Blackcaps vs Sri Lanka Test Series & Test Summer Debrief
Blackcaps sealed a victory late on day four of the second Test vs Sri Lanka and finish another delightful summer of Test cricket with a couple draws in Pakistan, then a 3-1 record in Aotearoa. This concludes the current World Test Championship cycle with Aotearoa moving up a couple spots to finish 6th, a notch behind Sri Lanka and the kiwis finished on a WTC streak of four Tests without a loss.
This second Test against Sri Lanka offers an enticing comparison to the previous WTC cycle. While Blackcaps have replaced Luteru Taylor and BJ Watling with two blokes averaging over 40 in Test batting, they also offered a revamped bowling unit. Tim Southee was the only lad who played against Sri Lanka and bowled in the WTC final.
Neil Wagner was also in the mix this summer after playing in the WTC final and Blackcaps managed to snare wins over England, then Sri Lanka with varying degrees of a fresh bowling unit. Taking 20 wickets at the Basin Reserve is trickier than Hagley Oval, especially when the Welly winds are blowing. Sri Lanka offered hearty resistance but this bowling attack still got the job doe.
Michael Bracewell churned out 42 overs in the second dig on his home deck, not quite hitting Jack Leach's 61.3ov from previous Basin Reserve Test though. Cuzzy Doug Bracewell took a wicket in both innings and offered a reliable presence, while Blair Tickner also embraced the challenge of fighting for Test wickets. The Welly wind is a factor and these role-playing bowlers were willing to trundle into the breeze, but the ability to execute plans consistently is a Blackcaps Test weapon and these three contributed to the Blackcaps grind.
Matt Henry made his Test debut in 2015, but his consistent selection is a fresh wrinkle. Henry has already played four Tests this year and he has hit this mark only once before, taking 7w @ 65.14avg in 2016. Henry has 19w @ 29.26avg this year.
Henry averaged 40+ in four of his first five years, now he's averaging below 30 for three consecutive years of Test bowling. Henry has more wickets under skipper Southee than the 13w @ 54.84avg he took under Kane Williamson's captaincy. Henry hit 68* and took a wicket in both innings of his lone Test in Pakistan, gathering wickets in typical Henry fashion this summer; 1w, 1w, 4w, 2w, 4w, 3w, 3w, 1w.
Tim Southee is also snaring wickets. Southee took 11w @ 17.63avg against Sri Lanka which is tied with Henry's 11w @ 23avg. Southee finishes the summer is the leading wicket-taker for Aotearoa with 23w @ 29.81avg. The skipper is in a six year streak of 20+ wickets and after drifting above 30avg for most of his earlier years in Test cricket, this streak of 20+ wickets features averages below 30 in five of the six years.
Henry Nicholls needed runs and he finally cashed in with 200* as part of the 580/4 declared that the Blackcaps put up batting first. Nicholls is the only batter averaging below 40 this summer (38.33avg) and despite lacking runs, Nicholls managed to make starts throughout the season with six scores over 20 in his 10 innings. Nicholls now has a Test century in seven consecutive years, averaging 74 against Sri Lanka and 77 at the Basin Reserve.
Get Nicholls playing against Sri Lanka in Wellington and he's probably going to score runs.
Oh yeah, Kane Williamson hit 215 as well and Aotearoa's greatest batter ever may be getting better? Williamson started the season with 200* in Pakistan and was also fabulous in the crucial ODI series against Pakistan with scores of 26, 85 and 53. Then Williamson scored centuries in three consective Tests, taking him to 756 runs @ 94.5avg this summer.
Six Tests, four centuries for Williamson. Averaging 60+ in four consecutive years means that this is the first pocket of Williamson's Test career in which he has averaged 60+ for more than two years in a row. Williamson is the only bloke in this WTC cycle who has scored 700+ runs in less than nine Tests. This flows into Williamson's average as 752 WTC runs has him ranked 29th, while his average of 75.2 is ranked 4th.
Of the three batters with higher averages in this WTC cycle than Williamson, all three have played less than five Tests. Of the seven batters who average 70+, Williamson is the only bloke who has played more than five Tests. Blackcaps will never play the same number of Tests as the greedy nations, so all Williamson comparisons revolve around averages...
Kane Williamson: 75.2avg
Babar Azam: 61.08avg
Joe Root: 53.19avg
Steve Smith: 50.08avg
Virat Kohli: 32.18avg
Kane Williamson is the best batter in the world. With my Aotearoa goggles on, Kane Williamson is the best batter ever.
Here are the Blackcaps batting averages split by this summer, this WTC cycle and their Test careers...
Tom Latham: 52.7avg | 43.63avg | 41.53avg
Devon Conway: 48.5avg | 49.11avg | 50.10avg
Kane Williamson: 94.5avg | 75.2avg | 54.89avg
Henry Nicholls: 38.33avg | 32.31avg | 38.78avg
Daryl Mitchell: 46.87avg | 60avg | 57.21avg
Tom Blundell: 51.77avg | 43.1avg | 43.63avg
Blackcaps performed well in Pakistan and Aotearoa this summer while integrating new players into the Test team. They finish this WTC cycle mid-table and considering the legends who retired, as well only losing WTC games in Aotearoa when Williamson wasn't playing, this can easily be twisted into a positive finish for this campaign.
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Peace and love.