlers come back for
more spells,’’ Nicholls said of his good fortune.
Being a good test cricketer requires a lot of skill, patience, and a hefty dose of luck. Nicholls knew he was in need of runs, even if coach Gary Stead had given him a public vote of confidence.
He arrived at 78-3 after stand-in
skipper Tom Latham copped a painful blow to the forearm and Ross Taylor was hit several times then sent on his way by a fired-up Shannon Gabriel. It was left to him and Will Young (43), in his second test innings, to face the music and fight through it.
‘‘I play my best when I’m playing with that confidence, but after lunch there was a bit of a crazy period where Will was saying he was finding it really tough and I was managing to score but finding it tough as well.
‘‘Sometimes on this sort of surface it can ebb and flow quite a lot. For me it is that positive intent and looking to put bowlers under pressure in ways that is effective for me.’’
Thatmeant hammering the short ball, as he did so well in his memorable Basin century against South Africa in 2017, punishing anything wide and shrugging when edges flew wide of catchers. Young, meanwhile, was snaffled by a stunning one-handed catch from the skipper.
Nicholls raised his sixth test century in odd fashion, too, trying to turn the ball to leg as a leading edge flew past point. Still, as the crowd of 3583 rose around 6pm, every run counted as he raised his colourful bat handle in a tribute to sevenyear-old cancer patient Hollie Beattie.
‘‘There’s certainly more pace in the wicket than usual here. When they got the lengths right it was challenging. That’s something our bowlers will be looking forward to.’’
Daryl Mitchell showed his worth, too, with a quickfire 42 ensuring the late momentum for the hosts.
The last time the Black Caps batted first and won a Basin test was against Sri Lanka in 2015, when Kane Williamson (absent for this test on baby watch) plundered 242 not out.
For the West Indies, it was a much improved effort on a similar grassy surface to Hamilton which they utilised a lot better despite the pesky northerly gale.
Gabriel was menacing and debutant Chamar Holder had his moments, but they’ll rue the dropped chances that were the difference between the stumps score and the hosts struggling to reach 250.
Another West Indies debutant, wicketkeeper Joshua da Silva said: ‘‘That’s how it goes, always frustrating when you drop catches but you have to look forward to the next one. Just move on and try and get them again.
‘‘Good innings, he [Nicholls] played a good hand and obviously got a few chances. You need a bit of luck in cricket as everybody knows. He got there in the end and that’s all that matters.’’