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Williamson, Nicholls tour de force leaves Sri Lanka gasping
Kane Williamson (215) scored his sixth Test match double hundred while Henry Nicholls (200*) got his first as the pair put on a mammoth 363 run stand to leave Sri Lanka staring from the base of a mountain of runs at the Basin Reserve. After a truncated opening day to start the Wellington Test, Day 2 saw the hosts rack up 425 runs in 75 overs at a rate of 5.67 to the over before declaring their innings at 580/4 late in the final session. After chasing leather for a good portion of two days, Sri Lanka slipped further behind in the game when they lost Oshada Fernando and Kusal Mendis in the 17 overs before Stumps.
The stories of the day were undoubtedly the twin double tons, the fifth-highest partnership in New Zealand’s Test history as well as the ease and speed with which the aforementioned feats were achieved. However, there was also contrast in the backdrop to the two double centuries. Williamson arrived here having reeled off Test Ton Nos. 26 and 27 in his last two games, the more recent one coming in New Zealand’s thrilling victory in Christchurch. On the other hand, Nicholls’ last 50+ score in the New Zealand whites had come 16 innings ago.
And so it showed in a partnership between the two that Williamson dominated allowing his under-fire batter to build slowly. The Basin Reserve pitch was a willing ally to their cause, it’s greenish tinge serving mostly as deception to its mostly true nature. It had quickened up after a truncated opening day too, rendering hitting through the line an easy proposition. The signs were ominous for the visitors at the start of an extended morning session with 29 runs coming off the first five overs.
Lead fast bowlers Kasun Rajitha and Asith Fernando didn’t help Sri Lanka’s cause by bowling too short and then overcompensating for it with half-volleys that Williamson and Nicholls put away in style. The plan changed when Lahiru Kumara came into the attack. But Sri Lanka’s short-ball ploy didn’t serve them too well either. Williamson pulled Kumara for back-to-back sixes although the first of the two had come in slightly fortuitous fashion, off a top-edge. The second though was dispatched outside the stadium.
At the other end, Nicholls dealt with the 6-3 leg-side field by backing away and punching balls through the vacant spaces in the offside. With the pacers bleeding runs on either side of the wicket, captain Dimuth Karunaratne turned towards his spinners Dhananjaya de Silva and Prabath Jayasuriya for control. By now though the fielders were well spread out and singles were readily available for the taking.
Williamson completed 8000 Test runs and subsequently got to his century with his 10th four, a drive through extra cover off de Silva. He then proceeded to hit the off-spinner for two more boundaries. The closest Sri Lanka came to a wicket in the first session was right at the stroke of the Lunch break when the returning Rajitha managed to cut one back into Williamson, but the ball bounced just over the Stumps.
If the wicketless first session saw New Zealand score their 149 runs at 4.38, the second saw the pair plunder 139 runs at 5.39. In the post-Lunch period Williamson raced away from 113 to 189 almost unnoticed while Nicholls got to his drought-ending century. The left-hander offered a big chance when on 92, a second after being reprieved on 6 yesterday, when he punched a de Silva delivery tamely back to the bowler. The of-fspinner, however, couldn’t hold on and duly conceded a boundary off the very next delivery. Nicholls got to his ninth Test century soon after and kicked into overdrive thereafter.
Williamson completed his double century straight after the Tea interval and was dismissed for 215 after an attempted lofted hit off Prabath Jayasuriya found the fielder at long-on. It brought an end to a 363-run stand for the third wicket but Sri Lanka’s travails continued. Daryl Mitchell walked out and put on 49 off just 30 balls for the fourth wicket. At the other end, Nicholls passed 150 and marked his feat by swinging Rajitha over deep mid-wicket for a six. The left-hander now began to walk across his crease and club deliveries all around the ground. He hit two sixes and four fours and scored his final 50 runs off just 28 deliveries before getting to his maiden Test double with a gentle push towards square leg for a single. Tim Southee called his team in right at the end of that 123rd over.
At that point, Sri Lanka would have been happy to call time on the day’s play. But the timing of the New Zealand skipper’s declaration had them survive 17 overs before Stumps. It went about as well as one would have hoped from a team that had been run ragged. Matt Henry bowled a probing spell and had Oshada Fernando feeling for a delivery outside off stump and nick off to the wicket-keeper. Doug Bracewell then dismissed Kusal Mendis for a duck with what was a loosener that Mendis cut fiercely only to see Devon Conway complete a leaping catch at backward point. Sri Lanka ended the day 554 behind and needing a miracle to come back into this game.
Brief scores:
Sri Lanka 26/2 (Doug Bracewell 1-1, Matt Henry 1-15) trail New Zealand 580/4 decl. (Kane Williamson 215, Henry Nicholls 200*; Kasun Rajitha 2-126) by 554 runs
The first truly heavyweight clash of this expanded T20 World Cup format comes freighted with both history and subplots. A rematch of the 2010 World T20 final at Kensington Oval, the match pits Jos Buttler’s defending champions – who are aiming to become the first team to retain the trophy – against the Australian winning machine, victors at the 2021 edition and current world title-holders in Test and ODI cricket. And that’s before you throw in the Ashes for afters.
Already there is added pressure on England, after the rain in Bridgetown led to a share of the points in their opener against Scotland (and that having conceded 90 runs from 10 overs without taking a wicket in a tepid bowling display). Lose to their oldest rivals and it will leave their Super 8 prospects open to being waylaid by the perils of net run-rate calculations, or worse.
The Scotland match was the third abandonment in five suffered by England, after a rain-affected home series against Pakistan, which has clearly hampered their readiness for this campaign after almost six months without playing T20 together. It does not take much for a side to click in this format – and England looked in decent shape when they did get on the field against Pakistan – but Buttler will be anxious for things to go their way on Saturday, if only to avoid further questions referencing the team’s disastrous ODI World Cup defence last year.
Australia, under the laidback leadership of Mitchell Marsh would love nothing more than to add to the English sense of jeopardy – having helped bundle them out of the tournament in India on the way to taking the crown. Their head to head record is less impressive in T20 however, with England having won six of the last seven completed encounters, as well as that 2010 final.
Despite a wobble with the bat, Australia avoided mishap against Oman earlier in the week, the experience of David Warner and Marcus Stoinis shining through in difficult batting conditions. Surfaces in the Caribbean – not to mention those games staged in the USA – have already had teams scratching their heads; rather than the “slug-fest” England had prepared for, following a high-scoring tour of the Caribbean in December, it looks as if boxing smart may be the way to go.
Speaking of Warner, this could be the last time he faces up against England in national colours – and another match-winning contribution would likely reduce the chances of them meeting again in the knockouts. On the other side of the card is Jofra Archer, fresh from an emotional maiden outing at Kensington Oval and ready to take on Australia for the first time in any format since 2020. Can Mark Wood fire up England’s campaign, as he did during last summer’s Ashes? Will Pat Cummins be back to harass the old enemy once again? Seconds out, it’s almost time to rumble.
Cummins is set to return after being rested for the Oman game, which saw Mitchell Starc leave the field with cramp. Starc is understood to be fine and could keep his place – which would likely see Nathan Ellis miss out. Marsh is still not fit to bowl, with Australia likely to continue with the allrounder combination of Stoinis and Maxwell to give them cover.
Australia (probable XI): David Warner, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh (capt), Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Josh Inglis (wk), Tim David, Pat Cummins, Nathan Ellis/Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood
The one change England may consider is Reece Topley coming in for Wood, with the expectation that there will be some rotation among the seamers through the course of the tournament.
England (probable XI): Phil Salt, Jos Buttler (capt & wk), Will Jacks, Jonny Bairstow, Harry Brook, Liam Livingstone, Moeen Ali, Chris Jordan, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, Reece Topley/Mark Wood
[Cricinfo]
Once is coincidence, twice is a clue, and three times is proof.
To paraphrase Agatha Christie, that is the narrative around South Africa’s meeting with Netherlands at this T20 World Cup.
The Dutch beat South Africa at the 2022 tournament and ended their semi-final hopes in a match where South Africa appeared to be sleep walking, and then beat them again at the 2023 ODI World Cup, where they exposed South Africa’s vulnerability in the chase. If they to do the treble, not only will Netherlands take the lead in Group D, but they will offer conclusive evidence of the threat they pose to Full Members, especially South Africa.
Of course, it will take some doing after South Africa’s opening performance against Sri Lanka, where they reduced their opposition to their lowest T20I total and chased it down in fairly straightforward fashion thanks to the most stable middle-order of their white-ball era. In Aiden Markram, Tristan Stubbs, Heinrich Klaasen and David Miller, South Africa have bankers and big-hitters and, for this match, they also have the advantage of experience. They’ve already played at Eisenhower Park, and have first-hand knowledge that run-scoring doesn’t come easily;Klassen said they are prepared to use their “cricket brains” and play “smarter cricket”.
But the conditions could be good news for Netherlands, who are not naturally a line-up of big hitters and build their innings on a foundation of turning ones into twos. In other words, they tend to take a slightly more conservative approach to batting, which may work well here, but they’ll be wary of the uneven bounce of the surface and will have to come up with plans to counterattack especially against South Africa’s seamers. Their own bowlers were exemplary in Dallas and will look to build on that performance against a line-up that will likely be more proactive than Nepal’s, but who they have managed to keep quiet not once, but twice in the past. Third time’s the charm, they say.
Anrich Nortje’s stunning return to form against Sri Lanka means South Africa may not have to tinker with the bowling combination, and Gerald Coetzee and Tabraiz Shamsi may have to wait their turns to get a game. The batting line-up should be unchanged, with no space for Ryan Rickelton yet.
South Africa: Quinton de Kock (wk), Reeza Hendricks, Aiden Markam, Tristan Stubbs, Heinrich Klaasen (wk), David Miller, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Ottneil Baartman, Anrich Nortje
Conditions in New York may tempt Netherlands to include an extra seamer and they have Kyle Klein in their squad. But it could come at the expense of a shortened batting line-up and they may not want to risk that.
Netherlands: Michael Levitt, Max O’Dowd, Vikramjit Singh, Sybrand Engelbrecht, Scott Edwards (capt, wk), Bas de Leede, Teja Nidamanuru, Logan van Beek, Tim Pringle, Paul van Meekeren, Vivian Kingma
[Cricinfo]
Nuwan Thushara’s last over brought Sri Lanka screaming back into the match,as he first bowled Rishad Hossain, and then nailed Taskin Ahmed in front of the stumps with a pinpoint swinging yorker. This left Bangladesh eight wickets down, with 12 runs still to get.
However, the experienced Mahmudullah was at the crease for Bangladesh, and despite some further nervy moments, pushed Bangladesh across the line off the last ball of the 19th over.
But this was a match chiefly decided by Bangladesh’s own outstanding bowling. Mustafizur Rahman was the best among them, using shorter lengths and his cutters efficiently, to claim figures of 3 for 17. Rishad Hossain’s three-for through the middle overs also kept Sri Lanka quiet.
Mustafizur was instrumental in Sri Lanka’s downward spiral through the middle overs, which culminated in a crash-and-burn end. Ultimately, their inability to find boundaries, or even rotate strike against good Bangladesh bowling resulted in their downfall. A score of 125 for 9 always seemed poor on a decent pitch, even if their bowlers made a match of it in the end.
Brief scores:
Bangladesh 125 for 8 in 19 overs (Towhid Hridoy 40, Litton Das 36; Dhanajaya de Silva 1-11, Nuwan Thushara 4-18, Wanidu Hasaranga 2-32, Matheesha Pathirana 1-27) beat Sri Lanka124 for 9 in 20 overs (Pathum Nissanka 47, Dhananjaya de Silva 21; Tanzim Hasan Sakib 1-24, Taskin Ahmed 2-25, Mustafizur Rahman 3-17, Rishad Hossain 3-22) by two wickets
[Cricinfo]
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