New Zealand v England, Wellington, 2nd Test Thread

[Duty281]

England successfully made a great escape in Dunedin, after being 293 behind in the first innings, leaving the series 0-0 with 2 to play. England will take heart from that, New Zealand probably will as well after bowling England out for 167. Wellington is expected to have more swing than Dunedin, and be more suited to the fast bowlers. The weather looks fine for the first 3 days, it's day 4 and 5 that will likely be interrupted by the weather. Both teams are expected to be unchanged. Starts at 21:30 GMT tonight.

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

Unchanged sides

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

New Zealand win the toss and put England in

[Corporalhumblebucket]

Cautious start - England able to leave a lot of deliveries.

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

Cook gone chips one to mid on. Wagner the wicket taker. 26-1

[trebellbobaggins]

They talk him up, he fails and now no doubt they will call him arrogant.

Another low first innings on the way?

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

They talk him up, he fails and now no doubt they will call him arrogant.

Another low first innings on the way?

It's alright, Cook is saving his centuries for the 2nd innings's of the tour

Could be Trebs, KP needs some runs, looks horribly out of touch

[trebellbobaggins]

Indeed. Not looking a happy tour this in the batting dept.

[Corporalhumblebucket]

Compton collects a couple of boundaries...

[NickisBHAFC]

Went in the shower, come back down stairs and Cook is out. FFS

Big innings from Trott me thinks.

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

Compton is looking nice here *out next ball*

[Corporalhumblebucket]

Dubious tactics by NZ. A duck wandering around the pitch....

[NickisBHAFC]

Great movement by it to dodge the on coming cricket ball though!

[Corporalhumblebucket]

Bit like general election campaigns where someone dressed up as a chicken is hired to follow the candidate around so they appear in all the TV footage ...

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

Bit like general election campaigns where someone dressed up as a chicken is hired to follow the candidate around so they appear in all the TV footage ...

That's no way to talk about Nick Clegg now Corporal

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

This pitch is flat as a pancake. Beautiful batting day. Not gonna get a better chance to fill your boots

[trebellbobaggins]

Not so good from captain cook then.

Wonder if being hyped by them got to him? That the plan?

[NickisBHAFC]

That's enough of the cricket for me. Bed time now #zzz

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

Not so good from captain cook then.

Wonder if being hyped by them got to him? That the plan?

Just a bad shot. It happens

[trebellbobaggins]

True.

[mystiroakey]

Does this kiwi commentator want to be any more pessimistic!!

Is he the kiwi trebbel?

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

Good first session for us. Looks like we've caught a break, being put in. We should be batting well into tomorrow.

You're right mysti. Basically written off the NZ bowlers already haha

[trebellbobaggins]

Does this kiwi commentator want to be any more pessimistic!!

Is he the kiwi trebbel?

Could be, my cousins are kiwi

[guildfordbat]

Anyone still around?

98-1 and looking pretty comfortable for England at the moment. Compton seems sensibly confident after his ton last time out whilst Trott looks lke ... Trott.

I missed the start of play but gather New Zealand put us in. That's increasingly looking like a mistake. An overly defensive move or is that just hindsight?

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

Well guildford they were talking about it before the game and McCullum said he'd put us in.

But 3 days removed from 2 days of bowling for there seamers, a bright sunny day, not a lot of green on the pitch, its a strange decision

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

50 for Compton playing very well

[guildfordbat]

Well guildford they were talking about it before the game and McCullum said he'd put us in.

But 3 days removed from 2 days of bowling for there seamers, a bright sunny day, not a lot of green on the pitch, its a strange decision

Yeah - it's not as if the NZ opening batsmen would want to go into hiding after how well they did in the first Test. From here, it looks like good batting conditions.

Well done to Compton. Not the strongest attack he'll ever face but he's doing the right things and is still there ....

[guildfordbat]

Right, that's close of play - for me at least!

121-1 with Compton on 62 and Trott 39. We're in a very good position. Need to make the most of it ....

[mystiroakey]

Decent Day for England.

A bit slow for my liking. But Ok

[Duty281]

Good day for England. Ridiculous for McCullum to win the toss ad have a bowl on that wicket and in those conditions. Tons for Trott and Compton, 500+ has to be the target!

[mystiroakey]

From an england POV we want to target a win.

However It would be nice to see Root and KP get some decent runs to restore there confidence

[trebellbobaggins]

Nice days play. Steady. Pleased for Compton and trott.

[guildfordbat]

Decent Day for England.

A bit slow for my liking. But Ok

Mysti - if you had been around in 1968 when Garry Sobers struck six sixes off a Malcolm Nash over in Swansea, I suspect you would have still been telling the West Indian maestro ''to get on with it!''.

Look, the batting side can't win a Test on day one but they can go a long way towards losing it. The latter is anything but the case for us here. We've more than done what was necessary in building a strong foundation and are in a good position.

[LivinginItaly]

Excellent day for England. They have built a strong foundation which should allow the likes of kp, bell, root and prior to bat with more freedom thus increasing the scoring and reach about 500 around tea time. The only worry at the moment will be the forecast for the last two days.

[mystiroakey]

Decent Day for England.

A bit slow for my liking. But Ok

Mysti - if you had been around in 1968 when Garry Sobers struck six sixes off a Malcolm Nash over in Swansea, I suspect you would have still been telling the West Indian maestro ''to get on with it!''.

Look, the batting side can't win a Test on day one but they can go a long way towards losing it. The latter is anything but the case for us here. We've more than done what was necessary in building a strong foundation and are in a good position.

This pitch is built for batting. We need a quick 550 and make sure that only takes 2 more sessions then declare.. We may need time to bowl these kiwi fellas out!

[alfie]

Indeed. Not looking a happy tour this in the batting dept.

Well played , trebs

Good to see you in such fine form today ... Now just be on early on day two to predict a collapse , OK ? I don't want to take any chances...

But pace yourself ...with a flat pitch we might need your best efforts when we bowl later on

[alfie]

NZ matches are actually the hardest for watching in this time zone ... I have to go to work before they start and stumps are drawn long before I get home. So have seen nothing of this , but from the text it seems England had a very good day...classic grind 'em down and cash in later tactics leaving them well poised for tomorrow.
One slight query though : Compton and Trott were fairly racing along just before he got out...understandable things slowed up with a new batsman in , but I was a little surprised KP remained remarkably restrained right through to the close. I had assumed he would go up a gear or two before then ...was the bowling exceptionally tight late in the day ? Or did he just not look quite himself ? I know he is reputed to be carrying a bit of an injury , was this a factor ?
(Trott I presume is just bedding in for a double ...)

[trebellbobaggins]

Indeed. Not looking a happy tour this in the batting dept.

Well played , trebs

Good to see you in such fine form today ... Now just be on early on day two to predict a collapse , OK ? I don't want to take any chances...

But pace yourself ...with a flat pitch we might need your best efforts when we bowl later on

yeah I decided my lack of application and taking silly risks was hurting the team , so it was time to dig in.

I wouldn't worry, they've made a right mess of it and won't last until lunch with this line-up.

[msp83]

McCullum's decision at the toss backfired on NZ, and England are in a very strong position to control the direction of this game. Fine hundred from Nick Compton, he has earned the right to open the innings for the summer with this performance. Jonathan Trott played like Jonathan Trott, and worryingly for New Zealand, he's ttill there. Kevin Pietersen, despite the minor fitness concerns, has got a start.
New Zealand will have to do a great deal of work to come back into this game.

[VTR]

Compton follows up his first Test hundred with another in the next match. Last England player to do that.......................Ravi Bopara!

[mystiroakey]

Compton follows up his first Test hundred with another in the next match. Last England player to do that.......................Ravi Bopara!

ermmm... That doesnt fill me with confidence

[VTR]

Thankfully we can't really read anything into it. Bopara never really did anything in Tests outside of those hundreds vs the Windies (I think he ended up making it 3 in a row).

Compton has already scored some runs in tough conditions away to India. Not a vast amount but decent enough, and better than the 8 golden ducks Bopara would have made if he'd played in that series!

[hodge]

Difference being Compton opens and didn't Bopara hit them at home against WI, easier at home then away i'd say.

[Stella]

To early to tell how Compton's career will pan out. He looks technically fine, and has good concentration. He reminds me of Tim Robinson, the Notts opener who played in the mid eighties for England. He started off well, with runs in India and then the Aussies, but had a torrid time against the west indies, and never recovered.
I hope Compton doesn't follow suit, and tbh, there's no reason why he should.

[Duty281]

With one eye on the weather, England's aim should be to get 550+ by the middle of the final session, then have a small dart at NZ in the evening.

[VTR]

That's got to be the plan Duty. And with that weather forecast I think we're going to need to get the Kiwis to follow on. Going to be very tough to force a win in what could be a 3 day match.

[mystiroakey]

aye 550 in two or two and a bit of a session.. is needed.

[Corporalhumblebucket]

Up and running with a maiden. Mysti probably already worried by the sluggish run rate....

Trott on his way back to the hutch first ball....

[mystiroakey]

[Corporalhumblebucket]

Bit of a stalemate at the moment....

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