Black dot for the Black Caps – 2005 tri-series final between England and Australia at Lord’s. The match ended in a draw, and Nasser Hussain said on air: This is almost like a victory for England, because Australia does not lose the final! Yes, those were the days. Coming to the theory of relativity, let’s ask something about Kiwis – they don’t let loose! Especially after such a wonderful performance in the previous test. But that’s why we say in cricket – 9 times out of 10, he/she would take that catch. Friday was one of 10 events. In the third over of the innings, Ben Duckett bowled Nathan Smith straight to third slip – only to see Henry Nicholls bowl the fielder. He was then on 8 and England on 8/1, having just lost Emilio Gay in the previous over. Then, in the 21st over, Duckett pulled one again. This time off the bowling of Mitchell Santner. For some reason, Daryl Mitchell was standing at wide first slip, in a really unconventional position. In a normal scenario, he would have swallowed it as the ball went straight there, to the conventional position, to his right. Because he was wide, he couldn’t even put his finger on the ball. Duckett was on 74 at this stage, well placed and dangerous – England were chasing 120/1. Given the way the pitch has been behaving, as England found out on Thursday, the chances here are like Halley’s Comet – very rare. And if the opportunity comes and you miss it, you have to wait an age for the next one. Also, very un-New Zealand, they just couldn’t find a way to stop the hosts scoring, which comes as a surprise, given the way they stifled the hosts at the Oval. Is Matt Henry such a failure? None of the bowlers looked impressive and if the score dropped in the final hour, it was more due to the fact that England brought down the curtains for the end. Additionally, after being hit by bouncer Jofra Archer earlier in the day, Blair Tickner suffered concussion symptoms and was ruled out of the match. New Zealand have landed a shock replacement in the form of Zakary Foulkes, but only time will tell how good a replacement it will be.
