*Official* Sri Lanka Tour of New Zealand 2018/19

[Zinzan]

Damn Kane so often misses hundreds, and to silly leg-side strangles & unlikely dismissals against the run of play, like the one today. Really wanted him to score his 20th ton today.

Still, how ominous for SL. They'll do well to dismiss NZ for <450, and even then they'll be pushing **** up hill.

 

[Zinzan]

Can’t win, can he? If he had got out for a low score he’d have been criticized for wasting an opportunity on a great batting wicket.

The great batsmen are allowed to cash in against poor attacks on roads.

Well yeah, but vcs does have a point. Top players are allowed to be criticized to an extent if they cash in against minnows more than most, which Taylor certainly does. Averages >300 vs. Zim if my memory serves. That doesn't of course take away from the fact he's an excellent batsman.

 

[Jezroy]

Taylor just goes past McCullum. Should pass Fleming by the time he plays 100 tests, which is presumably when he calls it a day.

Still behind Root and Kohli though, much to my surprise.

Assuming he doesn't miss any tests - next one against SL is 90

3 against Bangl
2 against SL (away)
2 against Eng
3 against Aus (away)
2 against Ind (Feb/Mar 2020)

If that's it he finishes with 102 tests

If he goes at a similar rate per test to what he's gone at, he ends up with around 7400 runs.

The only thing that he could possibly aim at is the Test Cricket Championship final a year later. He'll be 37? I guess he'll know by the end of that India series if that's possible for NZ to make it.

 

[Bahnz]

Forecast for day 5 looking a bit meh, glad to see we've scored at a good clip, even if that aggression cost KW an easy ton. Push on tomorrow, extend the lead to 250 and stick them in during the last session.

 

[Grasshopper]

Forecast for day 5 looking a bit meh, glad to see we've scored at a good clip, even if that aggression cost KW an easy ton. Push on tomorrow, extend the lead to 250 and stick them in during the last session.

I agree, if we bat aggressively in the first session it gives us the best chance of turning Day 5 into a rest day. Go hard.

 

[Burgey]

Terrific scorecard for kiwi fans here. Williamson amongst it again. Such a good player

 

[Grasshopper]

Possibly the most enjoyable day of test cricket in the last ten days.

 

[Binkley]

Could we have had a better weekend to start the home international season? Two glorious days of sunshine, a happy Basin and some glorious cricket by New Zealand.

My toddler had a great time yesterday. When we got home she insisted we play cricket in the backyard. Apparently “cricket” involves one person lying on the ground, holding a piece of string in a straight line, while the other person jumps over it to score points. Which kinda indicates that she spent the day failing to notice anything that happened on the field. She definitely enjoyed the ice blocks and watching the drunk blokes in front of us fall over though.

 

[Grasshopper]

 

[Moss]

Good to see Latham kicking on and capitalising on good batting conditions, played well up to lunch from what I had seen. Looks like KW enjoyed himself as well, deserved to let his hair down after the Abu Dhabi efforts.

 

[Athlai]

Assuming he doesn't miss any tests - next one against SL is 90

3 against Bangl
2 against SL (away)
2 against Eng
3 against Aus (away)
2 against Ind (Feb/Mar 2020)

If that's it he finishes with 102 tests

If he goes at a similar rate per test to what he's gone at, he ends up with around 7400 runs.

The only thing that he could possibly aim at is the Test Cricket Championship final a year later. He'll be 37? I guess he'll know by the end of that India series if that's possible for NZ to make it.

What a farce that england and india are only 2 match series

 

[TheJammyTurtle]

Going to be a long few months for Dilruwan...I’d honestly consider retiring now if I where him.

 

[Woodster]

KW is so good to watch in a more classical and orthodox way than most. His punches off the back foot and his driving were sublime yesterday.

As for Latham, nice to see him go on and get to three figures, looks a classy bat when he maintains his concentration, it’s obviously just doing that more consistently, because as that knock shows he’s more than capable of playing those innings. Rewarded for his patience at the start of his innings.

Tough conditions for the SL bowlers, doesn’t seem a great deal happening and the consistency in their areas wasn’t at the requisite level (from what I saw) to build any real pressure on any of the NZ batsmen as the day wore on.

 

[thundaboult]

Boult's consistency with pace is heart warming to see, despite the terrible luck. He had a long tour in the UAE, long flight, not enough rest, jet lag, and he's 140 plus nearly every ball. Hit the 90 mph mark a few times and hit 146-147 as well. He usually hits that pace mark in LOI's, first time I'm seeing him bowl consistent pace in the whites. Good to see him recover so well after that painfully slow speed late 15 - early 16 season where he was bowling James franklin pace, lol.

 

[Bahnz]

What a farce that england and india are only 2 match series

We can't really play any more though, that's a 7-match home season (Eng in Nov/Dec; Aus in Dec/Jan; Ind in March) even teams like England never play more than that. The real problem is that all three of these series are being squished into one season, when they should be spread out over several years as the tent-pole tours of each successive summer.

 

[NZTailender]

Boult's consistency with pace is heart warming to see, despite the terrible luck. He had a long tour in the UAE, long flight, not enough rest, jet lag, and he's 140 plus nearly every ball. Hit the 90 mph mark a few times and hit 146-147 as well. He usually hits that pace mark in LOI's, first time I'm seeing him bowl consistent pace in the whites. Good to see him recover so well after that painfully slow speed late 15 - early 16 season where he was bowling James franklin pace, lol.

Is Shurgensen still bowling coach?

 

[NZTailender]

Is Shurgensen still bowling coach?

Apparently he is. Test stats during his reign.

 

[Bahnz]

Not bad when compared with Mascarenhas' tenure.

Bowling records | Test matches | Cricinfo Statsguru | ESPNcricinfo

Admittedly that was a tough stint. 7 of the 9 tests were against England and Australia (5 away from home), Boult was coming back from injury, Southee had his niggles, Wagner was out of fashion for some reason, and Mark Craig was letting down the rest of the attack by bowling horrendous pies. Still glad they got Shurgensen back.

 

[straw man]

Good day of SL-bashing yesterday. This pitch is very flat and with rain looming on day 5 Sri Lanka might have hopes of batting out the draw. However NZ's very high run-rate (and SL's inaccurate bowling) make that much more difficult, as the (likely) declaration will be earlier. And SL's batsmen won't be the most confident after their season.

Sounds like a great catch to get rid of Taylor.

 

[TheJammyTurtle]

Comms just saying now what everyone is thinking.How can Sri Lanka or even Bangladesh for that matter ever expect to challenge overseas when their fast bowlers hardly ever get a bowl at home.