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Smith holds up the Kiwis

Saturday, May 8 2004

New Zealand vs Worcestershire
Day 1 - 7th May 2004

Worcestershire 163 for 3 (Smith 72*, Tuffey 2 for 26)


After their washout against the universities, the Kiwis were glad to get their tour underway today. The rain did interrupt once more, with no play possible for lunch, but, after Worcestershire won the toss and decided to bat, 50 overs were possible. After all the recent rain, their strong seam attack was expected to enjoy themselves in relatively helpful conditions. That didn't quite happen today, but they will have benefited from the workout.


Today marked the long-awaited return of Shane Bond - great news for the Black Caps, even if it less so for England's batsmen. However, it was Darryl Tuffey who was successful today, claiming the first two wickets with only 29 runs on the board - Peters caught by Richardson for 9 and Moore caught by McCullum for 18. Any thoughts that the hosts would completely collapse were dispelled by a useful 69 run stand from Hick and Ben Smith that ended, surprisingly, when Daniel Vettori had Hick caught by Bond for 36.


That was the tourists' last success of the day. Smith (72*)and Kadeer Ali (26*) took the total to 163 by the close of play, and look well set to add to that score tomorrow. The Kiwis, for their part, will be hoping to demolish the remainder of the home side's innings so that their own batsmen can enjoy some valuable time in the middle.



Posted by David