Black Caps
Crushing win and a new star
And so it rolls on. The Black Caps test-match machine continues, gathering pace as it blitzed the West Indies by an innings and 12 runs and joining Australia at the top of the world test rankings.
“Clinical is the word to use for it again,” said Tom Latham, celebrating his first win as skipper. “The way we were able to set the game up with the bat on the back of Henry [Nicholls’] innings was outstanding.
“On top of that, we were able to do the job with the ball. To put a team like that in twice, two test matches in a row, was not going to be easy in terms of the demand on the bowlers’ bodies, but they kept coming time and time again.”
One of the features of the two-test series was the way New Zealand consistently built partnerships with the bat in conditions that generally favoured bowlers.
Day four at the Basin Reserve was a simple mopping up operation from the moment Tim Southee shaped a perfect outswinger past the edge of Jason Holder’s bat but not past the edge of off stump.
Holder’s 61 was part of some impressive lower middle-order resistance that included debutant wicketkeeper Joshua Da Silva (57), Alzarri Joseph (24) and even Chemar Holder (13 not out), but it was much too little, much too late to move the needle on the match and series.
Southee added Joseph to his list of scalps for the match with a planned legside strangle, while Neil Wagner trapped Da Silva plumb in front — the review called for in desperation rather than expectation. Da Silva was good, though, and offered the West Indies some hope for the future.
“What was most impressive was that when he joined me, you could see he was up for the challenge,” Holder said.
“You can only survive at test level if you’ve got the heart . . . you saw that definitely from Joshua, and Chemar as well.”
The test ended with an appropriately pumped Wagnerface after the left-armer shattered the stumps of Shannon Gabriel, who must be a candidate for worst batsman currently playing elite cricket.
New Zealand won the series 2-0 and kept their hopes of making the World Test Championship final alive.
New Zealand went ahead of England into third, having collected 62.5 per cent of points available to them. Australia and India hold the top two spots but are about to face off in a four-match series.
It would take too many words to fully explain how the Black Caps can make another Lord’s final, but as a rough guide, they need to beat Pakistan 2-0, hope India don’t win more than four of their remaining eight tests, and that England have only limited success in their tours to Sri Lanka and India.
If those scenarios come to pass, it should be an all-Australasian final in the Mother Country.
They’re equal on 116 points with Australia in the world test rankings, too (the enemy remain ahead on decimal points, just quietly), and could pass them this month, depending on results in the sunburnt country.
“It’s a pretty special thing,” Latham said with the trace of a smile. Big upping themselves is not a natural state for this team.
“It’s something we’ve never talked about. I didn’t know about it until [yesterday] morning and I think that shows what this group is about; it’s putting the performances in and those results are by-products. It [No 1] does sound pretty cool though.”
Holder is in no doubt as to the quality of the opposition.
“They play some really good cricket,” Holder said of his victors. “They have a really solid test side; a really good bowling attack and solid players at the top of the order. Definitely one of the best sides in the world.”
For those of you loving these numbers, wait, there’s more. That’s nine wins in the last 10 home tests. That’s 15 unbeaten. Of the 11 victories in those tests, a staggering seven have been by an innings.
With the West Indies brushed aside inside four days, eyes turn to Pakistan. They unquestionably have a more accomplished batting line-up than the West Indies, but even so, they might soon find themselves wishing they had taken Shoaib Akhtar’s advice and packed up their toys and left if they’re faced with similarly green wickets and a four-pronged pace attack with their tails up.
But we’re getting ahead of ourselves here. This is time instead to reflect on what’s becoming common place: New Zealand celebrating another big test win on home soil.