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Pakistan vs New Zealand - 2nd Test - Day Two - Wellington
Not good enough, simple as that.
I can say though, tonight I was ‘balls out’ going for it, and I felt great. I’ll be going ‘balls out’ tomorrow too. I want this one; I really want to pull us back into the game. I love this ground, I love playing here, I want to do something special and I don’t want this one to get away from us.
I had got Butt in the first innings with a bouncer, which was going to be the base of the plan in the second innings. It worked. I got one just about perfect and Butt’s gloved it to Ross for the catch. I also picked up the other opener. It was last ball of the over; Fahat was on strike, Yousuf, the new batter, at the non strikers end. Quite often, in this situation, you’ll bowl a bouncer to keep the new batter down the non strikers end so that the next over is started at them. I went to Dan, who was bowling at the other end, and asked him if he wanted Yousuf, meaning do you want me to make sure it’s a ‘dot’ ball with a bouncer. He replied “I want you to give yourself the best opportunity to get him out; nick him out.” So I did. I nicked him out. I was happy making sure Dan could bowl to the new batter, I was even happier to have a wicket and Dan would still be bowling to the new batter.
If we can keep Pakistan to around 250, again, and leave us a chase of about 400 we’ll at least have the best batting conditions of the match. That’s the positive and we have to believe in every positive we can find.
The Pakistan bowlers bowled really well, and we nicked and missed the balls we should have missed and nicked. I couldn’t believe how many times we, as a bowling group, went past the Pakistani’s edge without nicks in the first innings. It got pretty unbelievable at one stage. But we hung tough and caught some great catches; I was a little surprised that the one I took stuck. I was very happy that I got to it, and even happier that it fell nicely into my hands.
We obviously need quick wickets, and yesterdays hopes, in my blog, couldn’t have been further from what happened. Here’s hoping for a great day in Wellington and a better day of cricket for New Zealanders.
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Hey best of luck for future !
We'll miss you Iain, will be hard for Dan to find someone as good as you, hope everything goes fine for you and best of luck.
*that* news
Gutted to hear about your retirement, but it sounds as though you've made absolutely the right decision. (Please ignore the asshats on Cricinfo trying to guilt you and implying that you're being selfish!) We'll miss seeing you out there, for sure, but your family and happiness are more important at this stage.
Brilliant job today despite other stuff not quite going to plan - no-one could accuse you of not making your last series memorable! Good luck for tomorrow and the Napier test!!
Great Job! and the other news...
Awesome job with the ball today! Got a little worried for a while but you guys always find a way back some how. Hopefully it'll be the same with the bat in the 2nd innings!
But most important I just read about your decision to retire.. :( so sad to hear about it but i think it's a wise and courageous decision. Good on you for putting family first. It must have been hard since you got married to be away for so long.
Anyway, all the best and we shall focus on the final innings and the next test in Napier for now!
bowling
Really enjoyed watching you bowl yesterday, especially that final spell at the end of the day. I'm about to walk down to the Basin to get an early spot on the grass.
Hopefully we'll see the blackcaps batting in the final session aye :)
Best of luck
Well done for those two wickets and all the best for tomorrow.
Best wishes.
love your spirit mate !
I am pretty sure you've got yourself a 5-for mate. Both the batsmen at the crease are short on confidence. Yousuf under pressure to perform as a captain and Misbah fighting for his place. For Yousuf all you have to do is nip one back in at the start and Yousuf will be wrapped on the pads. Dan has got a better chance with him considering his terrible history with left arm spinners as he became a bunny for Panesar and then Herath not too long ago. But Irfan Pathan too got him with in-swingers on the tour to Pakistan and a good in-swinger right at the start is all that's needed. Umar Akmal's technique too isn't ideal for Seaming wickets and there is a lesser chance he will miss the edge as much as he did in the first innings. In Short, Just put them under pressure and you can even get these 8 wickets within 50 runs as happened more than once in Srilanka this year. With the pitch becoming easier for batting, you can back the black caps getting 350 too with atleast 2 n a half days to go.
Tomorrow
Iain sounds like a bad day at the office for the batsmen. Anyway, given Pakistan's ability to implode at any time then this match is not gone.
Well Done
I hear you are retireing... :( best of luck for the futre!!
Know you won't give up!
The one thing you could never be accused of is not being up for it & not trying, Iain. The commentators make that point every spell you bowl - that you run in hard & always give your absolute best for the captain & the team, even if it doesn't go quite to plan. Three days left & anything can happen - wishing you all loads of luck & hoping to watch you all turn it around tonight!
Agreed
Sarah pretty much has it dead on: you've got so much heart, Iain, and today's spell was a classic example of that. All the best for tomorrow: I know you, Tuffey, SuperDan and the Phantom can bring something special. (It occurs to me that you need a badass nickname too - you certainly deserve it by now! Come on readers, let's get to work on this, shall we?)