FEATURES
Follow UsHeading into the Wellington Test, New Zealand had not won a single Test at home against Australia in 31 years, but there was quiet optimism amongst the Blackcaps fans ahead of this series. For once, they were at least confident that they had a team good enough to compete toe-to-toe with Australia, particularly in home conditions.
New captain, new team, new decade, but the result and the performance proved to be ‘same old’ as the Kiwis got embarrassed in the first Test at the Basin Reserve, getting beaten by 172 runs despite winning the toss. What’s damning about the result from a Blackcaps perspective is that they got absolutely steamrolled despite Australia being nowhere near their best.
This is the anatomy of a listless New Zealand performance in Wellington.
Selection blunders — New Zealand misread the conditions and don’t pick a specialist spinner, AGAIN!
Two weeks ago in Hamilton, New Zealand nearly paid the price for not picking a specialist spinner against South Africa. They eventually got over the line thanks to a sublime Kane Williamson ton, but head coach Gary Stead admitted that his side had misread the conditions by dropping Mitchell Santner.
"I think in hindsight, we probably got that wrong the way that the pitch did behave," Stead said in lead-up to the Australia series. "We've certainly got Mitch Santner here as that option and we'll certainly consider him as well."
Flabbergastingly, after these comments, the Kiwis went on to misread the conditions AGAIN, as for the second time in two Tests, they kept their specialist spinner (Santner) on the bench.
As it turned out, 17 wickets in the first Test versus Australia fell to spin, with the slower bowlers averaging an astonishing 11.1 as compared to the pacers’ average of 31.3. Nathan Lyon (10/108) picked up his fifth ten-fer in Test cricket to make a mockery of the Kiwi batters on a track that turned sharply.
By Day 3, there was so much turn that New Zealand had no choice but to use Glenn Phillips extensively. Phillips (5/45) delivered, but the off-spinner’s spell in the third innings, which was followed by Lyon picking six in the fourth innings, only went on to highlight the Blackcaps’ selection blunder even further.
The spinner fiasco was exacerbated by the forgettable showing of Scott Kuggelejin, who pretty much had no impact on the game.
Kuggeleijn, in Wellington, bowled 23 overs for 93 runs and proved to be the most expensive specialist pacer across both sides. He was inconsistent, down on pace, and did not ask enough questions: he drew fewer false shots (9.4%) than every other pacer in the Test, including Daryl Mitchell, who bowled all of 24 balls.
Uninspiring performance, uninspiring captaincy — a game to forget for Tim Southee
In the lead-up to the first Test, we’d warned that Tim Southee’s waning form could prove to be a real problem for the Blackcaps.
And in the contest, the New Zealand skipper’s underwhelming form with the ball continued. You’d generally expect a bowler of Southee’s quality to make the ball talk on a green top, but in Australia’s first innings, the right-armer finished with figures of 0/92 in 27 overs, going at close to 3.50 runs per over.
Southee took the new ball but pretty much wasted it bowling too wide, not challenging the batters enough. His below-par new ball spell played a part in Australia losing just one wicket in a tricky first session, after losing the toss.
Southee accounted for the wickets of Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne in the second innings — in quick succession — but still was unable to finish the innings strongly, as he got taken for 4.10 runs per over in the 11.1 overs he bowled. Early on Day 3, he was taken apart by nightwatchman Lyon, who hit five fours off his bowling in total.
The skipper’s form is a real concern: so far this summer, he’s taken just 4 wickets in 6 innings at an average of 80.25. He’s managed to strike only once every 143 balls.
At the Basin Reserve, Southee’s captaincy also proved to be as underwhelming as his bowling — in the first innings at least.
From 186/6, Australia managed to post 383 on the board, thanks to Cameron Green and Josh Hazlewood stitching together a record 116-run stand for the 10th wicket. As good as Green was, his life was made way easier by Southee, who did not put pressure on the right-hander, and kept sticking to the same tactic (spread the field for the first four balls and bring them in for the final two) even though it didn’t work. The Kiwis also had no clear plans or tactics to dismiss Hazlewood, who went on to score 22 runs off 62 balls.
Rachin Ravindra (7-1-24-1) was under-bowled in the first innings, even though he provided decent control. Meanwhile, Phillips, who took five in the second innings, did not bowl a single ball in the first innings. Southee fared far better as a skipper in the second innings, but all the damage was done in the first innings itself.
Sloppy fielding
Across Days 2 & 3, New Zealand ended up putting down a scarcely believable FOUR catches, three of them being absolute dollies.
The most expensive spill came from the skipper himself, who put down Lyon on the final ball of Day 2 when the 36-year-old was batting on 6*. Lyon came back on Day 3 and added 35 more runs to his overnight tally.
Southee put down another one on the third day, a return catch of Green, but New Zealand’s fielding woes were summed up by Kuggelejin and Henry Nicholls dropping Cummins twice in the space of 12 balls, both ABSOLUTE SITTERS!
In all fairness, New Zealand probably would have still lost the Test even if they’d held on to their catches, but the hosts’ sloppiness on the field was a microcosm of their struggles in the first Test.
A no-show from the openers
Williamson endured twin failures in Wellington, but that’s okay. It’s not humanly possible for Williamson to keep scoring tons every match. He’ll have the occasional failure.
What New Zealand will probably look back on is the lack of contribution from the openers. In Wellington, between them, Will Young and Tom Latham scored a total of 37 runs. Young, who faced 102 balls in the Test, at least showed some fight, but Latham perished cheaply in both innings.
The form of Latham is now starting to become a serious concern. In his last 29 innings at home, dating back to November 2019, Latham has scored a solitary ton. He’s averaging just 35.55 at home since the start of 2020 — this drops to a further 23.00 across his last nine home Tests.
Considering Young is in and out of the side, we can cut him some slack, but he’s also averaging just 19.57 across his last 15 innings in New Zealand.
If New Zealand are to turn this series around in Christchurch, they’ll need their openers to fare far better than what they’re currently doing.
