Southee joins ‘special’ club Scoreboard
In an ideal world, Tim Southee would have captured his 300th test wicket with an outswinger that got an edge through to BJ Watling behind the stumps, Ross Taylor at first slip, or someone further afield in the cordon.
The Black Caps seamer did that three times as he marched towards the milestone in the first test against Pakistan at Bay Oval in Mount Maunganui, claiming wickets 297, 298 and 299, but when he got to 300, it was a catch at short cover by Mitchell Santner that did the trick.
NEW ZEALAND First innings 431
PAKISTAN
First innings 239 NEW ZEALAND Second innings
T Latham c Abid Ali b N Shah .... 53 T Blundell b Abbas ........................... 64 K Williamson c Rizwan b N Shah .. ....................................................................... 21 R Taylor not out .................................. 12 H Nicholls c Abbas b N Shah ........ 11 BJ Watling run out .............................. 5 M Santner not out .............................. 6 Extras (2lb, 1w, 5nb) ........................... 8 Total (for 5 wkts dec, 45.3 overs) . .................................................................... 180 Fall: 111 (Blundell), 139 (Latham),
147 (Williamson), 165 (Nicholls),
170 (Watling).
Bowling: S Afridi 11-0-47-0 (1w), M Abbas 11-2-33-1 (1nb), N Shah
12.3-1-55-3 (4nb), F Ashraf 4-1-18-0, Y Shah 6-0-21-0, S Masood 1-0-4-0.
PAKISTAN Second innings
S Masood c Taylor b Southee ...... 0 Abid Ali c Watling b Boult .............. 0 Azhar Ali not out ............................... 34 H Sohail s Santner b Southee ...... 9 F Alam not out .................................... 21 Extras (4b, 2lb, 1w) .............................. 7 Total (for 3 wkts, 38 overs) .......... 71 Fall: 0 (Abid Ali, 0 (Masood), 37 (Sohail).
Bowling: T Southee 9-5-15-2, T Boult 10-4-24-1 (1w), K Jamieson
7-6-3-0, N Wagner 6-3-4-0, M Santner 6-1-19-0.
wickets, as the country’s leading wicket-taker, which would take another 28 tests, if Southee continues to capture them at the rate he has in his last 28.
‘‘I’d love to play for as long as I possibly can,’’ he said.
‘‘I only just turned 32 the other day – people probably think I’m a little older than what I am – but it’s something I love doing.
‘‘You look at the likes of [England seamer] James Anderson, achieving what he’s been achieving at the age of 38, and Ross as well, the way he seems to be getting better and better with age.
‘‘It’s just a number and as long as I can maintain the standards that are required I’d love to continue to play.’’