Mitchell hitting 6s off the toe end. Great over, lots of runs.

79 to win, surely its easy now

tdgeek:

 

79 to win, surely its easy now

 

Yep, 64 off 63 balls needed now. Time to just start smashing it, so there is balls to spare, last thing any cricket team likes is losing due to being short a few balls :-)

Ugggh Mitchell what a shame, I thought he knocked it on....

Anyway, brilliant innings. The 6s and 4s NZ needed to keep them in the game.

NZ need just a couple of boundaries and the rest hit into the field as they are back on the boundary.

Blundell castled, great yorker.

NZ finding a way to lose this.

30 mins left, no doubt SL will start slowing down the run rate so the Umps cant add any (I think the rule is within 15 mins a result may ensue?)

Wagner is kitted up, so there is no exscuse not to ice this game NZ. Kane all good 100, but he doesnt seem to have a plan now NZ are needing 8s an over when SL have the field all back.

Edit: Bracewell OUT

10 minutes left, so I dont see there being an extra over as SL will milk it out (cant blame them, NZ would do the same).

Southee, then Henry

Edit: What the flap are NZ thinking, SL all on the boundary, just tip it for 2 runs every ball, but Southee went for the king hit instead.

Amazing to see Wagner padded up with a bulging disc and hamstring issues. Henry glued hand with 3 stitches in it.

KING KANE wins it in the LAST BALL !!!!!

I thought he had left it too late. Mitchell won it with his 86 at 88 balls (I think). With out that NZ were not close to icing it.

Umps didnt call 3 wide bouncers but called 2 and called many down leg side with the updated rule book. So to be fair, NZ should have got there 3 balls earlier. 

Great effort by SL to try and draw it, but as Rus Arnold who was not happy was saying, why are they on the boundary so fa out from the end when they need to win the match to have a chance of WTC. I think he was also saying they needed to go for wickets at that point too, around the 15 overs left mark. Its easy in commentary as always.

Class act though from SL, great guys, great effort. Bad luck.

Wow, if the last 2 Tests for NZ arent a promotion of the game I don't know what is.

Wagner, once again just a Warrior specimen of a man, BULGING disc and TORN HAMMY, that is insane he was able to bat/run. ROFL.

So, we will be a bowler down.

Id call Young in to replace Nicholls and Phillips to replace Bracewell.

Id then not replace Wagner as Mitchell, Southee, Henry and Tickener did the job, Phillips as the spinner.

Go the extra batsman to secure the series win. Kuger is fast and he is a big hitter, but I just feel the extra bat is worth it.

Edit: Mitchell justly MOTM

heavenlywild: What a summer of cricket.

Wowsers!!!!

I've lost more hair in the last few weeks than desired.

Yes indeed :-).

Summer, we have games in April home season this year, white ball, hahaha.

Yes has been quite special after being spanked by Eng and the Pink Ball/Lights.

A full series of ODI and T20 to follow the 2nd Sri Lanka test.

That will be our last test for a very long time this year, which is why imo Glenn Phillips has to be given a go, or we are burning our young stars in favour of aging players who havnt performed in way too long.

Still smiling after this game, I thought Kane had blown it, leaving it so late, then Southee. What an effort from Wagner to run the winning run with Kane and make his ground only to have the bowler grab it and nearly have Kane out on even score.

Mitchells AVG should bounce back up close to high 50s, Kane should get back to 53+ after two centuries in the last 2 tests, this one NO. So many positives. A pitty for Blundell as he has been so good in the last 6 series avg wise. Tickner 5fa. Just some selections need to be made and when KJ will be back for the next away season at end of year before they head back to NZ, we should be better for it. I like the long batting line up, KJ will mix that up a bit though, so will be interesting what our new selector goes for.

Ugggh, looks like a fair amount of showers and rain about in the Welli 7 day forecast. 

Interesting to see if they replace Wagner or go with the 2nd Eng test squad and effectively this last win which was without Wagners bowling. Mitchell earning his keep by bowling the 4th seam. Then they can put Will Young in.

But I believe not selecting Glenn Phillips over Bracewell or the ever failing Nicholls is madness. Hes a better batsman and bowler than either of them, plus hes mid 20s, not some washed up 32yo+. My pick is nothing will change as he is not in the current squad, but I do expect Will Young to play. 

Daryl Mitchells avg is nuts, a bit like Jamiesons bowling early on. Good to see Kane scoring some runs again. I still think Conway is not the best opener, his avg has declined from high 50s to now 49. But, only so much room in the middle order, I did think he was the natural replacement for Taylor, as is an aggressive shot maker at 4. However he does form some critical partnerships with Latham, he just needs to start posting big tons again and go on with it.

I hope Henry's thumb webbing has healed somewhat, if not it will have to be glued again. But from memory the rule is, if the injury is not from the current test being played, you cant wear tape, where the 1st test he injured it. Intriguing couple of days to see the 11 announcement.

I do not understand 32yo Doug Bracwell into the squad again, hes already had 27 tests to prove he is utterly rubbish with the ball and the bat, or more that he is a total let down on his FC stats. Tests is nearly 40 with the ball and ~14 avg with the bat, contrasting to his FC avgs of around 32 with the ball and 26 with the bat (there abouts).

That is 17 tests too many. 

The team did fine with Mitchell as the 5th bowler in both the last test win due to Wagner injury and the Test prior (actual Team selection).

There isnt even an argument to say there isnt room for Phillips with us selecting all these old hat all rounders. He could take the spot of Nicholls, M Bracewell or D Bracewells and hes 7 years younger, Bats better, bowls better spin and can be a makeshift WK if Blundell gets injured (Conway cant WK and open).

Our avg age in the squad must be 32, we are going to have the same problems as when the Hadlee/Crowe team all retired, we turned to utter rubbish for nearly 20 years. 

Edit: Looks like we should get play around 1pm, unless that last remaining shower forecast at 1pm decides to unleash on the Umpires inspection haha, but even then the rest of the afternoon looks good, so likely a 7pm day, should be 5 hours minimum. Rain due overnight, hopefully that doesnt move. Considering the amount of rain (orange warning) the ground staff have done amazingly well. 

Dochart: I agree with you we could have selected someone else but since we can’t pick Boult, Wagner, Jamieson and Sears, picking someone like Doug Bracewell is a wise decision.

Great white ball player but just cant lift in Tests, some sink and some like Mitchell totally surpass what their FC avg suggests.

Phillips gives you serious batting ability and hes a better spinner than M Bracewell, my point isnt so much about Doug, it is more that we are not selecting younger players with longevity than old players near retirement. Very soon the selector is going to have to select 11 players who have never played Test cricket, literally, that is more the issue. 

Did you see Kane being asked if he is thinking of retirement? He looked in shock haha, almost insulted, I think he said something like "Im not that old, am I?"

Edit: Next inspection 1:30pm, It looks like a 2:10 start. Im not sure why they cant make the Toss now, and why they must wait 30mins post Toss to play, I know its so players etc can get ready but surely they could get ready rather than sitting around. There needs to be some kind of protocol in rain effected matches to save as much time as possible, not just the extra 30mins end of day. Regardless issue is wet outfield, no surprise given how much rain Welli got over night, the groundies have done amazing to get it playable.

Interesting that stat, since Taylor has retired from #4 and Avgd 47 in that position, #4 has avgd 16, and largely thats where Nicholls has played.

Taylor was also an attacking but well measured player.

I hope they drop Nicholls, but if they dont use Young and they go with Phillips which a lot of people are talking about, then I hope they put Mitchell in at 4 and play Philips at #5. That would be a strong and more aggressive top 6. And a solid tail once KJ is back at #8.

Aside from the terrible technique from Latham which really is usually his strong point, its been a great start by Conway, he had the run rate at 3.5 for a while, both Latham and Williamson a bit of an anchor as expected. I was thinking Conway might fix his form slump by posting a big ton here at the basin, I hope he goes on with it. If NZ can post a high 400 score, they could bowl SL out within that score, also its probably going to be 3.5 to 4 days due to rain, so they will need to be quick scoring too. Would be a big confidence booster to get a miraculous 3 day win again for the team.

Edit: And Nicholls has had his first life, nicking it to the debut WK for SL, regulation catch, quite bizarre.

Latham was pissed at himself hitting it to the fielder and Conway was in anguish as he has been caught and bowled again, he needs a system for those straight drives, if hes going to loft them, then he needs to elevate them, otherwise along the ground, never caught in between, literally. His avg at the Basin was 92, that might drop a little.

Honestly if Nicholls needs players to drop catches to score at #4 he really shouldnt be playing cricket for NZ.