Blackcaps vs Pakistan: First Test Debrief
Don't bowl straight ... or outside off to Jeet Raval.
After a torrid 11 months, Aotearoa's Test cricket team slipped back into some old ways on home soil in an impressive few days play down in Christchurch. Victory in the first Test over Pakistan was led by a couple debutants, however it also saw a strong performance from the entire seam-bowling group which will encourage kiwi cricket fans and spark thoughts of a dominant summer.
The Mid-Test Digest I did yesterday (which will come somewhere near the middle of each home Test) zoned in on Colin de Grandhomme and Jeet Raval's respective debut performances, so give that a geeze for that angle. CDG played his part in a bowling display that showcased the Blackcaps bowling attack in all its four-pronged glory as each member of the bowling attack enjoyed some success with their individual niche.
CDG for example fits into this specific bowling attack perfectly because he offers a fourth seam option that can restrict run-scoring with a line and length honing in on off-stump, while also extracting any possible movement off the pitch and in the air. That works nicely with Neil Wagner's short stuff that was once again successful as along with Tim Southee's accurate swing, Pakistan's batsmen were forced to feel as though they needed to do something other than duck/sway out of harm's way because there weren't too many scoring opportunities at the other end. CDG is accurate, Southee and Trent Boult swing the ball from different angles while Wagner's the enforcer.
Pakistan's batsmen played how you'd expect them to with limited preparations in kiwi conditions as they fiddled with deliveries they shouldn't have and didn't have adequate defences to fend off quality deliveries. It all seems too simple; touring sub-continent team with limited prep put in the shade by kiwi swing/seam. That though, is the first Test in a nutshell.
What is of greater intrigue, is the ever-changing look of the Blackcaps. Raval and CDG are perfectly suited to their roles in this team and without getting too far ahead of ourselves, there's a pretty clear path laid out ahead of them assuming that they can keep improving and fend off the challenge of other teams sussing their strengths and weaknesses. These two blokes just feel as though they are meant to be in this team, while someone like Todd Astle definitely didn't get the same opportunity but regardless, he feels more like a place-holder.
Astle was the only kiwi batsman to get a duck in this Test, while Tom Latham didn't enjoy the best Test either. Latham was dismissed for 1 and 9, twice dismissed by Mohammad Amir and as his opening partner Raval made Test cricket look pretty easy with a technique and general style similar to that of Latham, I'd suggest that Latham was a victim of greater attention from Pakistan in terms of plans to snare his wicket cheaply.
We should only be slightly concerned when we have consistent failures over a period of time, or both openers are failing at the same time. Neither applies here and that Raval enjoyed success where Latham couldn't, is all good because hey, at least Raval got some runs and Latham isn't exactly in a poor run of form, coming off of an Indian series in which he hit scores of 58, 2, 1, 74, 53, 6.
What we do have are two openers who know exactly what their game is about. Both leave the ball very well which forces the bowler to drift straighter than they otherwise would and then our openers are able to pounce. There's a cheeky upgrade to Raval's game on that of Latham though as Raval showed that he can work the ball into the leg-side from outside off-stump, more so when the ball is shorter and while Latham would look at leaving this sort of delivery or playing it through the off-side, Raval can twist in for a couple of runs through mid-wicket.
The success of Wagner shows an area where Pakistan may have missed a trick as they were without Wahab Riaz and he's the sort of bowler who can rough a batsman up, either forcing a mistake in doing so or keeping the batsman honest with pace and bounce. While Pakistan looked underdone with the bat, it looked as though they had gone too far down the medium-pace kiwi style bowler route without enough genuine variety. I don't know where Riaz could fit in as Amir, Rahat Ali and Sohail Khan all too a few wickets when the ball was nippin' around but in the second innings when it wasn't doing so much, they were unable to force a mistake through super consistent bowling or something different - like Wagner's short stuff.
In that regard, Pakistan's bowling attacked seemed designed to make the most of favourable conditions, without factoring in how the pitch would flatten out after a few days play and a bit of sun on it. 105 isn't much to defend, but Amir, Khan and Ali looked tame, too tame to ruffle a feather or two. There wasn't a whole lot Yasir Shah could do in this Test, so judging him is rather difficult.
Good vibes will flow after this result and given the performances of CDG, Raval and the swingers, it's understandable. It's hard to fight the feeling though that this looked like the standard sort of victory that we see the Blackcaps enjoy over a touring sub-continent team and whether the Blackcaps can back it up - especially with the swinging ball against batsmen who will be better for the experience - in Hamilton, will provide us with better insight to gauge where this Blackcaps team's at.