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. Australia

The Blackcaps have been playing a five-match T20 series against Australia over the last two weeks. After winning the first two matches in Christchurch and Dunedin – the first by a convincing 53 runs, the second by 4 runs, the action moved to Wellington.

And then the covid dickheads struck, and the country was moved into Level 2 and Auckland Level 3. The upshot of this was that the Wellington match, which we had wanted to see, was played behind closed doors. But the following match was due to be played in Auckland, and the final in Tauranga. The decision was taken to play these all in Wellington, but also without crowds. Boo!

The first two matches played, and the Blackcaps lost both. Clearly, they can only win if they have supporters. But wait…what’s this? On Friday afternoon, with no new community transmission cases for five days, St. Jacinda announced that we would be moving to Level 1 with effect from 6:00am on Sunday morning – the day of the final match! The decider could be played in front of a crowd.

Ticketek swung into action, and tickets were available immediately. Unfortunately, I’d already signed up to a tour at Zealandia for Sunday morning, so I made my way down to the stadium as quickly as possible afterwards, but missed the first nine overs of Australia’s innings, joining when they were at 77/3. Australia were scoring slowly at this point, and never really picked up the pace or managed to get a partnership going. Helped along by Sodhi’s double in the 18^th and Southee’s two in the final over, they set an eminently gettable target of 143.

Guptill and Conway opened for New Zealand, and, unlike on previous occasions, utterly dominated the Australian bowling line-up. They reached 106 before Conway was out for 36. Time for Captain Kane to step up to the crease…and immediately step down again. Out for a golden duck. Poo. Despite that, and the loss of Guptill three overs later for 71, the work had been done (Guptill putting one six on the roof of the stadium), and the total was reached in the 15^th over. Another convincing win for New Zealand, and a series win over Australia, which is always a good thing.

After a short break, the second part of the day’s entertainment was the White Ferns against England. This was the third of a three-match series, and was already a dead rubber, with England 2-0 up in the series. Never mind, could the Ferns salvage some respect with a win?

No.

England are a class apart from the White Ferns, and took them apart again with relative ease. Having set a modest target of 128, England bowled the Ferns out for 96 in 18 overs. They’re really going to have to up their game before next year’s world cup.

There’s more international cricket later in the month when Bangladesh tour New Zealand for three ODIs and three T20 matches. We’ll be along to the Basin Reserve to see one of those, covid permitting. Meanwhile we’re back in Level 1, apart from Auckland, so life is again returning to normal. Tasman and Cook Island bubbles are being talked about again, although our roll-out of the vaccine seems to be progressing at snail’s pace. So far, 75% of border workers have received it, but for the rest of New Zealand it will be “in the second half of the year”, according to Chris Hipkins. Sorry, could you be a bit more vague?

 

Queen + Adam Lambert

Tonight, I’m gonna have myself a real good time. Queen + Adam Lambert coming to New Zealand? And, unlike most bands, actually coming to Wellington? There’s no way I’m going to lose out this time!

Have I complained about Wellington traffic recently? Yes, well, the previous night at quiz it took us over an hour to get into town. Tonight was worse. We set off at 4:30 to try and beat the rush…to no avail. We eventually parked at 5:55. Yes, you heard that right. We parked in our special, secret place where we always park when there’s a big gig in town (All Blacks, Black Caps etc, which often sell out the stadium) and the official advice is to use public transport. This makes for a reasonably quick getaway after the event.

It took us around half an hour to get into the stadium – now the Sky Stadium. Westpac is but a distant memory…except on some of the buckshee t-shirts for sale outside the official merchandise stand. There were long queues due to the security and bag checks. Never mind, we were in, and headed up to the mezzanine bar for a bite to eat and a drink. They seem to have gone all Mexican for the evening, so had tacos and burritos, with Panhead beer. We were one of the first up there so got a table and served pretty quickly – by the time I went back for a second round the bar queue was nearly out the door!

With an hour to go, we decided to go find our seats, as we were round the other side from the bar. Just as well we did, as there was so many people – some just arriving, some still queuing at the various franchises for food and beer – it took us a good while to get to our aisle (9) and find our seats. In the front row, to the side of the stage.

Dead on time, at 8:30 the stadium lights went down and the band came on. The set has a number of screens, lights, and pistons a-pumpin’, all of which get used throughout the show – particularly later at night, once it was fully dark, and they could use their lasers and giant glitter ball to full effect. In true Queen style, many of the songs were cut short to “concert version”, i.e. first verse and chorus. This allows them to fit more in. Some songs, of course have to be played in their full versions, though – including Killer Queen where Adam fluffed his lines and sang the second verse twice, completely forgetting the first verse! They started off with some oldies but goodies – and I mean oldies even by Queen standards, with Now I’m Here (Sheer Heart Attack), Seven Seas Of Rhye (Queen II) and Keep Yourself Alive (Queen) opening the set.

Here’s that set list in full:

Now I'm Here

Seven Seas of Rhye

Keep Yourself Alive

Hammer to Fall

Killer Queen

Don't Stop Me Now

Somebody to Love

In the Lap of the Gods... Revisited

I'm in Love With My Car

Bicycle Race

Fat Bottomed Girls

Another One Bites the Dust

I Want It All

Love of My Life

'39

Doing All Right

Crazy Little Thing Called Love

Under Pressure

Dragon Attack

I Was Born to Love You

I Want to Break Free

You Take My Breath Away

Who Wants to Live Forever

Guitar Solo (included melody from Dvořák's “New World” symphony)

Tie Your Mother Down

The Show Must Go On

Radio Ga Ga

Bohemian Rhapsody

Encore:

Ay‐Oh (Freddie free-style music singalong with audience)

We Will Rock You

We Are the Champions

God Save the Queen

Aficionados will realise that there’s at least one song from each album, except Flash Gordon.

This party went on almost to eleven o'clock! Yes, two and a half hours of solid rock, including drum and guitar solos, lasers and giant glitter balls, asteroids and planets, audience participation and smartphone torches. Also, introductions of the rest of the band (another percussionist, bass player and pianist, who cheekily played a riff on the intro to Death On Two Legs as his little piece). 

A thoroughly enjoyable night. No, Adam Lambert isn't Freddie Mercury. But he's not trying to be, and that's what makes him much better than the many tribute acts that abound.