Record catches Kane on hop
A historic fourth consecutive test series triumph even snuck up on New Zealand captain Kane Williamson.
The Black Caps mopped up the final three Sri Lankan wickets in 10 minutes on the final day of the second test at Christchurch’s Hagley Oval yesterday to secure a crushing 423-run win – New Zealand’s largest in a test and the eighth biggest margin of all-time.
After a drawn first test in Wellington, New Zealand took out the two-match series 1-0 to secure their fourth straight test series win. In New Zealand’s 88 years of test cricket, they’d won three series in a row on four occasions, but never been able to push on for a fourth in succession.
New Zealand coach Gary Stead admitted prior to the test he was unaware of the potential record and Williamson conceded at the post-match media session it also caught him on the hop.
‘‘I think it’s quite a cool thing to achieve, not that we were all aware of it.
‘‘I didn’t really know that was the case. Obviously, we could work that out if we were thinking about it, but that wasn’t the focus . . . For us the focus is to look to improve all the time.’’
New Zealand move into white ball mode, starting with a threematch ODI series against Sri Lanka at Mount Maunganui on Thursday. They will fancy their chances of making it five test series on the trot when they close out the home summer with three tests against Bangladesh, starting on February 28 in Hamilton.
The next year is shaping as an exciting time for New Zealand’s resurgent test outfit, who will find out where they sit in the world pecking order.
The inaugural ICC test championship cranks into gear in July 2019 and will be contested over a two-year period with the final in June 2021. New Zealand have juicy two-match test series next home summer against England in November, which isn’t part of the test championship, and India (February 2020). There will be no shortage of interest either in the three-match away series against Australia next December, which includes New Zealand’s first Boxing Day test in Melbourne since 1987.
The Black Caps could have risen to second in the ICC test rankings had they beaten Sri Lanka 2-0.
Since losing 3-0 away to India in 2016-17, New Zealand have won 10 matches, drawn four and lost just two. They’ve also won six of their past seven test series, only losing 1-0 to South Africa at home in the 2016-17 season.
Senior paceman Tim Southee, who made his test debut in 2008 and witnessed some lean New Zealand red ball performances early in his career, said it was encouraging to see their progress as a group.
Southee spoke about the ability of multiple performers stepping up in different matches and even different innings, which had been integral to their success.
Nowhere was that better illustrated than the second test win in Christchurch with Tom Latham (176) and Henry Nicholls (162) both scoring big hundreds and combining for a 214-run stand in the second innings. Southee chimed in with vital runs (68 from 65 balls) in the first innings after New Zealand had been in strife at 64-6.
In the second innings, Jeet Raval (74), Williamson (48), Ross Taylor (40) and Colin de Grandhomme (71 not out from 45 balls) all made notable contributions with the bat. The bowlers spread the wickets around with Trent Boult snaring 9-107 for the match, including a stellar spell of 6-4 in 15 balls early on day two to turn the match New Zealand’s way.
Neil Wagner produced a lionhearted effort in the second innings bowling 28 overs in the heat on day four. He nabbed 4-48 in the second innings, while Southee took five wickets for the match.
‘‘I think it’s a great environment to be a part of,’’ man of the match Southee said when asked about the side’s test cricket turnaround. ‘‘Guys have come in and they feel comfortable and I guess the consistency we’ve had as a test group has come through.
‘‘You get different guys step up at different moments. You’re not relying on certain guys to win you games and win you series.’’ SCOREBOARD