Kane Williamson has led the Black Caps to another stunning test victory. Video / Sky Sport
Kris Shannon presents five reasons why the Black Caps keep playing close tests.
1. They’re no longer a dominant force…
As a pessimist/cynic/journalist, it brings me no joy to begin on a negative note, not after the majesty of the Black Caps’ last two matches.
Beating Sri Lanka by twowickets and edging England by one run represents a two-test stretch that will never be matched; memories of those clashes’ closing stages will live long.
Such results wouldn’t have been possible without random little details and a dose of good luck. But they also wouldn’t have been possible were the Black Caps a better team.
Just consider the winning margins they were managing in the months preceding their World Test Championship triumph in 2021.
Starting in 2019 and culminating with that famous victory over India, New Zealand earned 12 test wins. They won seven matches by an innings in that span, while the closest margin by runs was 101 and wickets by seven.
That’s domination — excluding a 3-0 pantsing by Australia we can all ignore — and achieved by this country’s greatest test side.
But that team, and that level of supremacy, are no more.
There are, fortunately for the Black Caps, a few holdovers from that world championship side.
Let’s see…Tom Latham and Devon Conway, whose opening partnership was the turning point against England. Kane Williamson, who scored a century in each win. Tim Southee, his side’s most consistent bowler across the two tests, and Neil Wagner, the only man involved in both frenetic finales.
Henry Nicholls was the sole player who featured in Southampton and failed to make an important contribution against England or Sri Lanka, but since we’ve already done the pessimistic and cynical thing, that one can go through to the keeper.
In short, many of the matchwinners from the 2021 group are still winning matches in 2023. But with other linchpins like Ross Taylor and Trent Boult no longer wearing the whites, there was always going to be a natural decline.
This team will still enjoy some dizzying highs, however. The openers will still build significant platforms; Williamson can still resurrect innings and perfectly pace chases; Southee and Wagner are still capable of sending down crucial spells.
There remains enough talent to bless fans with magical moments. Dominant days will be rarer.
One legend has departed, the other is still winning matches. Photo / Getty
3. They’re on the level
New Zealand are far from the only flawed side in world cricket. India and Australia, the two sides who will contest this year’s WTC final, have taken turns looking imperious and inept during their series on the subcontinent.
Heading into the first test at Hagley Oval, Sri Lanka had a chance of reaching the showpiece match, but that owed more to a favourable schedule than their strength.
During two tests in New Zealand, England appeared more beatable than their run under Brendon McCullum would’ve suggested, while New Zealand’s recent stretch of close tests began with two draws in Pakistan that could have easily gone another way.
The Black Caps were twice foiled by bad light on day five in Karachi, and in the second test all four results were in play when the sun again faded on the final afternoon.
New Zealand’s five tests this summer — two wins, two draws and a loss — are reflective of their level: capable of beating mid-tier teams away and beating anyone at home, yet also quite capable of losing. Sounds like a recipe for closely fought tests.
4. Bazblergh
Only one of those five matches counted as conclusive proof of a team’s superiority: England’s 267-run win at Bay Oval.
That test also featured no shortage of hype — guilty! — about McCullum’s test-cricketing revolution, with Bazball the focus both before and during the match.
It’s quite possible the Black Caps, having heard all about how their opponents were cricket’s great entertainers, simply got sick of that shit. They got sick of that silly little term and sick of all the chat about their former captain changing the game.
So they decided to do something about it: show everyone the real entertainers. And no cricket could be more entertaining than what the Black Caps have since produced. England and Sri Lanka deserve some credit, I guess, but the common denominator wasn’t Bazball but Gazball.
Could coach Gary Stead have instructed his charges to now play only impossibly close test matches? Many will say that’s impossible, but we’re running out of explanations here.
5. It’s a gift from the gods
When logic and reason are exhausted, it’s time to turn mystical. The Black Caps keep winning close tests because they’re blessed, owed a favour from the cricketing gods after that rather close ODI they lost a few years ago.
You know the one. Kinda important match. Played at a ground that rhymes with fjords. With a result so close that a convincing argument could be made they never lost at all.
That game, after all, was decided when Martin Guptill was run out short of his ground. Pretty unlucky. Which was probably the way Sri Lanka felt after missing not one but two chances to effect a runout as Wagner and Williamson stole the winning single on Monday night. #blessed
