Thanks Black Caps!

(courtesy of Sky Sport)

Well, when this test cricket series against England (the #2 ranked side in the world, by the way) started, I said to myself that I would be happy with a drawn series …

After the third and final test match finished today at Eden Park in Auckland, it’s not hard to feel a little tinge of disappointment that the series didn’t end 1-0 … and not in favour of the visitors either; the New Zealand Black Caps did everything they could to remove the English batsmen from their doggedly determined innings at the batting crease (in order to draw the match for themselves) and to come within ONE wicket of what would surely have been an historical moment, not only for the team but for the fans around the country, leaves one with a slightly bitter feeling 😦

But as they say, it’s just a game, although for a short time there around the country, everyone loved our national cricket side (something the loyal fans are always happy to see!) and the Stadium of 4.5 million was willing our boys to pick themselves up and find the energy to bowl one more delivery, or take one more catch!

There’s a lot to be liking, too, about our national cricket side at the moment; not even considering some of the outstanding performances put forward in the limited overs section of the tour, the test series for me has seen many highlights, both cricket related and personally:

• In Dunedin, bowling the tourists out on the “first” day of the test match for 167 runs, and Bruce Martin bursting onto the test cricket scene with a 4 wicket haul was a great start!
• And then pushing home the advantage with a fabulous century opening wicket stand from Peter Fulton and Hamish Rutherford iced the cake perfectly.
• Hamish Rutherford’s 171 in his test debut deserves it’s own bulletpoint!  😉
• The New Zealand bowlers tirelessly bowling over after over at the English batsmen in their second innings and just about coming away with enough wickets for a result too!
• Neil Wagner taking 7 wickets for the match!
• At the hallowed Basin Reserve, the main highlight for me was being able to be at the ground in person, appreciating the efforts of our team live and in the flesh 🙂
• The Duck of course has to be mentioned 😉
• Getting to watch Kane Williamson bat on almost every day of the test match … okay, not such a great highlight in terms of the match result, but that guy can sure bat well!
• Fighting batting partnerships from the New Zealand batsmen in the second innings to bat for a drawn match.
  And fighting bowling again, in particular the great battle between Bruce Martin and Kevin Pietersen!
• Getting the chance to say hi and good luck personally to BJ Watling, Tim Southee and Neil Wagner at various points along the test match 🙂
• Along to Eden Park, and the key highlight on day one has to be Peter Fulton’s maiden test century … especially after the English had won the toss and chosen to bowl first!
• Another fabulous partnership between Peter Fulton and Kane Williamson, with the latter coming oh, so close to another test century himself.
• Bowling England out, after many punters had expressed disappointment in the state of the test pitch, for more than 250 runs less than NZ had got first up!
• Being in the position to enforce the follow-on and choosing not to, rather to keep the scoreboard pressure on and totally demoralise the English bowlers further by setting a target in excess of 400 runs!
• Brendon McCullum never giving up with his imaginative and attacking captaincy decisions, even staying on the field for the team with a hamstring strain (get well soon, Baz!)
• And to round out the test series with our bowlers again seemingly tirelessly sending down over after over in the hopes of a rare test victory, definitely made me feel proud to be a NZ Cricket supporter!

Finally, congratulations to Peter Fulton for topping the “most runs” table for the series … and Neil Wagner for topping the “most wickets” table!  Especially after I had heard such great things about the all-conquering England bowlers; it is very gratifying to see two New Zealanders (Trent Boult was second-equal on the list) at the top of the bowling rankings 🙂

Bring on Test #4 at Lords, England, 16-20 May!  You can bet the England team won’t be taking our boys so slightly next time – hehe!

Thanks for a fantastic 2012/13 cricket season, Black Caps – rest well, and all the best for the overseas tours coming up!
(Photo courtesy of http://www.cricinfo.com)

PS Please leave your thoughts, highlights, comments in the comments section below – I’d love to know your thoughts on our team/season this year 🙂