Sub fielder Will Young is congratulated on taking a great catch on day four. Photo / Photosport
Sub fielder Will Young is congratulated on taking a great catch on day four. Photo / Photosport
Dylan Cleaver provides five takeaways from the final day of the second test between the Black Caps and Pakistan.
Mitchell v the skipper
When reflecting on his maiden test century and the opportunity to bat in partnership with Kane Williamson, Daryl Mitchell mentioned that he played against him when hewas 14. That match probably warrants more attention. It was Bay of Plenty Coastlands U14s v Hamilton U14s. Doug Bracewell and Williamson opened the batting for the Bay. Hamilton had an attack that included Mitchell, Scott Kuggeleijn, Mitchell Santner and Anurag Verma. Williamson scored 128 not out, Bracewell was out off the last ball of the innings for 106. They scored 271.
Pakistan won something this series, though there's no prize to go with it. Shaheen Shah Afridi, their impressive left-armer, bowled the fastest delivery of the series, topping out at 145.67km/h. There was a bit of red mist in that delivery to Neil Wagner, coming just two balls after he had taken a wicket off a no-ball.
Shaheen Shah Afridi as been a costant spark for the Pakistan bowling attack. Photo / Photosport
Shaheen bowled the fastest five deliveries of the series.
Subscribers to the BYC podcast – what could be loosely described as a weekly cricket show "featuring" Jason Hoyte, Beige Brigade co-founder Paul Ford and this writer – will know we waste little opportunity to lambast Australian cricketers for all manner of sins real or imagined.
Yesterday, I brought a bit of that shtick across to the pages of the Herald, writing that the 12 players to have reached 7000 test runs quicker than Williamson included a who's who of the 11 greatest batsmen to have played the game, and Matthew Hayden.
There's nothing worse than opinionistas who insist on getting the last word in so let me graciously backtrack and say my respect for Hayden's batting runs deep. So much so that he would make my Top 10 Left-Handed Australian Test Openers of All-Time list. As for Justin Langer…
Uniquely Excellent
The stat-cats had reason to get excited when Williamson ramped the ball to a fly slip on day three. In scoring 238, Williamson knocked one of the lowest unique scores in men's test cricket. The only score untouched by any batsman between 0 and 252 is now 229. If the pulse doesn't quicken with that sort of information, then you're not a real cricket nerd and you needn't read on.
New Zealan captain Kane Williamson. Photo / Photosport
Vale Alan Burgess
New Zealand's oldest first-class cricketer and World War II veteran Alan Burgess has died aged 100. Burgess. An all-rounder, Burgess played 14 matches for Canterbury and the New Zealand Armed Services. His most significant contribution came on debut when he took 6-52 against Otago at Lancaster Park with his slow left-arm orthodox. The match started on Christmas Day.
