BLACKCAPS in Australia. Third Test. Adelaide. Day Three.
Pink balls, night cricket, dinner breaks, late swing, wickets, dropped catches, big hits, big crowds, umpiring controversies, late drama… this test match crammed a lot into its three days.
In fact, you almost didn’t notice it was over so quickly. People often complain when a test match finishes early but it’s hard to argue after three days of entertainment like that. What a test. Unfortunately the BLACKCAPS came out on the wrong side of the result, despite having chances to win the thing.
Entering what soon became clear would be the final day, the kiwis had a lead of 94 with five wickets remaining. We had to set a total, we had to give our bowlers something to work with. And it was our bowlers left to do the work after B.J. Watling was nicked out early by Hazlewood – who bowled in this game almost as well as he ever has in test cricket. Mitch Santner had some guts about him, though. He stuck in with Mark Craig to add another 24 for the seventh wicket and then 35 more for the eighth with Doug Bracewell. Dougie, finally, produced the quality with the bat that we’ve always been told he has (mostly by Ian Smith, his biggest fan – we love ya though Smithy, keep flying the flag in that Comm. Box). He only scored 27 but he batted with fluidity and confidence, looking to play his shots but being mature about them.
But Santner got carried away in trying to add to the lead. He smoked Nate Lyon for a gorgeous six past long on, only to feel like he needed to repeat the dose two balls later and he was stumped by Pete Nevill – despite his best gymnastic feat to get back.
Tim Southee stuck with it for a little while, however he eventually lost his patience too and was caught on the boundary. It was a tough balance, because a few of these batsmen did kinda throw their wickets away but at the same time there was no reason to bat for time. We needed runs, they had to keep scoring them. Trent Boult didn’t last all that long, leaving Dougie 27* and Australia with 187 to win.
Obviously 200 will have been a target but we fell short of that. Still, with the added pressure of fourth innings batting – the toughest ask in test cricket is chasing a total in the last innings – there was enough to defend so long as we could limit the runs and continually take wickets. Much like listening to your old high school principal speaking at assembly, time was irrelevant. A non-factor. They would keep going until there was a result.
Tim Southee ripped a couple in the first over but it was Trent Boult that did the most damage. After a frustrating tour he saved his best for the final day. Dave Warner was looking to push the game along, as he always does, and the opening partnership leaked 34 quick runs despite some good bowling. Edges were missed and catches not carrying, but you’ve just gotta keep going and the pressure will eventually toll if you can maintain the same standard. Boult trapped Joe Burns in front LBW.
In the eleventh over, Mitch Santner grassed a high one from Steve Smith. A big ugly slog and the wicket was let slip by. It felt like a turning point when it happened, even more so when Smith hit Boult for two fours the next over, only for Bracewell to get Warner poking one to second slip in his next over and the key partnership was broken. God, but that was close to a no-ball, though.
The very next over, Smith was given out for 14. LBW to Boult, he reviewed it but it was clipping the top within the margin of error and umpire’s call remained. We haven’t exactly had the rub of the green with reviews this series, mostly of our own account but also of things beyond our control, however this was a massive deal. 66/3 with 121 to win.
The next milestone was the dinner break and if we could only have grabbed a wicket before then, we may well have been in front. In these chases, the key is to get into the tail with a little time to spare and ask the vulnerable guys to do the work. Those wickets are gonna come cheaper than the rest of them, you can definitely hope to take three for ten or whatever to end it. But you have to get to them with the game still in the balance. We couldn’t get that fourth wicket before the break. Southee and Craig allowed Voges and S.Marsh to let off too much steam and when they re-emerged it was 74 to win, seven wickets to take.
Shout out to Boulty though, he wasn’t done. He got Voges out to bring in M.Marsh, the swampy Marshes in together to try win the test. (Imagine how sickening the Aussie media would’ve been if they’d done it too). Once again we couldn’t quite get that next wicket when we needed it. When Santner came on to bowl with 32 to win, it felt like one final gamble. A desperate sacrifice to try buy a wicket. Mitch Marsh (why are they all named Mitch?) smashed the young leftie for six and then tried to repeat it the next ball without lathering and rinsing first. Prince Kane took a fantastic catch under the lights.
We needed to strike immediately after that. We didn’t. They edged it down to under 20 to win. Under 15. Down to 11. But then Boult had Elder Marsh caught in slips and they were six down. Out for 49, so close to closing this out. Siddle flicked a four second ball but with some tight infields and flurries of catchers, we were able to tighten up for the final stretch. Nevill was caught behind for 10, a brilliant effort from Watling to go back the other way for the thick inside edge.
For some reason then Mitch (!) Starc came out to bat with two runs to win and a broken foot. Siddle hit the winning double which Starc was able to hobble through for. Aussies win by three wickets and take the series 2-0. But it was closer than that, really. We were disappointing in the first test but a few wicket away from challenging for/winning both of the final two. And it was great to see the BLACKCAPS scrapping all the way to the end in this one. They never made it easy for the Australians, we were just 20-30 runs short in the end.
Which will be blamed on the Lyon DRS call, though we reacted poorly to that. One bad decision isn’t enough of an excuse for letting them score 74 for the ninth wicket, nor for letting them add another 34 for the tenth – that Craig over that went for 20 by Starc just as culpable. What we might have done with another 20 runs…
The Diggity Doc will have more to say about the series and the team moving into the home stuff, and there’ll be a new Crackerjack BLACKCAPS Show out this week if you’re lucky (check out the podcast on iTunes or Stitcher for that – there’s an iTunes link on the left bar). I’m only rostered on for this day, so I don’t wanna go too deep about repercussion and rewards. What I will say is that this was a fantastic game of cricket. The final day was edge of the seat stuff, the kind of sustained drama that this sport can offer at its very best. People worried about what day/nighters would do to tests and here this one was highlighting the very best of them. 33,000 screaming fans, a nail-biting run-chase, quality on both sides. It was a spectacle. And the BLACKCAPS got themselves into position to win, which is all we can hope for and ask. Once in that position, you have to be good enough to claim it and by a slight margin we were not but dammit we gave them a bloody good fright. (Much more so than in that World Cup Final, that’s for sure).