More Cricket

The Black Caps series against South Africa went down to the wire with the fifth match in Christchurch, where the South Africans put on a display of batting, reaching a total of 187. Not an impossible task, but they were able to contain the New Zealand batters. Wickets fell regularly and no-one was able to get a real total going. Eventually they achieved 154 in response. South Africa won the match by 33 runs, and the series 3-2. 

But that’s not what we want to see! The White Ferns had already wrapped up their series 3-1 in Wellington, and performed another demolition, setting a total of 194 and then bowling the South Africans out for 109, a 92 run margin of victory, to give a 4-1 series score.

They then moved onto the longer 50 over format a few days later, again in Christchurch, where South Africa exacted their revenge. The White Ferns batted first, and set, by their standards, a modest total of 268 for their opponents to hit. They made a good start with a wicket in the first over, and both openers out for 30, but South Africa then put on 122 runs for the third wicket. The Ferns never managed to slow them down, and despite losing wickets regularly, they had a relatively easy path, until the pre-penultimate over: needing 24 off the last three overs, they scored just two, and lost a wicket. Suddenly, the equation is 22 from 2 overs. They scored 8 in the 49^th over, leaving 14 from the last over. A couple of singles and a six , then a couple of dot balls, left South Africa needing a six off the last ball. There was a long talk out in the middle between Suzie Bates and her captain, Melie Kerr. Unfortunately she bowled a sitter which Reyneke slogged for the required six. South Africa won, by two wickets, off the final ball.

On to Wellington for the final two matches of the series, and the South Africans have their tails up. It was an absolutely stunning day, with early cloud clearing to perfect blue skies all round. There was a nagging southerly breeze so it was a good job we were inside, in the Long Room.

This time, wickets didn’t fall. Although they lost their opener, Tazmin Brits, for 9, the second wicket partnership between opener and captain Laura Woolvardt and Anneke Bosch took them to 167/2, and even after that partnerships continued, with South Africa finally setting a total of 346/6. This was not helped by at least six – SIX! – chances going down. OK, some of them were hard chances, but in many cases the ball bounced out of the fingers. Coach Rory recommends some catching practice before the final match!

South Africa had set the White Ferns a mountain to climb: the biggest run chase in Women’s cricket. The previous most successful was India’s chasing down of 339 against Australia in 2025. A massive run rate of almost seven an over was required. The loss of Suzie Bates early put them at 21/1, and onto the pitch walks Melie Kerr.

What happened next was just…staggering. First, a 52 run partnership before Georgia Plimmer was out for 23, and then, having lost Green and Halliday for relatively low totals, put on a 120 run partnership with Izzy Gaze for the 5^th wicket. Gaze was striking the ball well, making 68 off 49 balls. The total was now 250/5, with 12 overs remaining. Still quite a total to reach, at 8 runs per over. But this is Melie Kerr we’re talking about, and she continued to build partnerships – 40 with Izzy Sharp and 39 with sister Jess Kerr. They needed 18 runs off the last two overs. They took six from the 49^th, and were left needing 12 off the final. Two fours off the first two balls brought it within reach – just three needed off the last four. A scampered two left the scores tied with three to go. No messing, Melie Kerr hit it for four, to win the match and level the series 1-1, with two balls in hand. Kerr finished on 179 not out, having scored over half the runs required herself.  

After the match, the accolades flowed, as all the records achieved were talked over. Amazingly, this isn’t even Melie Kerr’s highest score in an ODI! She achieved 232 not out against minnows Ireland in 2018 – but this is against one of the world’s top teams. It’s the highest successful run chase in women’s cricket. Ever.

The next match, the decider, is again in Wellington, on Saturday. We’ll be going along, and expecting fireworks!

Cricket At The Hnry

Wellington’s stadium has gone through several iterations as name sponsors have changed. It started out as Westpac Stadium, then changed to Sky. The latest sponsor is Hnry, a New Zealand tax accounting company. So we now have the Hnry Stadium. Pronounced Hnry.

Whilst international test cricket is played at the Basin Reserve, Twenty20 and ODIs are increasing played at the Hnry, as they have floodlighting for day/night matches. This was the third match in a five match T20 series against South Africa. Both men’s and women’s teams are playing, leading to an eight-hour festival of cricket. 

This match is included in our Gold membership of Cricket Wellington, so we could access the member’s lounge. This is right under the scoreboard, which makes tracking what’s going on a little harder for us, as the screen at the other end of the ground is used largely for advertising, and only rarely do they update the scores there. Indoors, however, they also have several tv screens so we can keep up with the match. Also handy for the action replays!

The White Ferns were up first, starting at 2:45. We’d got there in plenty of time, and ensconced ourselves by the window. The Ferns are 2-1 up in the series, with a WLW record behind them. South Africa won the toss, decided to bat, and amassed a reasonable score of 159, setting the Ferns their highest chase total at home. Losing opener Gaze in the second over didn’t help, and then Plimmer fell for 29 after keeping captain Melie Kerr company for a bit. It was the partnerships of Kerr/Devine and Devine/Halliday that really sealed the deal, and by the time Devine was out for 64 they needed just another 11 runs from 17 balls, which they achieved with nine balls to spare. This sealed the series win 3-1, with one more match to play in Christchurch.

There was a bit of a wait for the men’s game, as it is timed to be shown after the TV News has finished at 7:00pm. We availed ourselves of dinner from the member’s lounge catering…not brilliant.

The Black Caps are also 2-1 up on the series, having lost the first game but absolutely pantsing the Proteas with bat and ball in the next two games – bowling them out for 107 after setting a target of 175 in the second match, and then restricting them to 139/9 in the third – a total they saw off in less than 17 overs. There were line-up changes for this match, bringing in some newer players, and also losing Tom Latham to injury. South Africa won the toss and decided to bat, setting a target of an achievable 165 for the Black Caps.

Unfortunately, the Black Caps failed to dazzle with the bat. No-one really got going and every time they seemed to get settled, another wicket fell. Neesham, in particular, who should have held the lower order together, was found wanting. Having skied the ball twice and been dropped twice in succession, what does he do? Hits it up again, and third time was a charm…caught for 6. Too much was being asked of the rest of the lower order, and South Africa eventually wrapped it up for 145, winning by 19 runs.

This leaves the men’s series tied at 2-2, with the final match on Wednesday in Christchurch. Should be a nailbiter!

 

Blackcaps vs. Australia

Australia are touring New Zealand and playing a T20 series and two test matches here. They haven’t played test match cricket in New Zealand since 2016, presumably through fear of the thrashing they’d get at the hands of the Blackcaps.

One of the test matches will be played in Wellington at the Basin Reserve, and is already sold out. If there’s play on day five we might be able to get along to it. However, the T20 matches are played in much larger stadium venues, and in Wellington that means Sky Stadium. We went along on Wednesday night to see the Blackcaps give the opposition a total thrashing.

We arrived with a bit of time to spare, so got drinks upstairs at the Mezz Bar. They also serve food up there, so I put in my order, only to be told there was a 30-minute wait for food. “But, no problem”, the barman told me; “they serve the same food downstairs”. So we finished our drinks, and Nicola went to take our seats whilst I went in search of alimentation.

Here is the news: they do NOT serve the same food downstairs. They serve typical stadium food downstairs, which is why we head up to the Mezz Bar in the first place. So I found some fush’n’chups and a cheeseburger of dubious quality, and we had those instead.

The Blackcaps started with a stutter, scoring three runs from the first over. This didn’t seem to bother them, and soon they were at 51/0 off 4 overs. First fall was Finn Allen at 61 runs off 5.2 overs. This brought in Rachin Ravindra, New Zealand’s new superstar, and he and Devon Conway made 113 for the next wicket, both making half centuries. New Zealand kept up the run rate, eventually finishing 215/3.

That’s a formidable target for a T20 match, and Australia set about chasing it. They managed to keep up with the run rate until towards the end, as wickets fell regularly. But not regularly enough, and with three overs to go, they were at 173/4, needing 43. The 18^th over went for eight runs, so now the equation was 35 off 12 balls. It looked like New Zealand’s game.

How do you lose a match from there? The penultimate over went for 19 runs, with Tim David hitting two sixes and a four off the last three balls. Suddenly, the target is 16. Tim Southee comes in to bowl, and bowls a wide! A leg bye on the next ball returns Tim David to the striking end, and the next two balls are also singles. They need 12 from three balls…a six and a two leave them needing a four off the last ball to win. Southee attempts the yorker to tuck him up, but David gives himself room and hits it to midwicket. There’s a despairing dive from Glenn Phillips but he can’t stop it reaching the rope, and Australia make it on the last ball. A true nail-biter!

Right, we’ve got them where we want them now, it’ll all be over in the next two matches.

Blackcaps vs. Bangladesh

Bangladesh are currently touring New Zealand, playing three ODIs and three T20 matches. One of the ODIs was played at Wellington’s Basin Reserve, so naturally I went along for a day’s cricketing action. Nicola, unfortunately, had to work, so I was on my tod.

It was another lovely sunny day for cricket, so I drove down and found a convenient parking space along Kent Terrace, five minutes’ walk from the ground. Where else in the world can you do that for a cricket international? I had a reserved seat high in the RA Vance Stand, but chose to sit instead in our usual seats below the stand, as this is more convenient for the side trips required for beer and food etc during the match. I was giving my cricket t-shirt its final outing for the year, which always elicits comments (front: I don’t like cricket; back: I ¤ it!).

The Blackcaps had decided to bat first; after making a good start, they stuttered somewhat, losing wickets while on 41 (Nicholls 18), 49 (Guptill 26), and 57(Taylor 7), before Devon Conway came in to steady the ship. He partnered Tom Latham for 63 runs, and then made a huge fifth wicket partnership with Daryl Mitchell – a record-setting 159 runs. Conway was out for 126 - his first century for New Zealand - but the work had been done, and the Blackcaps were looking comfortable at 279 with 16 balls to go. The only remaining question…could Daryl Mitchell, then on 76, make a ton? He certainly gave it a go, and walloped a six and three fours in the final overs. On 95 with four balls remaining, he ran a two, then a single, leaving Mitchell Santner facing the penultimate ball. All he needed to do was to run a single so that Mitchell (Daryl, not Santner) could face the final ball and make a century. He gave it a hard slog and it looked like it was heading for the boundary…but no, cut off by the fielders! They’d scampered two, and made a desperate lunge for a third. Fortunately assisted by a wayward throw from the boundary, they made it, and left Mitchell facing and needing two from the final ball. Again, some fast running saved the day and they made it back for two, Mitchell celebrating all the way with his first ODI century for New Zealand. All these shenanigans had pushed the score up to 318/6, setting a high target for the Bangladeshis...

Is that a cloud on the horizon? New Zealand at 75 for 3

...One that they were unable to conquer, unfortunately. They had a valiant effort, but they’re not in the same league as New Zealand. Despite some resistance from Mahmudullah in the middle order providing some entertainment with four sixes, the rest of the Bangladesh line-up weren’t up to the mark and only two others made double figures. Mahmudullah ran out of partners and ended unbeaten on 76; that well-known batsman, X Tras, was their fourth-highest scorer on 12, and they finally slumped to 154 all out after 42.4 overs. New Zealand won the series 3-0.

That run rate is getting away from Bangladesh

That’s it for international cricket this season in Wellington - the T20 matches are being played in Hamilton, Napier and Auckland over the next week. The White Ferns are playing Australia in April but no matches in Wellington – the weather’s a bit too iffy at this time of year, so all the matches are in north North Island. New Zealand then head to the UK for a test series against England before the inaugural Test World Final against India, to be played in England in June.

Black Caps vs. West Indies

The West Indies cricket team are touring New Zealand at the moment. They’ve played three T20 matches in Auckland and Mount Maunganui; New Zealand won 2 of these and the third was abandoned after 2.2 overs. The format then switched to test matches, with one played in Hamilton at the beginning of December, where New Zealand won by an innings and 134 runs. The action moved to Wellington last Friday, and we headed down to the Basin Reserve for day one of the match.

The weather was sunny at first, but with a typical cool Wellington breeze blowing through the ground. We were relatively well sheltered in our seats, and out of the sun, unlike the folk on the grassy bank. West Indies won and elected to put New Zealand in to bat on a pitch and outfield that were still very green and wet from some serious rain the previous day. For a while around lunchtime the rain threatened to return, with some light drizzle, but the afternoon cleared up and became warm and sunny.

Batting was predictably tricky in the opening session, and there were some threes run which showed how slow the outfield was – balls that would normally carry for four being slowed down in the damp grass. By lunch they were at 82/3. The Windies were bowling noticeably slowly and only completed 23 overs in the first session. It looked like they had New Zealand on the ropes, but Henry Nicholls, who’d reached 2 before lunch, pushed on past 50 by teatime. The loss of only one further wicket, Nicholls’ 50, and the ground drying out meant the pendulum was swing back towards the Black Caps. In the final session they added 124 runs and Nicholls completed his century. They finished on 294/6, with Nicholls on 117. A good day’s batting for New Zealand, setting up the match.

The following day I was on duty at Zealandia, so I dropped Nicola off on the way, and she watched as New Zealand wrapped up their innings for a total of 460, and Nicholls reaching his highest ever score of 174. They then bowled the West Indies to 124/8 by the end of the day. It was pretty much a repeat of the first test, and on day three they cleaned up the remaining wickets, put the Windies back into bat, and had another crack at them. Again, as in the first test, they made a better showing in their second innings and were trailing by 85 at close, on 244/6. It didn’t take long for the Black Caps to polish the remaining wickets off on day four, and they won before lunch by an innings and12 runs.

The Black Caps win the series 2-0, ready to take on Pakistan next week. In the new ICC World Test Championship, New Zealand are now the No.1 test cricket side.

Black Caps vs. Bangladesh

As the cricket season draws to a close, one final test series is being played in New Zealand. Bangladesh are here for a three-test series, and played the first test in Hamilton. As you may have heard, South Africa’s loss to Sri Lanka has helped New Zealand move up the test cricket rankings, and at the beginning of this series they’d grabbed the no. 2 slot, behind India. By a precarious two points, in the way that world rankings are calculated, but still…a test series win, even against lowly Bangladesh, would help to cement that ranking.

And so it was that New Zealand, after bowling out Bangladesh in the first innings for 234, put on what may possibly be their greatest display of batting ever. With three centuries, from Raval, Latham and Williamson (200 not out), they eventually declared at 715 for 6; setting the visitors a mountain to climb – 481 just to get New Zealand to bat again. They made a valiant effort, but fell short by 52 runs, and lost to an innings defeat.

Test two was in Wellington, and kicked off on Friday. When it rained all day. Really rained. Saturday wasn’t quite as rainy, just on and off drizzle, but with the pitch already waterlogged, the chances of play faded as the afternoon progressed.

What to do? A five-day test had been reduced to three by the time Sunday dawned, and even then the weather was looking iffy. Having won the toss, New Zealand again decided to bowl at Bangladesh, and skittled them for 211 in 61 overs. A good start, but then Bangladesh took revenge on the Black Caps openers, taking them out for 3 and 4, and New Zealand finished the day on a somewhat dodgy 38 for 2. On Day 4, however, New Zealand really let fly, and with another double ton, this time from Taylor, complemented by a century from Nicholls, they quickly amassed a defendable total, and declared at 432/6, giving themselves 23 overs to bowl at Bangladesh before the close of play. They used this to good effect, taking three wickets, and left Bangladesh on a precarious 80/3.

We decided to go along for the final day’s play, starting early again at 10:30 to try to recover some of the lost ground from the two-day wash-out. Bangladesh needed 141 to make New Zealand bat again. Once again, the weather forecast looked doubtful early doors, and there was a possibility the match could go either way, or end as a draw, depending on the conditions. Bangladesh were certainly batting well, but the wickets fell regularly. Captain Mahmudullah tried to hold it together with the tail, but when he was out for 97 the match was only going one way, and the threatened interruptions had failed to materialise as the clouds broke and the day improved. New Zealand asked for, and got, a 15-minute extension to the first session before lunch in an attempt to wrap the game up, which they promptly did, taking down the last three wickets with ease. They won by an innings and 12 runs; also taking the series 2-0 with one more match to play in Christchurch, confirming their ranking as the second-best test team in the world.

I Don’t Like Cricket

I LOVE IT!

I have the t-shirt!

Cricket season is upon us, and we’ve been heading down to Wellington’s premier cricket ground, the Basin Reserve, on a regular basis. First up was the test series against Sri Lanka, where we went to Day Two on a Sunday, and watched the Black Caps start amassing what seemed like an unassailable total against the Sri Lankans, who had ended the day before at 275 for 8. It didn’t take long for New Zealand’s bowlers to pick up the last two wickets, and they ended on 282 after 3 more overs.

Then the Black Caps started batting. Unlike in some recent matches, the openers managed a reasonable stand before Raval was out for 43. Then in came Kane Williamson, and along with Tom Latham, put on an impressive stand for the second wicket – Williamson falling short of his century at 91, and kicking himself all the way back to the pavilion. Latham batted on, and at the end of the day, New Zealand were ahead. On day 3, he carried on, eventually carrying his bat for 264 and putting the Black Caps in a commanding position. Unfortunately the weather had the final say in this match, and it was drawn after very little play on day 5. Still, an impressive knock by Latham, the sixth highest in New Zealand history, and it set them up well for the second test, which they won emphatically by 423 runs.

Next up, the T20 series. We have so far been to see the Wellington Firebirds and the Wellington Blaze play two double-header matches – the women’s match starts at 12:45, and the men’s at 16:00; on the first occasion, against Otago’s Sparks and Volts. The Sparks pretty comprehensively outplayed the Blaze, particularly in the field, and as the overs dwindled, the run rate got away from them and they ended up losing by 20 runs. The men’s match was more closely fought, and with a target of 168, they needed 18 off the last two overs – eminently achievable in a T20 competition. The Volts were having none of it, however, and with some tight bowling, excellent fielding cutting off the boundaries, and three wickets falling, won by one run.

Last weekend was not just another double-header – it was free! Sponsored by Wellington City Council (so paid for by our rates, really), this time it was against the two teams from Canterbury – the Magicians and Kings. The women were set a similar target (150) to the previous week, but this time out seemed to have the better of it. They stayed on top of the run rate and achieved the total with two balls to spare. They’re currently sitting at the top of the table, although they have played one more match than most of the other teams, so we need to wait and see.

In the men's game, The Firebirds were put in to bat first. With a display of hitting from Conway, including seven sixes, they set a daunting total of 199 for the Kings. They came out fighting, and dropped two early wickets in the second over to Bennett. A bowling change in the fifth over yielded similar results, with two wickets to Sears, and Van Beek picking up the fifth at the beginning of the sixth over, and suddenly they were 40/5. Their captain, McConchie, batted on bravely, eventually amassing 83, but he kept losing partners, and the run rate got away from them. Eventually they were bowled out in the 19^th over, for 135 – well short of the requirement. A convincing win for the Firebirds, putting them second on the table.

There aren’t any more double-header matches, but the men’s competition continues this Saturday, so we’ll probably go to that, weather permitting, and then in February there’s a T20 and an ODI against India, both at the Stadium. Woohoo!

Black Caps vs. Pakistan

The Black Caps have hit a bit of a purple patch this summer. They saw off the West Indies in three test matches, three ODIs and two T20 matches (one cancelled due to rain), winning them all in an emphatic matter. But Pakistan would be a bit more of a challenge, surely?

It appears not. In the ODI 5 match series, they were bossed by New Zealand all the way. By the time they came back to Wellington, it was 4-0 down in the series. Whilst a dead rubber, both sides had something to play for: Pakistan to try to salvage some dignity with a win, and New Zealand to continue their winning streak (now up to 10). We went down to the Basin Reserve to watch the match on Friday.

The weather was fine - sun in the sky, a few clouds about but certainly no rain threatening, and the winds light. As an international match, the NZ cricket authorities have finally got the message that not everyone is happy with hot dogs and chips, and there was a good range of food and beverages available to suit all tastes. We noted the Greek Food Truck in residence and decided to pay them a visit later on. The beer choice was also better than the usual Steinlager or Tui (depending on who sponsors), with Black Dog Brewery ales available.

We settled into the revamped seats in the shade of the R A Vance Stand. New Zealand won the toss and decided to bat, and piled on the runs from the word go, reaching fifty without loss in less than six overs. The loss of Munro at 52 and Williamson at 101 slowed things down and in the middle of the innings the Pakistan team managed to stem the flow of runs, but without taking wickets. Guptill carried on to reach his 100, and promptly holed out going for 6; at which point De Grandhomme was promoted up the order to try and get some quick runs in the last 10 overs, as he has done on several occasions recently. However this time he was restrained by the bowling and was unable to find the boundary with the regularity that we’d come to expect from him. Other batsmen came and went, and at the end the Black Caps had amassed 271. At the beginning of the innings passing 300 looked a probable result, but the fielding and bowling restricted them.

Still, 272 is a respectable target to defend. But New Zealand, even without Trent Boult in this match, have a powerful bowling attack and the wickets soon started tumbling. They lost three in the first 10 overs, and, in the immortal words of cricket commentators the world over, they were letting the required run rate get away from them, scoring at around 3 an over when they needed 5.5. The middle batsmen settled things down a bit and managed to put on a decent partnership of 105 in the middle of the innings, but too slowly, way too slowly. When they were both out in quick succession, it was left to the tail-end batsmen to try and salvage the match. A big ask, to get 100 runs in 10 overs with three wickets remaining. To their credit, they all came out and gave it a go – in fact the final batsmen all scored at well over 100% to try to rescue the match. But it was all too little too late, and whilst 23 from 2 overs at the end is very gettable, they were down to their last wicket at this point. One mistake was all it took for the Pakistanis to be bowled out in 49 overs, still 15 runs short of the target.

The Black Caps extend their winning streak to a record-equalling 11 matches on the trot, with three T20 matches to be played against Pakistan over the coming week.

Black Caps vs. Proteas

The Black Caps are coming to town. They’re playing South Africa, currently ranked 3^rd in the world at test cricket, to New Zealand’s 5^th. The first test in Dunedin was drawn after the fifth day’s play was lost to rain, with both teams scoring and taking wickets at similar rates, so it looked like a fairly even match.

New Zealand started poorly on the Thursday, losing three quick wickets for 21, before being steadied by Raval and then Nicholls, and finishing on 268. That looked like a low score until they went in to bowl and finished day one with South Africa on 24/2. Day two started well, too, and at lunch South Africa were looking on the ropes with all their top order out, and at 94/6.

But after lunch they picked up, and De Kock and Bavuma put on a 160 partnership to take the Proteas to within sniffing distance of the Black Caps target. And there was more trouble to come, as the Black Caps inexplicably failed to deal with the tail adequately, allowing the runs to pile on well past their total; they closed the day at 348, 80 runs ahead, and with one wicket still remaining.

We had tickets to Saturday, day three. After dealing with our usual Saturday morning chores, we headed down to the Basin. By the time we'd parked and walked to the ground, South Africa had added 11 runs before being dismissed, and the Black Caps were in to bat at 13/0. Right, the fightback starts here, we thought...play a good morning's cricket, and start slowly chipping away at that total. After all, you've got three days to play two innings, the weather forecast is good for all three days, what's the hurry?

Some nice bins, with a cricket match in the background

Unfortunately, the Black Caps don't seem to be very good at this kind of cricket. With the exception of Raval, nearly all of the batsmen were tempted into foolish hits, and got themselves out. Raval held it together until he reached 80, then got himself out. There was a steady succession of wickets falling throughout the day, and they weren't advancing the scoreboard to compensate. It was a worst of both worlds situation, and inevitably, the final wicket fell with the Black Caps having amassed a lead of just 80 runs. The Proteas came in to bat at the end of the day, and despite losing a couple of wickets, and having to request an extra 8 overs to finish the job off, they made pretty short work of it in the end, to lead the series 1-0 after two games played.

There's one more test, which New Zealand must win to square the series. Hopefully some of their injured players will be back to perform in that, and maybe Williamson can score some actual runs next time.

Quarter Final

Wellington was hosting its final game of the ICC cricket world cup today – the last quarterfinal. The previous three had been decided on Wednesday (South Africa beat Sri Lanka by 9 wickets in Sydney), Thursday (India beat Bangladesh by 109 runs in Melbourne), and Friday (Australia beat Pakistan by 6 wickets in Adelaide). New Zealand faced the West Indies at the Wellington Regional Stadium (formerly Westpac stadium), with a 2pm start for a day-night game.  

2pm start, you say? Why, that’s just enough time to go for a cricket long lunch at one of our favoured Wellington venues. First up, we thought we’d give Mariluca a try – hadn’t been there before, looks good. “No, we’re not open on Saturday lunchtime” came the reply. Odd, as they’re participating in the promotion. Next, I thought Trade Kitchen would be a good idea, but Nicola didn’t fancy their menu much. We finally settled on Zibibbo, about whom I so often say “the most under-rated restaurant in Wellington”…and yes, they were happy to accommodate us.

We parked up close to the stadium, then walked back into town along the seafront, to get our lunch. It was lovely: paua tortellini to start:

Followed by lamb on crushed potatoes:

And finished with pavlova: 

Menus don’t get more Kiwi than this. Surprisingly, we were the only people taking advantage of this offer, although there was a large party downstairs in the bistro/bar area. As always, the food was delicious, and we left happy for the walk up to the stadium.

Enough of this fine dining already…time to head to the match. We made it through the scrum that is the bag check and found our seats with about 10 minutes to spare, and settled in to watch.

New Zealand had won the toss and decided to bat. Captain McCullum came out to bat in his usual style, blazing away from the start. Unfortunately he was out on 12, and at 27/1 the Black Caps needed to calm down a bit. Which they duly did, and Martin Guptill and Kane Williamson put on another 52 before Williamson holed out to Chris Gayle, after a bit of a juggle. In came Ross Taylor, and then things really started to happen. Guptill made a somewhat cautious 100 off 111 deliveries, but then started to let rip; and with Taylor taking a back seat, supporting role, they made a partnership of 143. Guptill regularly put the ball into the crowd (and at one point out of the stadium). Despite losing Taylor, he was ably supported again by Anderson, Elliot and Ronchi as he made 237 from 163 balls, carrying his bat and setting a World Cup record, and the second-highest ODI score ever. New Zealand finished on 393.

What do you do about that, if you’re the West Indies? You need almost 8 an over from the get-go. Their response was to put Chris Gayle in to open, and he dismissed the fast bowlers with disdain. He was clearly in pain from his back injury, and was definitely not keen on running between the wickets. He didn’t need to much, as with a flick of the wrist he dispatched the ball to the boundary time after time, usually as a six. He reached 50 quickly (a total that included 2 singles – all the other scoring shots were boundaries), but lost 4 partners along the way - including a spectacular one-handed catch by Daniel Vettori on the boundary. And this was their downfall; whilst they continually put pressure on the Black Caps bowlers and kept up with the run rate, wickets continued to fall, and once Gayle was bowled by Milne for 61 (8 sixes, 2 fours), the end was inevitable. The lower order continued to bat valiantly, but an inability to build a significant partnership despite scoring better than the top-order batsmen undid them, and the final one went as the Windies reached 250, giving New Zealand the victory by 143 runs.

On Tuesday, The Black Caps face South Africa in Auckland. On this form, the Proteas should be quaking in their boots.

Cricket Round-Up

Well, that was an action-packed weekend!

In what was being billed as the clash of the World Cup (so far), Australia played New Zealand at Eden Park in Auckland. At first, it seemed like it was going to be what could be described as a “normal” one-day match, with Australia comfortably cruising to 80 for 1 in 12 overs, before losing their second wicket. And then…disaster. Australia lost their next 7 wickets in a 9 over period, for 26 runs, ending at 106/9 after 22 overs. The final pair put on 45 before the last wicket was taken, giving Australia a paltry 151 all out. Trent Boult did most of the damage, with figures of 5 for 27 from his 10 overs, but including 5 for 3 in his second 5-over spell.

So far, so good. New Zealand have chased down low totals twice already in the World Cup – Scotland (142) and England (123). But they’d not reckoned on Mitchell Starc. As wicket after wicket fell in a steady procession, it looked like New Zealand were in danger of running out of wickets before they managed to accumulate the runs. When Ronchi was out for 6 runs, leaving the Black Caps with one batsman and the bowlers still to come, on 139 for 6, I thought they’d bring it home. After all, Daniel Vettori was next in, and he usually steers the Black Caps through a crisis with a steady hand. He was out for 2, and New Zealand still needed 7 runs to win.

Suddenly, it’s looking a bit precarious. With three wickets remaining, Kane Williamson decided to take a single on the second ball of the 23^rd over. This exposed Adam Milne to Starc’s bowling for potentially four balls. He only needed one. 6 runs needed, and only 2 wickets remaining, out comes Tim Southee to face the remaining three balls of the over. Again, Starc only needed one, as he chopped it onto his own wicket. The last batsman, Trent Boult, had to face two deliveries whilst Kane Williamson was trapped, hopelessly, at the non-striker’s end.

He survived them. Finally, Williamson was back on strike, and facing Pat Cummins. He put the first ball into the crowd to finish off the match in style.

So that was a bit close! But a win’s a win, and New Zealand have 4 from 4, with only Bangladesh and Afghanistan to face in the group.

The next big match of the weekend was in Wellington: England vs. Sri Lanka. It was an 11:00 start, so we decided to go and get a big breakfast at Jano Bistro first – having been impressed by their dinner a couple of weeks ago, I was also impressed by their breakfast: no “pile it on a plate” higgledy-piggledy-ness from them – it was all artfully presented on the plate, and very well cooked.

We were able to park a bit closer to the stadium this time, as (a) the game wasn’t sold out and (b) as it was a weekend, the commuter car parks were all empty.

England won the toss and went in to bat first. This match followed a more traditional one-day format, unlike New Zealand’s matches, where the team batting first actually manage to bat out their 50 overs, and amass a reasonable score. After starting well, England had looked a bit sluggish through the middle overs, regularly scoring only two or three per over. I was predicting a total of 276, until they woke up a bit in the final seven overs and started to slap the ball around the ground, putting on 77 to finish with a respectable score of 309 to bowl at.

Out came Sri Lanka, and they were ready to bat. The openers, Dilshan and Thirimanne, steadily put on runs until Dilshan was out for 44. Still, at 100 after 19 overs, they were well in touch with the run rate, and then Sangakkara  came in. They kept the runs ticking over at a reasonable rate in the middle period, and then started to slowly accelerate, with Sangakkara in particular regularly reaching the boundary. Thirimanne reached his century, shortly followed by Sangakkara, and it seemed there was nothing the England bowlers could do to get them out. In this they weren’t helped by their fielders, who dropped them with distressing regularity. Sri Lanka eventually cruised home with 16 balls to spare, finishing in style by putting another 6 into the crowd.

Another terrible day to watch cricket

England have two tough games ahead of them now: Bangladesh and Afghanistan, both in Australia. Whilst you’d think that there’d be no danger of either of these teams beating England, on current form you wouldn’t put it past them. England must also be wary about the weather: a washout could scupper their chances of reaching the quarter finals.

Cricket World Cup

The Cricket World Cup started last weekend, kicking off with New Zealand against Sri Lanka in Christchurch. Sri Lanka were once a formidable team, indeed they were runners-up in 2007 and 2011. However, they had just completed a tour of New Zealand before the World Cup in which they were royally trounced by the Black Caps, so there was an expectation that they would again crumble.

They did. The Black Caps set a target of 331, and then bowled the Sri Lankans out for 233 in the chase.

Next up for New Zealand were minnows Scotland, and again there was an expectation that the Black Caps would polish them off without difficulty. Bowled out for 142 in 36.2 overs (having recovered from an abysmal start of 1 for 2 (and that a wide) and 12 for 4), the Scots then put up a bit of a fight with the ball. Some of the Black Caps rather threw their wickets away in an attempt to speed up the process, but with the steadying hand of Daniel Vettori they eventually got the required runs with 3 wickets and 25 overs to spare.

And so, to England. This would be the first real opposition, and test, for a Black Caps team that had so far dealt with everything that had come their way recently with relative ease. Over the last 12 months or so, they’ve seen off Sri Lanka, India, Pakistan and the West Indies, as well as dealing to South Africa in a warm-up match a couple of weeks ago, by a massive 134 runs. But England? That’s a different story. This would be a sell-out game, in Wellington’s “Regional Stadium” (brand name having been removed for the duration of the competition, as they aren’t sponsors), so I’d booked tickets early.

We went for an early lunch at Logan Brown, who were putting on a Cricket Special lunch, including cocktails (of which more later).

There’s no parking at the stadium when there’s a major event, as the council close off the whole area to traffic, so we’d parked quite a way away in town. The walk up to the stadium took us a while and we missed the opening overs. No matter, things seemed to be progressing steadily, with England in to bat. As I said, we were expecting a tightly-fought match, so missing a few overs wasn’t a problem. As we arrived there was a roar from the crowd - the first wicket, Ian Bell, had fallen in the fifth over. England were 31 for 1.

Phew! What a scorcher! A loveley day for cricket in Wellington

What happened next? The Black Caps bowled England out for 123 in 33.2 overs.

Let’s just let that sink in for a bit. England scored fewer runs than Scotland managed. Tim Southee took 7 wickets for 33 runs, a record for a world-cup match.

But let’s not get too complacent, eh? I mean, Scotland managed to take 7 wickets while New Zealand chased down the total, and England have some world-class bowlers like Chris Broad and James Anderson. New Zealand came in to bat straight away, due to some weird rules imposed by the ICC (see below).

The first surprise was that one of the usual openers had been replaced by captain Brendon McCullum. The next surprise was that he, with a little help from Martin Guptill at the other end, proceeded to smack the ball around, treating the bowlers with contempt. After a gentle opening over of 9 runs, in the next over they took 18. Following overs maintained this rate, including one memorable over bowled by Finn, from which McCullum hit four consecutive sixes (there was also a four and a single from Guptill, giving 29 from the over).

At this point, we started to do some maths. Could he break the world record for fastest century (set by AB de Villiers just last month in Johannesburg) of 31 balls? It looked possible, but only if Guptill didn't score any more runs. It wasn't the rate at which McCullum was scoring that was the problem, but the fact that they were fast running out of runs to take in the chase! On 72 (from 21 balls) this looked just about doable - he needed 28 more runs, and they were 28 runs behind England's total.

As it turned out, this was a moot point, as he was bowled a few balls later, for 77. He had, however, got the fastest 50 in a world cup match, in 18 balls.

Guptill's poles got knocked down a few balls later, and it was left to the staid, calm hands of Williamson and Taylor to bring the total home (to non-Kiwis: this is a joke).

But wait...there was one final twist. With New Zealand needing just 12 runs to win, the umpires took the bails off, and everyone trooped in for the innings break, to boos resounding around the stadium. Why? the explanation given is that it's in the ICC rulebook, to ensure that all matches are played to the same schedule, in case of rain or other stoppages. Frankly, that's a load of bollocks - it's all to do with the commercial realities of the game. There are certain events that need to take place in the innings break, sponsored by, er, sponsors.  Here's an idea, ICC: if a side doesn't bat their 50 overs, why not take the innings break when they're all out? As it is, the commercial reality for the stadium is that they've lost out on a lot of revenue from eating and drinking fans...money which was doubtless spent in the bars of Courtenay Place and environs instead.

Anyway, this was a serious trouncing for England. As William Woodfull said, "there are two teams out there, only one of them is playing cricket". Only England know what game England thought they were playing. Tiddlywinks, perhaps?

New Zealand have won 3 from 3 now, and still have to face Afghanistan, Australia and Bangladesh. Australia have already whupped England's asses, but they had to play a game of cricket to do so. The match between Australia and New Zealand, in Auckland next weekend, is going to be interesting.

Whale Watching

On Sunday we were up early again, as we had to check out of the motel, get ourselves breakfasted and over to the Whale Watch centre an hour earlier than yesterday. This was achieved with the minimum of fuss and in fact we had plenty of time to spare. We confirmed that the trip was running and were then given a short safety briefing before being bussed around to the marina to board our vessel. On the ride out our guide gave us some information about what we were likely to see, and whilst he was talking we saw a small pod of dusky dolphins leaping out of the water. Later we found a larger pod, and the captain stopped the boat so that we could get some pictures:

After about 10 minutes, we moved on, as the captain had information about where a whale was, and when it was likely to surface. The main attraction is sperm whales, some of which live off the coast of New Zealand. They’re not migratory, and you’re pretty well guaranteed a sighting of one as the captain and crew can locate them by sound, and know roughly how long they stay down for before resurfacing. The whales we were looking for were all males, as the smaller females stay in more tropical seas nearer the equator.

Sure enough, a whale duly surfaced. The crew were able to identify it by various markings on its dorsal fin and flukes as Tutu, who’s been living in these waters for around 15 years.

Unfortunately, the movement of the boat was by this time causing me major problems, so I wasn’t able to capture any pictures of the final dive when the whale shows its flukes; nor, indeed, any of the even larger pod of dusky dolphins we saw on the way back, many of which were leaping clear of the water and doing all kinds of acrobatics. Nicola took these:

When we arrived back on dry land, I handed over driving duties to Nicola. I had intended for us to lunch at Nin’s Bin, a  famous crayfish stop, but was still feeling queasy so Nicola and Julian dined on the remains of yesterday’s lunch whilst I had a bit of water. We then  drove on north via Lake Grasmere near Seddon, which was very windy indeed. We didn’t stay long! We completed the final leg into Blenheim, and searched for somewhere to get a cup of tea. Eventually (most of the cafes were closed on a Sunday afternoon) we ended up in the Corner Stone pub, where we spent a restful afternoon drinking tea and cake and watching tennis and cricket – the Black Caps taking on India in their first ODI of the series.

Eventually we drove off to Blenheim airport to take our Sounds Air flight back to Wellington. The wind in Wellington had picked up again and we had a slightly bumpy approach into the landing, which didn’t do my recovering stomach much good. Fortunately we only had to take a taxi home and we were back in good time.

England T20

The England cricket team are currently touring New Zealand. The first competition is three Twenty20 games, played in Auckland, Hamilton and finally in Wellington. Having lost the first match, the Black Caps were able to turn the tables on England in Hamilton, levelling the series and making the Wellington game the decider.

As an employee of the series sponsor, we had free tickets, so, after a short visit to D4 for some pre-match refreshment, a bunch of us headed down to the Westpac stadium to watch the match.

Despite losing in Hamilton after winning the toss and deciding to put The Black Caps in, England followed exactly the same tactic in Wellington. Was this to be a "that's the last thing they'll expect" -type thing, like generals ordering troops over the top in World War 1 for the umpteenth time?

Out came the Black Caps, and proceeded to put on a fairly lacklustre show of batting. No-one really got hold of the innings and the boundaries were few and far between. By the end, they'd put on 139/8. Not a big target in T20, and the England openers were able to dispose of it in 13 overs without troubling their No. 3 batsman.

Guptill sends one to the boundary

First blood to England, then. But now the ODI series starts with three games in Hamilton, Napier and Auckland. The first of these is under way as I write, with England all out for 258.

Blackcaps Twenty20

Nicola’s father and sisters have been staying with us for the last week. We’ve been busy working during the day, and have left them pretty much to their own devices with nothing but a map and a guidebook and some helpful suggestions (like sending them on the Ships’n’Chips tour to Matiu/Somes Island, where they saw a tuatara, amongst other wildlife).

In the evenings we involved them in our normal routine, going to pub quiz, where the combined Kirkup/Farley/Cumming team, together with another special guest from the UK, came second. I’d like to report that yours truly, with the remains of our usual team, came in ahead of them, but all we could manage was a dismal fifth. We also went dancing, and afterwards visited another restaurant on our list of places to try in Wellington, Le Canard. It may not surprise you to know that this is a French restaurant, and that there are quite a few duck dishes on the menu. It was lovely, although it tended towards the French custom of sluggishness in sending the food out, so we were there quite late (by our standards! ;-))

But on Friday night, our holiday started! No more work for a week! And first on the menu was the first Twenty20 match against the visiting South Africans, played at Wellington’s famous Cake Tin stadium (also known as The Westpac stadium). The family had made their way there ahead of us, and bought tickets which we collected at the box office. Nicola and I had headed home after work to change into more appropriate cricket-watching clothing (including an extra layer – it can get quite chilly in the Tin once the sun sets).

The Proteas were put into bat first, and were then dealt some punishing bowling. Wickets fell in a steady stream and none of their batsmen really got going apart from Ontong who scored 3 sixes in one over, and managed 32 off 17 balls before being caught and bowled by Southee.

And then it was time for the Blackcaps to bat. They managed to stay on top of the over rate at the beginning, and with some top batting from Guptill (who was not out on 78 at the end) who held the innings together, and a couple of spectacular sixes – one of which he almost got out of the stadium! The Blackcaps finished with four balls to spare, having required 6 off the last over (a position from which the Wellington Firebirds could easily lose).

We’d parked in town so after a short walk back we were able to drive home for an early night, as we had an early start the next morning.

Blackcaps

Having lost the test series (of 2) 1-0, the Blackcaps are now taking on Pakistan in a 6 match ODI series. The first match was played at Wellington’s Cake Tin stadium, so we wandered down after lunch, as the game was scheduled to be a day-night affair under floodlights.

We were a bit late setting out, and when we got there the match had already been underway for three quarters of an hour. In that time, Pakistan had advanced to 30/3 – hardly an impressive start, and scoring at under 3 an over. The Blackcaps continued to chip away at them and Pakistan never really looked like getting going – despite the efforts of Misbah who managed a 50 off 89 balls, he eventually ran out of partners and Pakistan finished on a dismal 124 after 37.3 overs.

So, New Zealand came in to bat. Unfortunately, it was my turn to go and get the drinks and due to the huge queue at the coffee stall, I missed the first six overs. As I returned to my seat, they had advanced to 50 for no loss. For those of you doing the maths, this is more of a Twenty20 type score. Ryder had been doing the damage throwing his bat around. For the first over back in my seat (the seventh), NZ added 19 runs. Clearly, we thought, there must be something on the telly that they’re desperate not to miss!

After knocking out 50 in 29 deliveries, Ryder eventually succumbed for 55. That slowed the Blackcaps down a little, but not much. The scoring rate dropped down to single figures per over, but in the 18^th over they cracked the target with no further loss of wickets. A resounding win for New Zealand, hopefully setting them up for a better result in the ODI series.

Sponsorship

Isn’t corporate sponsorship wonderful?

There’s a company here that is the team sponsor of the Black Caps, as New Zealand’s cricket team are known (nearly all the sports teams are “the Black xxx” – notable exceptions are the All Whites and the Silver Ferns). And one of the things they do is hand out freebies to their staff. One such freebie is a voucher for 2 tickets to a test match, or a one-day international.

Today is the third day of the Second Test against Pakistan, being played at the Basin Reserve here in Wellington. And so it was that we found ourselves taking the final hour off work, and heading down to watch the final session after tea, and New Zealand taking 6 wickets to get Pakistan out for 376 (having themselves posted a total of 356). New Zealand then batted 5 overs for 9 runs and no loss.

Unfortunately, the weather forecast isn’t favourable – it looks like rain tomorrow, and showers the day after, so it will probably end in a draw. But weather forecasters have been wrong before, so we’ll keep an eye out, and fingers crossed.