NZ Story (ICC2005)

[pearljammonkey]

A fair day for New Zealand, a good inning being played by the South African debutant A Puttick though. I did have them at 8/226!! hopefully i can get early wickets



Well it was a frustrating morning, i got Puttick quickly, then Nel (52) & Terbrugge (32*) put on 71 for the last wicket! they went from 8/226 to make 357! NZ then fell to 6/151 before McCullum (22*) & Franklin (28*) took them safely to the end of the day.



going to need quick wickets to win this...
Bonds opening spells of each innings have been excellent



in trouble here... A Hall's 51* at no.9 hurt us 300 in a day isnt impossible, but 4 down already



A great day for NZ, adding less then 200 runs, but saving the match with a long century from McMillan. because i was only 108 runs away from victory in the end, South Africa oddly chose to play defensive most of the day so annoying though to know that all that cost me the match was the 131 runs added for the 9th & 10th wkts in SA 1st innings!

 

[Somerset]

That's an incredible innings from McMillan, I've only ever scored 300 once, ironically with a fellow New Zealander, Matthew Bell. Bad luck to fall four short.

Tough match against the South Africans there, good job to hold onto a draw as it turned out.

Out of interest what skill level are you playing on, normal or easy?

 

[pearljammonkey]

normal skill level thanks! haha although it feels like easy when youre playing against Zimbabwe the strength of India, Pakistan, South Africa & England in icc2005 is scary! even the West Indies are much stronger than in real life. In the NZ game i am playing above, Australia lost the Ashes 3-2 to England, after England chased down something like 4/430 in the last innings of the deciding test! India i think have won every test theyve played by an innings, with Kumble & H Singh doing the damage as usual, and West Indies have just won the 1st test of the series in Aus.

 

[pearljammonkey]

teams for the second test : i am unchanged. however its a spinners pitch, so South Africa have dropped A Hall, and P Adams is in.



guess what theyve won the toss again and are batting first again...

 

[pearljammonkey]

the pship of 172 between Gibbs & Puttick hurt a lot. I delayed taking the new ball (dumb move) in the hope of Vettori taking wickets (25-1-85-0). As soon as i took it, both went quickly.. Its a fast outfield so if i can get them early on day 2, im confident of a solid reply.



DAY TWO
South Africa 404 all out
New Zealand 8/201

needing 3 runs to avoid the follow-on...

3 wickets fell in the last 2 overs as the clouds came over, to destroy NZs chances here. Every batsman got a start except Astle (0) & Franklin (4). McMillan (64) is going great but its a one-man show at the moment. Must avoid the follow-on to keep the series alive i feel...

 

[pearljammonkey]

sorry to skip so far, forgot to printscreen.

well we managed to avoid the follow-on, Vettori (24) adding 20 with Tuffey (2*). We got Kallis for a golden duck but from there on its pretty sad...

TEA DAY 4
another 4 sessions to survive on an extremely warn wicket.. Defence all the way from here.



Perfect!!!
with fast outfields, and the field up - 80 runs from 33 defense-filled overs in that session. with the pitch, a win isnt even a thought. Its one of those pitches where if 1 wicket falls, there could be a collapse! With Astle & Oram due in next (both v.aggressive), i might bring McCullum next, depending on the situation.



TEA DAY 5
Well im surprised how easy its been, batting on 0 & 1 aggression all day. Sinclair was tragically run out for 116 off 300 balls. but im confident Astle 43*(79) & Oram 35*(71) can block out most of the final session to save this test.



with 26 minutes left, Oram (65(141)) fell to Terbrugge, to leave Vettori (6*(40)) Bond & Tuffey to fight it out.. P Adams has really let SA down!

this might be something chris could have a look at.. it seems too easy to survive with batsman on 0 aggression, especially as when the cpu sets agg. fields a couple of boundaries come, and then the batsmen are set, the field is back and u can seemingly block all day!





In the end Bouchers defensive 83(214) might have cost them! In South Africa's 2nd Innings he added 102 for the 8th wkt with P Adams 26(95), with my defensive bowling they batted more overs in the 2nd inns than in their 1st, yet scored 47 less runs.. D Vettori 45.2-8-111-4

Other good news, Ive managed to keep Kallis quiet with just 29 runs in 4 innings!

 

[pearljammonkey]

for the crucial deciding test, ive decided to make 2 changes to the team after 4 tests with an unchanged side.
L Vincent has let me down in South Africa, scoring just 84 runs @ 14 on tour...
I need a solid opening pship with Sinclair, so Fleming will promote himself to opener, and in place of Vincent will be the promising batsman 26 year-old P Fulton to make his Test Debut

S Bond has only taken 7 wkts @ 71.29 in 4 tests this year, bowling the occasional good spell, so ive chosen another experienced 30 year old quick in C Martin, who has taken 6 wkts @ 25 in the 2 tour matches he's played this season. He was always next in line, and has been receiving a fair amount of training, so im confident he can perform in this important test match.

team for the 3rd test -


South Africa have gone back to their first test lineup, dropping P Adams for A Hall, as is it seems to be more of a pacemans wicket


South Africa have won the toss and batted for the 3rd test in a row...