Monday, November 23, 2009

Taylor and Guptill recover, build on

Tea New Zealand 171 for 3 (Taylor 85*, Guptill 60, Aamer 2-45) v Pakistan

Ross Taylor and Martil Guptill dug deep into their reserves of patience and judgement, and a bit of luck, to thwart the menacing Pakistan seamers, but Guptill once again fell to the pull just when it seemed the batsmen could start dominating the ball. It was a pitch made to order for seam bowlers, and all three of Pakistan quicks made life miserable for batsmen in the first session, reducing New Zealand to 27 for 2 before the 117-run partnership.

Mohammad Aamer, who struck first ball of the match with a yorker, came back and broke the threatening partnership. He combined well with Mohammad Asif, playing his first Test in more than two years, and Umar Gul. They bowled near-perfect lengths in the first session, bowling just short of a length and outside off, and letting the seam do the rest.

Aamer must have grown up - not sure if it is the appropriate term for the 17-year-old - watching Pakistan bowlers demolish New Zealand in New Zealand with swinging yorkers, and he did the same. It swung late into Tim McIntosh who got hit on his boot. The ball then went onto the bat, and through to the stumps.

Guptill looked to counterattack and use the short straight boundaries. It worked, as Pakistan looked for swing early on and bowled too full. New Zealand raced to 22 in four overs, Guptill to 18 off 17. Driving down the ground, and guiding through third man were the preferred shots. All three Mohammads combined superbly then: Yousuf put in a fourth slip to block the third-man gap, and Asif and Aamer pulled back the lengths a touch, having realised there was no swing to be had. It worked immediately: Asif caught Daniel Flynn on the crease, and the inside edge made it 27 for 2.

Then followed a testing period during which both Taylor and Gaultill played out of their skins. Taylor kept getting beaten outside off with Asif getting it to seam either way. Thrice he took his eyes off Aamer's deliveries, and took body blows. When Umar Gul bowled seven consecutive maidens, he hardly scored; his score read 2 off 29 and 6 off 44 at two different stages of the innings.

Guptill too had to get used to not getting anything to drive, and with the third-man gap plugged, scoring became an afterthought. Gul drew Guptill forward on the defence, and then suddenly mixed in the shorter ones. One such short delivery that seamed away a touch got the edge, but Imran Farhat dropped it at first slip. Five runs later, it was Gul who was doing the dropping: at the fine-leg boundary, a top-edge off Aamer, and Guptill had survived twice on 26.

After those two lives, both Taylor and Guptill opened up, and simultaneously Pakistan relaxed a bit too. Taylor punched well of the back foot, and Guptill got the driving length too. Post lunch, Yousuf didn't get the seamers to work in tandem. Saeed Ajmal bowled 13 straight overs in the second session. Given that there wasn't much wind, the move seemed a bit inexplicable. While Ajmal went at around two an over, he did make the batsmen feel comfortable, when compared with the examination that the seamers had put them through.

Guptill reached his first Test half-century, and Taylor - despite that uncharacteristic start - overtook Guptill at the 50-mark. Unlike Guptill, Taylor managed to play forcing shots off the back foot too, and during one period of acceleration that included a slog-swept six, he went from 19 off 74 to 51 off 97. Things would have been rosier for New Zealand had Aamer not struck in the first over of his third spell. He first hit Taylor in the back of the head, and then got Guptill to top-edge another.


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