Jamieson’s bag of five extends rare record
The most devastating newcomer to test cricket bowling in more than a century.
Towering New Zealand paceman Kyle Jamieson continues to skittle all batsmen who come before him as he took 5-31 off 22 overs on day three of the World Test Championship final against India.
It was his fifth five-wicket haul in an innings in just his eighth test and improved his staggering record to 44 wickets at an average of 14.13.
Only two bowlers – from those that have played more than five tests – have taken more wickets at a lower average than the 26-year-old in the history of the test cricket.
That duo – George Lohmann and JJ Ferris – both played their final tests in the 19th century.
England’s Lohmann took 112 wickets in 18 tests at 10.75 between 1886-96, while Ferris (who played eight tests for Australian and one for England) grabbed 61 wickets at an average of 12.70 between 1887-92.
The only player in the past 90 years that compares to Jamieson in terms of both wickets and average is England’s Frank ‘Typhoon’ Tyson, who raced to 76 wickets at 18.56 in 17 tests between 1954-59.
Remarkably, Jamieson was a top-order batsman who rarely bowled when he arrived in Christchurch from south Auckland to take up a Lincoln University scholarship in 2013.
He made his test debut in February last year versus India at the Basin Reserve and marked it by taking four wickets in the first innings.
The 2.03 metre seamer gave the Black Caps just the start they were seeking on day three at Southampton after a brief delay for the ground to dry when he snared the huge wicket of Virat Kohli in the third over of the morning, trapping the Indian captain lbw without adding to his overnight score.
Jamieson removed dangerous wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant for 4 six overs later and then quickly helped mopped up the Indian tail, picking up the wickets of Ishant Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah in consecutive deliveries. Jamieson said he was aiming for wobble more than swing and seam on day three.
‘‘The ball certainly swung a fair amount and probably at times almost too much.
‘‘I tried to more wobble the ball than swing it and just kind of engage guys for longer periods – especially when the ball’s a little older and the seam’s still pretty good.’’
‘‘In New Zealand, it doesn’t tend to move as much in the air and instead of guys playing and missing you tend to grab the edge a little bit more. [So I was] trying to put the ball in the right area and see what happens.’’
Jamieson’s two wickets in as
‘‘I tried to more wobble the ball than swing it and just kind of engage guys for longer periods...’’
Kyle Jamieson
many balls gave him his second shot at a hat-trick in test cricket but was denied by an audacious tail-ender’s stroke.
‘‘Credit to Mohammed Shami, he played a pretty good cover drive off the third one,’’ said Jamieson, who shared a smile with Shami after the delivery and response. Unsurprisingly, Jamieson now has the record for most wickets for New Zealand in his first eight tests, surpassing Jack Cowie, who took 41 scalps between 1937-49 in a career hampered by World War II.
The fastest to 50 test wickets in the game’s history is Australia’s Charles Turner, who did so in six tests, also in the late 19th century on uncovered wickets, while the quickest in the modern era to that milestone is Vernon Philander, who took just seven tests with South Africa. Jamieson could join Alf Valentine (West Indies), and the Australian trio of Fred ‘The Demon’ Spofforth, Rodney Hogg and Terry Alderman on getting to that mark in eight tests if he could snag six wickets in India’s second innings.