Good day's play yesterday. There was a bit in it with the new ball but credit to Latham and Williamson for batting the way they did. As for whether WI bowlers were a touch short, hard to tell. They bowled full but there was no massive swing once the ball got a bit old so had to pull back the length to keep runs under check. I think they did a reasonable job. There were few that beat the bat and on a good day they may turn out to be nicks. I don't think the bowlers were ill disciplined, the credit should be given to the batters for the shot selection. The batters weren't hurried, didn't produce shots for the sake of it and played to the merit of the ball. Latham left the ball on length real well, so crucial playing under these conditions. The balls on the stumps nipping in or away are the most dangerous when you're letting go most of the length balls out side the 4th stump. Latham negate those real well. Kane is just Kane.. no point even talking about him. He has such soft hands and adapts to conditions most of the times. He sees the ball early, gets into really good position and makes very good decisions. When he does play some that he shouldn't be he plays it soft. Simple for him, hard for others.
As for Will Young, credit is due to Gabriel. He bowled a beauty previous ball, nipping away and the next one was fuller and swung just that enough really late. It's not always batsman is at fault when they get out, the bowlers are there to bowl and take wickets. They are well paid and opening bowling for their country for a reason.
When it comes to NZ Bowlers it will be a different story. We have bowlers that prefer to bowl differently and from different angles. Southee bowls close to the stumps, fuller looks to take the ball away from right handers most of the times. Boult uses the crease the best, hoops both sides with the new ball and when the ball is older he bowls slight wobble seam and moves it off the deck from back of a length. Wagner bowls heavy length and heavy balls for long periods of time. Simple game plan but effective. If that doesn't work he bowls skiddy short stuff and if the pitch has worn a bit by then the batters will be in two minds, whether to let go or play horizontal bat shots. Either way they can't sustain for long. Kyle can bowl fuller or shorter and his fuller balls also hits stickers. The batters have steep bounce to counter playing Jamieson. If all these bowlers are miser then batsman have to score somewhere so they take a bit of risk here and there. If it's not their day then things can go quite wrong and wickets fall in clutters. It's a full unit that works in tandem rather than reliance on a single bowlers particularly at home. The pitches always have something in it for the pacers at home anyways and it's all about working as a team.
NZ have this knack of not losing wickets in clutters. That's the worse thing sitting in the shed waiting to bat. Even if there is a partnership of say 40-50 runs for a wicket and some overs eaten up right after a wicket falls the bloke coming in next can be a bit more confident. If there 2-3 wickets go back to back, invariably the rest seem to follow suit. Big day coming up for WI batting. Our boys will post over 400 runs for sure and if all goes well probably 500 as well. If they get 500 then only one team can win from then on.
