The old joke about New Zealand, favoured by those who
can’t think of anything amusing to say, is that when you land here you turn
your watch back 20 years. Last Monday at the Basin it was, for once, pleasingly
true.
Pakistan were the visitors for the first ODI to played at
the Basin Reserve in a decade, and only the second since the Cake Tin opened around
the turn of the century. The day was glorious, with Wellington’s perennial gale
taking a day off along with many of the capital’s workers, it being the annual
provincial public holiday. The idea of a separate holiday for each part of New
Zealand should have had its day with the invention of the telephone and the
consequent integration of the national economy, but it persists, and under the
sun at the Basin we were pleased that it does.
It was one of the more memorable ODIs: New Zealand turned
99 for six into a 70-run victory.
In the sixth over of the morning Martin Guptill off drove
Mohammad Irfan for six, the ball kept within the Basin Reserve only by the top
of the Don Neely screen at the southern end of the ground. Guptill has been
imperious in recent weeks, so 10,000 people sat back and thought “here we go”. Two
balls later Guptill hooked Irfan, but, supporting my hypothesis that the Basin
pitches are quicker this season, was a little late on the shot and Wahab Riaz
took a good catch at long leg.
Latham was caught behind, a thin but definite ripple
showing on snicko, but Williamson was in, so there was no need to worry. But,
though he is by no means out of form, Williamson has come off the crest of the
wave that he surfed throughout 2015, and got an inside edge onto the stumps that
would have found the middle a few weeks ago. Two balls later Elliott was bowled
through a passable imitation of the nearby Mt Victoria tunnel between bat and
pad, which brought in Corey Anderson, 25 overs or so early.
Anderson did a magnificent holding job in the World Cup
semi-final last year, but circumspection is not his natural state and he gave
the appearance of an elephant trying not to tread on the daisies. He fell caught
behind for ten, and Ronchi went the same way next over.
Both men fell to Mohammad Amir, who bowled beautifully.
Watching him will be one of the delights of the next decade or so. That he was
the subject of taunting from bores on the bank was no surprise, and he will
have to learn to live with that sort of thing. It was disappointing to learn
that at the T20 a boofhead PA announcer had played cash register sounds when he
came on to bowl. NZ Cricket was quick to apologise. As I wrote last week, Amir
was a kid bullied into doing wrong and deserves the support of the cricket
world. If Salman Butt were to turn up, I’d be happy to join in the booing.
Ninety-nine for six it was, at the crease two players who
few of us had heard of at this time last year: Henry Nicholls and Mitch
Santner.
Nicholls is a 24-year-old left-hander from Canterbury who
has broken into the ODI side this year. He has also had a short spell in the
Big Bash (for the Hobart Hyperbole, or possibly the Brisbane Boast, I forget
which) so can certainly give it a tonk. He hit seven fours here, the first five
of which came when New Zealand were only two down. But when the collapse came
he changed his game and became an accumulator. It was impressive and
established Nicholls as the leading contender to succeed McCullum at No 5 in
the test team. He was dropped by Hafeez at slip at 15, a mistake that cost
Pakistan the match.
Nicholls and Santner put on 79 for the seventh wicket in
16 overs. Pakistan skipper Azhar Ali failed the “what would McCullum do?” test
early in this partnership when he put spinners on at both ends to get through
the ten overs he needed from them, or least that he would need from them if the
innings lasted the full 50 overs. Had he invested a few of the overs available
to his quick bowlers and told them to attack, he could have brought the innings
to an earlier conclusion.
Santner was judicious about shot selection. He came into
international cricket without an impressive record at domestic level and has
much to learn. But he looks as if he belongs at this level and the selectors
are to be praised for picking him on the basis of class and potential. It
worked for Daniel Vettori 20 years ago and could have the same result for
Santner.
When Nicholls was out for 82 the score was 203 for eight
in the 45th over. Maybe the
tail could scratch—let’s be optimistic—another 30 to give New Zealand a
modestly decent target to bowl at?
No one foresaw the carnage of the last five overs. Matt
Henry and Mitch McClenaghan set about the Pakistan attack like pit bulls. It
was cricket remade by Quentin Tarantino. Six sixes and six fours were hit in
the last five overs, during which New Zealand added 71 runs. Nos 8, 9 and 10
all passed 30, something that had not been achieved in any of the 3,277 ODIs that
were played before this one.
The pace of the pitch helped the ball fly off the bat,
but also accounted for McClenaghan who suffered a fractured eye socket when a
ball from Anwar Ali penetrated the grille of his helmet. He went down with
worrying thump and it was a relief when he walked unassisted from the field a
few minutes later.
As it was a special occasion the Basin Reserve
authorities had splashed out on replacement lightbulbs for the scoreboard,
which was unusually unambiguous as a consequence. But the operators can report to
their masters in Pyongyang that, nevertheless, they still advanced their
campaign of misinformation by taking a perverse approach to the issue of the
names of the Pakistan team. In most cases (though not all, notably when that
name is Mohammad), Pakistani cricketers are identified by their first name (eg
Hanif, Mushtaq, Zaheer). The video screen respected this convention. But the
scoreboard listed Pakistan under their last names, so leaving those unwisely relying
on it for information under the impression that it was recording a completely
different game from that on the screen next to it.
A target of 281 was about par. New Zealand were without
McClenaghan, which meant that all five frontline bowlers would have to bowl ten
overs, with only Williamson in reserve. Pakistan started steadily with 33 from the
first ten overs.
Grant Elliott had failed with the bat, but he is the
Swiss army knife of New Zealand cricket, with something to offer in any
circumstance. It was inspired of Williamson to bring him on as early as the seventh
over. By the end of the eleventh over he had two wickets.
Mohammad Hafeez and Babar Azam were comfortable enough putting
on 81 for the third wicket until the partnership was broken by Williamson, who
brought himself on after Babar got after Santner. Hafeez mistimed a drive and
was caught by Henry at long on.
Elliott took a third wicket and when Babar fell to
Anderson five were down and the required rate was eight-and-a-half an over. Pakistan’s
lower order had none of the resilience of New Zealand’s and Boult was able to
finish the game with a spell of four for one, which consolidated his position
as the No 1 ODI bowler in the world.
It was splendid to have the ODI cricket back at the
Basin. In a perfect world, the stands would be rebuilt and the capacity
increased to 14,000 or so, plenty for games against most opponents.
For Australia next week, we will be back at the Cake Tin.
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