BLACKCAPS Hosting Sri Lanka - First Test. Dunedin. Day One.
When the BLACKCAPS score 400 runs on day one of a Test, it should always go down well. That the BLACKCAPS finished the day 409/8, relinquishing a position of utter dominance, could be viewed as a failing but let's be fair, 409 runs on day one is exactly what the doctor (yes, me) ordered.
Given the hoopla made about flat pitches and the lack of balance between bat and ball, it was also nice to see Sri Lanka take 8 wickets and work their way back into the contest. Sure the Dunedin pitch offered some assistance for the bowlers, yet how many times have we seen Asian teams appear to give up the ghost and allow their kiwi hosts to enjoy their selection of runs? The toil and graft of Sri Lanka should be admired.
The star of the show today was Martin Guptill and good on him. Cricket's a strange game and batting is the strangest art-form of them all, so to see Guppy extending through drives and punishing anything slightly loose after that Australian series was nice ... but strange as Guppy was playing attacking shots today to similar deliveries that he got in Australia.
Good on Guppy. I just can't help but think that this was always going to happen and the challenge for Guppy is consistency.
Tom Latham? Stay in son, you'll learn some day and you'll have multiple Test centuries to your name.
Standard innings' from Prince Williamson and B-Mac. There's not much more to be said about Williamson's brilliance and his ability to come in after a reasonably early wicket, keep the runs flowing and re-set the innings is the key to this BLACKCAPS batting line-up.
What Brendon McCullum's innings did do was give the game a kick up the backside. McCullum usually bats one way (he's shown he can do it all) and I reckon when McCullum sees a platform being laid by those ahead of him that his eyes light up. The skipper talks a good game about wanting to win Tests (which means scoring runs above 3/3.5 runs-an-over) and the beauty with McCullum is that like all good leaders he backs his words up with actions.
Well, he tries to. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. When McCullum's hitting does work, the BLACKCAPS find themselves ahead of the game and in the driver's seat.
I'm not overly fussed about the wickets that fell late in the day as the kiwi bowlers will be frothing at the mouth to trundle in. Whether that comes via an overnight declaration or after Doug Bracewell and Neil Wagner have a whack ... should they fail or succeed. I'm keen to see the BLACKCAPS put the heat on Sri Lanka and ask them if they can bat out a day to keep themselves in this Test.
Kudos to both the kiwis and Sri Lankans for serving up a nice day's cricket. Sri Lanka showed what Test cricket is all about as they fought all day long and got some rewards while the kiwis ticked most of their boxes so no complaints from me.