Blackcaps vs Pakistan: Test Series Stats
BLACKCAPS BATSMEN
Well now, what’s this? Another series where Kane Williamson is out of the top couple spots in batting average for the kiwis? Yeah but that can happen in a two test series, he got one tough (/incredibly stupid) third ump call against him and threw away his wicket on another occasion with the scores tied in the first test. He still looked fairly sharp, maybe not vintage Prince Kane but in solid enough nick all the same.
Less so as far as Tom Latham or B.J. Watling went prior to this series so it’s good to see each of them score a few runs. Watling benefitted from a pair of not outs though he deserved a fiddy for that one long innings he played in the first innings of the second test but the tail couldn’t stick around with him long enough. He was also at the crease with Rossco when we declared in the second innings. As for Tommy Latham, he continued to struggle as he did in India right up until the fourth attempt at bat when he logged 80 – some much needed runs for him and enough to get his series figures out of the Younis Realm.
Probably the star of the batting front was Jeet Raval. Two half centuries in four attempts at bat is a great rate for an opener and equally important was that he batted a lot of time – his 345 balls faced were comfortably the most by a kiwi. With Latham not laying down the platform he has done over the last 12 months, that was massive for NZ to get their innings off to solid starts. An 85 run partnership with Williamson in Christchurch is a positive sign for the future too. Less so is that the best opening stand that he and Latham managed was 19 runs, though Tommy was the fella first dismissed on three of four occasions. Shout out for the seven catches in the field too, Jeet. Sturdy enough slipper we’ve got there.
And then we have The King. Ross Taylor, days before he was booked in for eye surgery, going on to his 16th test century with NZ’s only ton of the series. Hell, the only ton of the series full stop. It proved a match-winning one in the end, plus the average was helped out with Kanos declaring without waiting for Ross to slog away and get himself caught on the boundary or whatever. Ross scored his runs at a rapid clip which is the way we’ve seen him doing it recently (on the rare times he’s been scoring runs at all, to be fair) and as such he was able to put together partnerships on his way to his ton as well.
Ooh and we even saw Tim Southee bat twice without skying out for a duck, so that was nice. Coudla seen more from Hank Nicholls in his four attempts, gotta say his place is in a bit of jeopardy while Todd Astle was only ever a fill-in while Santner was out but scoring a duck and only bowling four overs means he won’t be feeling too flash about his brief return to the test side. Colin de Grandhomme scored ‘em quickly and mostly managed to get starts. The rest were all bowlers.
PAKISTAN BATSMEN
If there’s an area where Pakistan might wanna point the finger, their batting corps are certainly it. Granted they didn’t have the best preparation with their only warm-up being rained off and their hotel hit by an earthquake as well, nor did losing Misbah for the second test due to personal reasons help them in any way. They’ve got a couple 40-odd year olds in him and Younis in the middle and they clearly rely enormously on them still – Misbah holding their innings together in the firstie back in Chch while in the second inns his wicket sparked a collapse of four wickets for 12 runs.
As for Younis Khan, 16 runs in four innings gave him the worst series average of his career and given he’d scored a duck in his last test innings, meant he went four in a row without hitting double figures for the first time since 2002. He mercifully scored 11 in his final turn at bat of the tour.
Similarly Asad Shafiq got three starts in a row before he finished the series with a duck, batting in the middle order. Neil Wagner got him out twice. As for Misbah’s replacement in the second test Mohammad Rizwan, well a golden duck was the way he started his test career. A typical Wagner dismissal too, bounced out with a hook towards the boundary. He did a little better with an unbeaten 13 in the second go around, watching from the non-striker’s end as the tail collapsed around him. There was a brief flash of the destruction that Sarfraz Ahmed can reap from seven when he scored a 44-ball 41 in the second test but other than that he was pretty average, arguably beginning the final session disaster when he recklessly and suicidally ran himself out.
For a team that began the first test with their top seven all averaging over 40 in test cricket, this was a horrific tour with the willow in hand. The only one of that lot to top that number this series was the least experienced of the lot of them: Babar Azam. His 90* in the first innings of the second test was probably the best effort of the lot of them. The 22 year old (who is cousins with the Akmals!) scored a fifty on debut against the Windies in October and unlike most of the others around him he actually tried to score a few runs.
Which was the issue with the openers, who to be fair to them didn’t do the worst job. Sami Aslam and Azhar Ali had that 131 run partnership in the last innings of the tour which, if it hadn’t been for a complete implosion, should have been enough for the rest of them to save the test. Ali threw his wicket away on 91 though, that sucked.
It’s understandable that they were batting time rather than runs at that stage though they seemed to have the same approach in the first test too. When things were tough and the ball was nipping around off the seam, they shut up shop but were never able to work through it. Aslam scored 7 from 57 in the second innings in Christchurch while Ali had 31 from 173. The team batted close to 80 overs for 171 runs all out and NZ won it with 108/2. So no shocker at that to see Aslam and Ali faced more balls on tour than any other player from either team. At least both were able to score 50s at one stage – something that no Pakistani batsman outside the top three managed, though the rest of them did supply seven ducks – Riaz got a pair in Hamilton. Given that Ali had scored 302* in Dubai vs WI barely over a month before the first test here and he did so at a strike rate of 64.39, this was a bit disappointing.
With their stacked batting order, Pakistan don’t have to worry about runs from the tail usually so they don’t care that them lot can’t bat. This was a rare tour where the tail was exposed. And when Sohail Khan is their fourth highest run scorer across two tests, the rest of them are not looking too flash in comparison. Sohail’s 40 in Chch is his highest test score and the 37 he slotted at Seddon almost topped it.
BLACKCAPS BOWLERS
This was where the kiwis really came through. They bowled Pakistan out for 133 on the first day of play on the tour and kept them to 171 in the second innings. Next test wasn’t as juicy a wicket but they got them for 216 and 230 – with those last ten wickets coming in the space of 99 runs. CDG was the hero on the first day, taking 6/41 and the best figures of the series. Great stuff from him, he chipped in with another three wickets after and now rocks a career average of 12.22 with the ball. That’ll probably rise in the coming months. You’d have to imagine.
The hero of the play was Tim Southee. 13 wickets at a strike-rate of 40.4 and he did so bowling a full set of overs, more than anyone else in the series. After 14 wickets in his last 6 tests he took 13 in three, his best series since… since last year actually: Sri Lanka in NZ, Dec 2015. He took 13 wickets in two tests there at an average of 16.30. It’s almost bloody identical. The only time he’s taken more wickets in a series was when the West Indies came here in 2013 and that was a three test series. 18 wickets there, a best of 4/52. Any more than that would be too much to ask for given NZ never plays more than three test series. Incredibly, Southee bowled 31 maidens at more than a scoreless over for every three he bowled. That’s insane stuff.
The rest of them all bowled pretty tidily, the two spinners being the only bowlers with RPOs of 3.00 or more and Todd Astle only bowled the four overs. Mitch Santner got through 20 of them and picked up a couple wickets in that last innings, both of them dudes chopping onto their own stumps on the drive. Big wickets too, those of Azhar and Babar. All up the kiwis bowled 81 maidens compared to 46 from the Pakistanis, which was obviously affected by the different approaches of the batsmen but also the accuracy of the bowlers.
Not so flash on the stats for Matt Henry but he deserved more for his toil, particularly his 19 overs in the first innings of test two which only yielded 30 runs. Three boundaries conceded in 114 balls. A bit of that and he allowed Southee to be more aggressive on the way to his six wicket haul. Henry had come into the team to replaced Trent Boult who picked up a knock after the first test (Boult missing a test match after 44 consecutive appearances), where he bowled at a zip and with a threat not seen from him in a fair while. Five wickets in that test for Boulty, he was one of the better ones in India but this was him back towards his form of 2014. Also, this means he’s taken at least 30 wickets in tests for the last four calendar years.
Then there’s Neil Wagner. The man who bowls into the wind, the man who works harder with the ball in hand than anyone else in the team. Nothing extravagant for him but he constantly picked up small hauls of wickets. Nine of them in four innings including three late ones to earn that famous second test win. His average against Pakistan is the now best against any country he’s played at least two tests against… and this was the first time he’s played them. He also became the 14th NZ bowler to reach 100 test wickets and the second fastest to do so (Richard Hadlee was first, no surprises).
PAKISTAN BOWLERS
The seam threat was supposed to be the danger for Pakistan although Yasir Shah also entered with a huge reputation. For good reason, he’s pretty much the best spinner in the world. Except he was an utter non-factor here. No wickets at all in the first test and he was rotated out for the second.
The best of the Pakistani bowlers was Mohammad Amir. He and Sohail Khan carried the bulk of the load, bowling 66 and 70 overs respectively and each taking seven wickets, though Amir got his with a better economy rate and his figures were spoiled somewhat by dropped catches off his bowling. He deserved more luck for the way he flung that thing down there. Even when guys looked comfortable, you always felt like Amir could shake things up. Sohail finished off poorly with 0/69 at over 4 RPO in his last frame of bowling as NZ set a demanding total and that messed with his overall average. For the most part he was clever with the ball and stuck to his plans.
More than you could say about Wahab Riaz, who they missed in the first test and then probably wished they didn’t play him when they did in the second as his aggression and pace was coped with well – although he did get the big wicket of Tom Latham for 80 in the second innings. Wahab didn’t get smashed or anything, he just didn’t test the batsmen enough. He’s better than what he showed.
Azhar Ali got himself a handful of overs spread over three innings, tossing down a bit of part-time spin. He’s not the worst but he’s no Yasir Shah and the wicket he did get was that of Williamson with the Blackcaps a run away from victory in the first test. Rahat Ali and Imran Khan split the tests between them, which was unlucky for Rahat after he took four-for in the first test (most likely he was dropped so they had a bit more left/right handed variety in their pace stocks with Wahab recalled). Slightly expensive though. Imran then came in and he claimed three wickets in each innings getting that ball to dip back into the right handers. He didn’t have the same fear factor as Amir or even Riaz but he was accurate. There’s plenty to be said for that.