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88th over: New Zealand 218-3 (Williamson 33, Nicholls 26) A nudged single to square leg from Williamson brings up the fifty stand to this pair. Nicholls clips to mid-wicket to tick off another and the deficit is reduced to eight runs.
87th over: New Zealand 216-3 (Williamson 32, Nicholls 25) Eeesh, Nicholls lets one go that just misses off stump, the ball passing so close it was able to whisper sweet nothings into the bail groove. Perhaps. A maiden from the miserly Robinson.
86th over: New Zealand 216-3 (Williamson 32, Nicholls 25) Eight runs are plundered off the over and Anderson is ticking, he hates going for runs. Williamson drives him down the ground to collect three and Henry Nicholls glides deftly for four behind point. Perky start for the home side.
Francis Spencer whangs an email down with a B**B*** alternative…
“How about Tosstesterone”
Toby Harris chimes in:
“Surely Winball is all you need?”
I reckon we’ve got more to give chaps.
85th over: New Zealand 208-3 (Williamson 29, Nicholls 20) Ollie Robinson starts at t’other end. Nicholls works him away for a couple to get himself moving this morning/evening.
84th over: New Zealand 206-3 (Williamson 29, Nicholls 18) Anderson starts with three dots but then goes a smidge full and Williamson clips him for four off his toes. That’s the milestone for Kane Williamson! He becomes New Zealand’s leading run scorer in Test Cricket and barely acknowledges the fact, as is his wont. I think I detected a slight nod of the head but there was certainly nothing more than that. There’s a job to do after all.
That’s some achievement, here’s the list Kiwi batting talent that he now sits atop.
James Anderson has the ball, the sun is shining in Wellington – PLAY!
Now, we know England will try to chase whatever target the hosts manage to put on the board but what sort of a score will have them twitching a little on the back seat of the BazBus*? Anything over 200? Or will this England side hunt down - with lip smacking relish - any size of target? 300, 350? Heck I don’t even know anymore.
*I’ve called it an applecart and a bus so far but what should we call this thing? McCullum doesn’t like the B-word and This-New-Ultra-Aggressive-Approach-To-Test-Match-Cricket-Favoured-By-Ben Stokes-Brendon-McCullum-(Not Forgetting Rob Key)-And-Their-England-Team doesn’t quite do the biz.
(TNUAATTMCFBBSBMNFRKATET for short… catchy eh?)
I’m sure the OBO hivemind can come up with some snappier alternatives that Brendon can get on board with?
Get in touch! You can email or tweet me to your heart’s content.
Preamble
Hello and welcome to the day four OBO of New Zealand v England from Wellington. So how does the land lie on the southern tip of the North Island?
To enforce or not to enforce - the follow on, that was the question that faced Ben Stokes yesterday morning. Of course he chose to enforce, that was the most aggressive approach after all, with the possibility of rattling through the Kiwis and securing a victory inside three days surely at the forefront of the England captain’s mind. Frustratingly for him and his side, New Zealand had other ideas and duly set about batting far more competently than they had in their first innings second time around. As is often the case when a side is asked to follow on in Test cricket.
An obdurate opening stand of 149 between Tom Latham and Devon Conway chipped away at England’s lead and now Kane Williamson is at the crease just four runs away from overtaking Ross Taylor to become his country’s leading Test run-scorer. If there’s one batter who could upset the B**B** applecart then it could be Williamson with the bit between his teeth.
The game is tantalisingly poised then, New Zealand are 24 runs behind England with seven wickets in the hutch. Play begins at 21:30 GMT (10:30am local time) and it promises to be an intriguing day of Test match criggit.
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