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SHOAIB Bashir led England with four wickets as the tourists chipped away at the New Zealand batting on the opening day of the first Test in Christchurch.
Opting to field first on a green pitch that played true, England battled a stiff breeze and the brilliance of Kane Williamson, whose 93 formed the backbone of the home side’s 319-8.
Williamson shared half-century partnerships with all of Tom Latham, Rachin Ravindra and Daryl Mitchell, but the Black Caps were guilty of gifting wickets with loose strokes.
Williamson was culpable, cutting a Gus Atkinson short ball to Zak Crawley when a century was at his mercy.
The Williamson wicket opened the door for England and Bashir took advantage.
The off-spinner accounted for Tom Blundell and Nathan Smith, then ended a rapid eighth-wicket partnership of 46 when Matt Henry was caught at long-on.
Glenn Phillips, dropped on nought by diving England captain Ben Stokes, remains unbeaten on 41.
England persevere to satisfying position
This opening day was everything the series promised: keenly fought, tight and fluctuating.
At the beautiful Hagley Oval, its grass banks bursting with spectators, it was hard to imagine a more perfect setting for Test cricket.
Stokes, in the city of his birth, surprised no one when he chose to field. Despite the sunshine, Latham said he would have done the same, just as 12 captains in the previous 13 Tests at this ground have done.
Whether England failed to get the ball in the right place often enough, or the pitch did not do its part, is up for debate but there seemed no obvious demons for the batters to battle.
England threatened in peaks and troughs. Their fielding was sometimes sloppy – they failed to review Ravindra’s edge off Stokes when he had 20 and the skipper’s drop of Phillips is growing in importance. The tourists gave away 21 runs in wides and no-balls.
Despite all of that, they hung in. Ollie Pope, standing in behind the stumps, went unnoticed and Stokes conjured the short-ball tactics. Most importantly Bashir, after a disappointing tour of Pakistan, emerged as a wicket-taking threat by slowing his pace.
The expectation is this pitch will get better for batting. England can feel satisfied with their work, even if the dangerous Phillips could yet hit New Zealand to a very strong total.
Fresh attack leads England
Atkinson has had a stellar first year in Test cricket, fellow pace bowler Brydon Carse has been the find of England’s winter and no bowler in the world has sent down more deliveries in Tests than Bashir since he made his surprise debut in January.
Between them, they combined to work through the Black Caps, helped by Stokes being back to his best as captain. The skipper struggled during the 2-1 defeat in Pakistan and apologised to the players before this tour began.
While Atkinson and Carse took a wicket each when the ball was new, their toil was much harder when the ball got soft. On the slow pitch, their bouncers were hard for batters to control, leading to the errors from Williamson and Mitchell.
Given the conditions, Bashir could have been a peripheral figure. The wicket of Ravindra was a bonus and Bashir bowled too many short balls, but the scalps of Blundell and debutant Smith were genuine. The former pushed to point, the latter turned to leg slip.
Chris Woakes was ineffective and Stokes took time to find his rhythm. The captain had Phillips caught down the leg side for nine, only for the decision to be overturned. Jacob Bethell marked his first day as a Test cricketer by bowling one over.
Phillips and Henry attacked the tiring attack late in the day, so Bashir was summoned once more. Ben Duckett, at long-on, was waiting to hold Henry’s loft down the ground.
Citizen Kane
Williamson missed New Zealand’s historic 3-0 win in India with a groin injury, yet New Zealand’s best player was always going to come straight back into the team, even if it was at the expense of player-of-the-series Will Young.
He was in the middle after only two overs, when Atkinson took a sharp catch in his follow-through to hold on to Devon Conway’s careless drive.
Williamson took 14 balls to get off the mark, supporting the fluent Latham. After Latham played across Carse to edge behind for 47, Williamson took charge.
Adapting to the slowness of the pitch, he played none of his trademark dabs to third man, instead pouncing to whip through the leg side any time England dropped short.
Ravindra wasted his start, fetching Bashir’s full toss to mid-wicket on 34, Mitchell fell into Carse’s bouncer trap with an edged pull to third man on 19.
Atkinson picked up the short-ball plan, though Williamson was in control until his surprising slap to point. New Zealand lost three wickets for 25 runs before Phillips’ counter-attack. – bbcsport
A.I
Nov. 28, 2024
Tags: Shoaib Bashir
