Tea England162 for 1 (Compton 73*, Trott 68*) v New Zealand
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Brendon McCullum must be ruing his luck - ruing his good luck, that is.
He won the toss in Cape Town in January, chose to bat and saw New
Zealand demolished for 45. He won it again in Wellington against England
today, had a bowl instead and by tea could not avoid the realisation
that he had blundered once more. Far better to lose the toss and make
the best of it.
Nick Compton and Jonathan Trott did not give McCullum much hope of
reprieve. They might not be the most extravagant pairing in the world,
in fact they might wear down a crowd as much as they wear down an
opposing attack, but they progressed in an orderly fashion that must
have filled McCullum with foreboding. By tea, both were well beyond
respective half-centuries and England looked bent upon batting for two
days.
By batting first against South Africa in Cape Town, McCullum had wanted
to make a statement in his first Test in charge, only for New Zealand to
be destroyed by Vernon Philander. In Wellington, it felt more as if he
wanted a concession, an acceptance that New Zealand's batting dared not
be risked on the first morning against England's pace attack.
But the skies were becoming bluer by the minute, the breeze of the Cook
Strait was light and northerly and a drought in Wellington has left the
city with only 20 days' rain. (Don't panic, it is going to pour down
later in the match, apparently). The pitch looked firm and true and not a
ball deviated for the pace bowlers. At one point a Paradise Duck
waddled onto the square to take a look, and all the signs were that
paradise was more likely to belong to England.
Compton, in particular, looked in confident mood after his breakthrough
hundred in Dunedin. There he had again displayed masses of resolution, a
batsman of character trying to prove his mettle. Here he revealed a
more expansive side of his batting character until England became
becalmed in mid-afternoon. New Zealand want sedate batting surfaces to
protect their batting and they could suffer the consequences.
The world was engrossed by white smoke rising over Rome, and the
election of a new Pope, so much so that the crowd at the Basin Reserve
broke into applause when a spectator appeared in Pope fancy dress. As
England's score built steadily, it seemed that McCullum, too, like those
in Rome, would be expected to contemplate cardinal sins.
Alastair Cook was the one England batsman to fall on an otherwise
satisfying morning for England. McCullum had hailed Cook as second only
to Don Bradman ahead of the Wellington Test, and his record, in
statistical terms, does bear comparison with all but Bradman, but even
The Don made an error or two.
Both New Zealand new-ball bowlers, Tim Southee and Trent Boult skimmed
deliveries past Cook's outside edge before he was dismissed on 17. There
was a suggestion that a fullish delivery from Neil Wagner stopped in
the pitch a little, but Cook's balance was awry, a failing of old, as he
pushed a simple catch to short midwicket. He looked askance at the
pitch and later could also be expected to look askance at the laptop
replay.
New Zealand's quicks, thwarted by England in Dunedin after leading by
293 on first innings, would have been forgiven for a secret sigh of
anguish that they were back in the field so quickly after bowling 114
overs between them in the second innings in Dunedin in a forlorn attempt
to force victory. Wagner, who could be expected to bowl into the wind,
must have kept a wary eye on the flags, fearing that the breeze would
stiffen at any moment.
England's statistics in Dunedin did not look pretty. Their first-innings
167 was their lowest first innings score since 2009, but the likelihood
is that such failings will be well behind them by the time this innings
is over.
Compton pulled Boult and Wagner with aplomb and also relaxed into some
pleasing drives - not previously a feature of his Test career. He was
also to the fore as England rattled up 40 from six overs immediately
after lunch against the left-armers Wagner and Boult. Wagner resorted to
bowling wide of off stump, as they had in Dunedin, but this time
Compton chased the width with relish. Boult dropped one short and a
top-edged hook flew safely to long leg.
Then, one suspects, Trott had a word and any over-excitability
disappeared. Trott was unruffled, just getting on with the job. As
England slowed in mid-afternoon, most activity came from Trott's facial
expressions, furious chewing and rictus grins. Bruce Martin turned one
past Trott's outside edge, just once, and that was enough to win deep
respect for the rest of the session, 16 overs for 23 by tea. The nearest
New Zealand came to a wicket was when Compton, on 65, inside-edged onto
his pad and Martin's appeal was transformed into a cry of frustration.
David Hopps is the UK editor of ESPNcricinfo
Feeds: David Hopps
© ESPN EMEA Ltd.
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