Black Caps vs England Series

[Bovidae]

Latham better hope that wasn't the chance.

[ACT Crusader]

@MN5 said in Black Caps vs England Series:

@Chris-B said in Black Caps vs England Series:

@Rapido said in Black Caps vs England Series:

Soft cricket by nz. I think every wicket today was ugly, with Kane being the slight exception being surprised by the bouncewhile platung a normal attacking shot. Just a soft, soft day. Back to the happy-go-lucky standards of self-policing these guys have set for themselves since 2021. India was a fluke.

Yeah - the pitch wasn't really doing anything.

I've said before that in the first two innings of a match you really want to get to about 220/4 - and largely regardless of the pitch - and from there if you bat well you get 500 and if you don't you get something less.

We could've got to 220/3 if Mitch hadn't decided he was in a T20 game and thought he'd "take the field on".

I reckon we're 150 short and if England bat well we'll be a long way behind the game at stumps.

But, who knows.

> The masterly Sri Lankans who thumped us, who thumped India, who thumped Australia - got bowled out for 42 overnight.

Which emphatically sums up the state of test cricket at the moment, no team is consistent at all.

Consistently inconsistent….

Or alternatively there are finer margins between winning and losing test cricket these days with how batting sides attack.

[Bovidae]

Smith gets Bethell. The quickest of the bowlers used so far.

[Bovidae]

And Root for a duck. Smith is having nb issues though.

[Chris B.]

That's a very handy over - despite the no-balls!

[foobaNZ]

As a batting the no balls would annoy you more than the bowler if you're trying to survive before a break! Lucky the 2 wicket balls were good.

[Snowy]

Smith goes to lunch averaging 6 in test cricket. That will feel good.

Long may it last.

[booboo]

Come on@Dodge , you're a wicket short.

[Cyclops]

So many no balls in that over I'd forgotten that it started with the wicket of bethell. Than over basically swung the session from a England win to a win for us. Smith needs to sort his run up though.

[KiwiMurph]

It's his debut test - he gets leeway on the no balls.

I'll take the no balls if he is a wicket taker.

Seems to be quick enough at mid 130s

[Cyclops]

@Bovidae said in Black Caps vs England Series:

Smith gets Bethell. The quickest of the bowlers used so far.

And O'Rourke faster again, so we've neatly ordered our bowlers from slowest to fastest (pressure will be on Phillips if he gets a bowl).

[Chris B.]

Bugger - Phillips drops Brook - we could really have had a foot on the throat with that one!

[Cyclops]

Southee looks a bit cooked. Last test?

[MN5]

Good to have them four down but there are still three test century makers waiting to bat

[Chris B.]

O'Rourke's bounce causing some problems. A few balls flying to the boundary, but not always controlled.

[Cyclops]

Great, now Pope has taken over from Duckett getting jammy boundaries. We're bowling well, just need to stay disciplined and the wickets will come.

The Duckett drop wasn't too expensive, but Brook might be a different story.

[Cyclops]

I reckon it's worth giving GP a couple of overs here

[Donsteppa]

Our slips fielding is dire.

[Chris B.]

Catch the fucking ball, Tom!

[dogmeat]

@Donsteppa Whereas in India everything stuck. Fine margins etc