***Official*** New Zealand in India 2016

[straw man]

Just in: New Zealand have Jeetan Patel into the Test squad. Mark Craig has been ruled out due to side strain

!!

 

[Zinzan]

Just in: New Zealand have Jeetan Patel into the Test squad. Mark Craig has been ruled out due to side strain. Patel played the last of his 19 Tests in 2013

 

[Bahnz]

!!

Actual footage of me right now

 

[cnerd123]

OMG is Jeetan Patel gonna play a Test?

Like, for real?

This should be amazing to watch

 

[Shri]

Lol Athers, Jeets in for Craig apparently.

 

[Zinzan]

Actual footage of me right now

If that's you, I'd hate to think what the state of Ather's room looks like...

 

[straw man]

Actual footage of me right now

Here comes the cavalry!

I for one look forward to his 1/180 in the next test

 

[Gnske]

Will the kiwi bloc survive this latest twist?

 

[Zinzan]

Ashwin and Jadeja just toying with the batsmen by the sound of things. Man I wish I could be watching this :/

Weird take, is that cricinfo commentary again? I mean at 4 down we'll be lucky to bat much more than an hour into session 2, but so far there hasn't been all that much happening.

 

[Zinzan]

Will the kiwi bloc survive this latest twist?

No, we needed to be 2 going into today for any chance of that happening. And it still would have been very unlikely.

 

[straw man]

Will the kiwi bloc survive this latest twist?

It depends whether Zinzan tries to maintain that both Craig and Patel are equally bad candidates.

 

[Zinzan]

It's good in a way in that we'll be able to find out once and for all whether Jeet's success in English County cricket in the last 3 years actually means SFA when it comes to translating it to tests.

 

[cnerd123]

Weird take, is that cricinfo commentary again? I mean at 4 down we'll be lucky to bat much more than an hour into session 2, but so far there hasn't been all that much happening.

Yup Cricinfo. Some nice shots and apparently lots of stuff happening with the ball:

45.3
Ashwin to Santner, no run, almost bowled him around his legs! If he was looking to pad away flighted deliveries outside leg, he should get a bigger stride in

42.4
Jadeja to Santner, no run, almost through him. Quick, on a good length, not letting the batsman reach the pitch. Santner was forward, prodding and is completely beaten. Were it not for his pads he would have been bowled

41.5
Ashwin to Ronchi, 1 run, extra bounce, and Ronchi handles it superbly. Went deep in his crease, softened his grip, and dabs the ball past slip

41.4
Ashwin to Ronchi, no run, lovely bowling. He didn't allow Ronchi to get to the pitch, although he did toss the ball up and give it a good rip.

41.1
Ashwin to Ronchi, no run, this good length ball stays low as it turns into middle and leg stump. Ronchi who was trying to cut manages to adjust in time

40.4
Jadeja to Santner, no run, big turn into the left-hander, who had looked well set to block the ball from deep in his crease but the ball reared at him off a good length outside off

39.5
Ashwin to Santner, no run, that will be the line from Ashwin. Flighted - a lot slower - on leg stump and the moisture in the pitch helps the ball deviate quite sharply. Past the off stump, well past the outside edge

39.3
Ashwin to Santner, no run, appeal for leg before from behind the stumps, Ashwin goes up for the catch at silly point. But this came straight off the pad - and the ball, on a good length and going on with the arm from around the stumps would have missed leg

 

[Bahnz]

Once Jeets is done winning us this series, it'll be fascinating to see how the selectors react this coming summer. Do they continue to select him given his obvious superiority? Or do the duel-factors of a) his unavailability during the county season; and b) his general direness in NZ contribute to this being a Vettori-style one-off?

 

[Zinzan]

It depends whether Zinzan tries to maintain that both Craig and Patel are equally bad candidates.

Without spraying my walls like Bahnz, I'm actually relatively happy. Never been much of a Craig fan.

 

[Zinzan]

Yup Cricinfo. Some nice shots and apparently lots of stuff happening with the ball:

Think it's more a case of cricinfo commentary mirroring the screaming appeals of Jadeja. He appealing when it's coming off the middle of the bat here. lol

 

[Jono]

Based on what? Herath's much more of a hometown bully than Ashwon, his numbers are closer to Jadeja's in terms of a crazy variance between home and away.

Ashwon is such a great typo. Using it from now on.

 

[Bahnz]

Well deserved 50 for Ronchs. His two 50's so far have been in England on a day 1 green top, and India on a 4th innings turner. Not bad.

 

[cnerd123]

Kane this test: 100 runs
Ronchi this test: 89 runs so far

 

[OverratedSanity]

Oh **** Jeetan Patel? Amazing twist.