STATS HIGHLIGHTS
Follow UsThe newly crowned world number 1 team New Zealand, emphatically thumped the home side to a 8-wicket win in the second Test to clinch the series 1-0. As always, there were few notable records that were set or broken in the second Test, here are a few:
James Anderson becomes the most capped England player
Prior to the New Zealand Test series, Anderson in one of the interviews to The Guardian said “You draw comfort from people across other sports, like Zlatan Ibrahimovic (39 years), Tom Brady (43), Roger Federer (39) overcoming injuries or Chris Thompson at 40 qualifying for the Olympic Marathon. It makes you think, why should I start slowing down?” A month later, he became the most capped player for England. 162 matches for a fast bowler is certainly a massive achievement. In no other country does a quickie lead the chart.
NZ make six changes for the first time
Two players, Kane Williamson and Mitchell Santner were ruled out from the second Test a day before the game. Prior to the toss, BJ Watling was also ruled out citing a stress back. Tim Southee, Kyle Jamieson and Colin de Grandhomme were rested ahead of the World Test Championship final on 18th June against India. Hence, there were six changes from the first Test. In the history of New Zealand cricket, this was the first instance of them making six changes for a match. In addition, the 17 players fielded by them in this series is the second most for a team in a two-match series.
Zak Crawley’s dismal year
A promising start to Zak Crawley’s career has gone down the trench. Even Sourav Ganguly, the current BCCI president, was in compliment of the England number three. After Crawley smashed 267 against Pakistan, Ganguly tweeted “England have found a good number 3”. However, the number three hasn’t been able to keep up. This year, he has an average of 10.3 in the 12 innings he has played. Among the top five batsmen who have played 10+ innings in a calendar year, his average is the third lowest.
Stuart Broad pips Chris Martin’s tally of ducks
Scoring the second highest score for a batsman batting at number nine or lower to register the second most number of ducks in Tests, Broad’s career has seen it all. He is the only batsman to score 2000+ runs batting at this position. Amongst all these highs, Broad’s 37 ducks is one of the lows that he would rue. He went past Chris Martin’s tally of 36 ducks when he registered one in the first innings. He is now behind Courtney Walsh’s 43 ducks.
Doomed in the eighties
Not one, not two, but five different players registered eighties in the second Test. All those five were in the first innings of each side. Rory Burns (81) and Dan Lawrence (81*) in England’s first innings and Devon Conway (80), Ross Taylor (80) and Will Young (82) in New Zealand’s reply. This was the first time in Test history that five different players ended up with scores between 80-89 in a match.
Anderson loves to dismiss the batsman for a duck
The most successful pacer in the world notches up yet another record to his name. His only wicket in this match was off Neil Wagner and he was packed off for a three ball duck. This was the 105th instance of Anderson dismissing a batsman for a duck in Tests. No other bowler has done it more than him. He was tied alongside Glenn McGrath (104) before.
A long unbeaten streak comes to an end
The home team has been formidable at their fortress. But, finalists of the World Test Championship, New Zealand managed to breach that. They were unbeaten for 13 consecutive home series since their 0-1 defeat against Sri Lanka in 2014. In the meantime, they were involved in nine series wins and four drawn ones. This was their longest unbeaten streak at home before a defeat.
Anderson’s worst series
Generally, it is very rare to see Anderson struggling, especially in home conditions. This series has been one of those oddities. He has bagged only three wickets this series, two in Lord’s and one at Edgbaston. This is the least wickets he has bagged in a series in which he has bowled 50-plus overs. He has bagged wickets at an average of 68.7, which is the second worst for him in a series with the same criteria of more than 50 overs.
