Jamieson’s leap of faith
Kyle Jamieson’s incredible start to test shows no sign of abating, but neither does Pakistan’s ability to stay with the Black Caps as another enthralling cricket test beckons.
If anything, Jamieson looks to be getting more threatening with ball in hand, quite remarkable when you consider bowling was essentially an afterthought to him until about seven years ago.
The 26-year-old’s stunning start to international cricket continued in the second test against Pakistan at Hagley Oval in Christchurch yesterday, as he ripped through the tourists’ top order in a devastating pre-lunch spell and ended with 5-69 from 21 overs, a third five-wicket bag in his first six tests.
Pakistan, predictably sent into bat when home captain Kane Williamson won the toss, fought hard, again, and are happy to have made 297 in tough batting conditions, especially after Jamieson’s early strikes had them reeling at 88-4 at lunch.
The classy Azhar Ali, who fell seven runs short of an 18th test century, led the resistance, combining with captain Mohammad Rizwan, who scored a brisk 61, for an entertaining 88-run fifth wicket partnership, then putting on another 56 for the sixth wicket with Faheem Ashraf (48) before he fell to Matt Henry.
Ali felt 297 was a ‘‘decent’’ total and the match was evenly poised as a result of the positive intent Pakistan showed with the bat.
‘‘When the ball is in your zone, you must score on these wickets because you’re going to get a good one at some stage. It is a good enough pitch to score runs on ... and we scored at a good pace.’’
Jamieson was easily the pick of the New Zealand bowlers. Tim Southee (2-61), Trent Boult (2-82) and Henry (1-67) all bowled better than their figures suggest. Southee and Boult mopped up the tail with the new ball, as Pakistan were dismissed right on stumps.
Jamieson said the fuller length required at Hagley Oval, compared to Mt Maunganui, provided a different challenge for the bowlers. ‘‘While things happened quicker with the ball moving around it also provided scoring chances for them and they put us under pressure at times.
‘‘You need to hit a fuller length so you beat the bat more but they were scoring quicker too because there are more scoring opportunities.’’
He enjoyed the extra bounce and ‘‘when I’m bowling from 6 ft 8 it kind of helps that’’.
New ball pair Southee, who got the early breakthrough when Shan Masood missed a full inswinger and was trapped dead in front for a duck, and Boult were testing, as was Henry who should have picked up Faheem Ashraf’s wicket early but Ross Taylor shelled a straightforward chance at slip.
Jamieson was a different prospect, though, sending the ball down from 2.04m and getting steepling bounce off a good length. He troubled all the batsmen and kept the slips cordon, and Henry Nicholls at gully, in play at all times.
It felt like a matter of time before he got the rewards, and they came thick and fast.
Abid Ali (25) was the first to succumb, edging Jamieson to Southee at third slip, before Haris Sohail’s decision to leave outside off was too late, the ball catching the bottom of the withdrawing bat and going straight to Nicholls at gully.
The ball of the day got first test century-maker Fawad Alam for one, a short-of-a-length delivery at the body that took off and caught Alam on the glove, the ball ballooning up to wicketkeeper BJ Watling as Alam was put on his backside in the failed attempt to get out of the way of it.
It was Jamieson again who was the man to break the threatening Azhar-Rizwan partnership, getting the captain caught behind in his second spell, before removing Ashraf – Taylor’s second catch of the day – to complete his fivewicket haul.