Over at Cricinfo, Sidath Monga reviews the day, and his opening and conclusion sum up what was a day of missed opportunities - for both sides! Read this, and Monga begins:
Test cricket is supposed to be serious cricket. Bowlers bowling just outside off, trying to draw batsmen out of their comfort zone; batsmen trying their best to get a feel of where their off stump is, venturing out judiciously if at all. Then there is the occasional bouncer. About 90 to 100 runs are scored in a typical Test session.
Try telling that to the kids who came with their fathers today to get schooled in the ways of Test cricket. "What a load of bull****", they would have responded. Pardon the language, but it was that kind of a day.
It was indeed. Which makes us even more gutted that we couldn't get down to Wellington yesterday. And it is a day that will be talked about over many a beer in years to come - a day on which, as Monga reflects, both sides felt the slings and arrows of test cricket's fluctuating fortunes:
Despite all the fun and games, this day was a fascinating chapter to an important Test match. Just like every day's play ideally should be. Both New Zealand and India can lay claim to the honours. At the toss, having put India in, New Zealand would have settled for nine wickets, but as Franklin said, they gave away 50 runs too many. Down at 204 for 6, India would gladly have taken 375 for 9 at stumps, but they will look at some of the dismissals earlier in the day, and wonder if they have learned anything from Napier. That's how Test cricket should be - both teams largely pleased with their work on that day and edgy about the following days; though perhaps deciding to be a little more serious and orthodox.
1 comment:
I have said it before and I will say it again - there is too much focus on `instant gratification' in cricket.
Todays NZ innings, Taylor excepted as he was shafted by Harper, was a clear case of this.
It is a five day test not a bloody game of softball.
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