/cloudfront-ap-southeast-2.images.arcpublishing.com/nzme/SJKVHJYFARDNZEG72GCKHMNGEI.jpg "Andrew Alderson: Black Caps making a habit of batting recoveries")
By Andrew Alderson at Hagley Oval
New Zealand’s ability to eke out batting recoveries in the back half of cricket tests since the start of last year has proven a panacea for fans.
Five instances
of courage in the face of adversity have emerged from the Black Caps’ nine matches dating to February last year. A fledgling theme has built into a stubborn faith that no match is beyond the realm of restoration.
The current fixture is no exception after incurring 94 runs of first-innings debt. The side opted against panicking, instead preferring to commit to the task of reconstruction from 162 runs of first-innings rubble.
Examples were everywhere as Tom Latham, Kane Williamson, Rachin Ravindra, Daryl Mitchell and Scott Kuggeleijn upped their level of application to set a target of 279, six runs shy of the record chase at the ground.
A queue of batters whirred through the Australia dressing room turnstile as contagion struck on the lively Hagley Oval surface courtesy of Matt Henry and debutant Ben Sears. Semisonic’s Closing Time and Europe’s The Final Countdown blared from the boundary speakers to rub it in as they limped to 76-4 at stumps.
The highest fourth-innings haul at Hagley Oval was 285 a year ago. New Zealand beat Sri Lanka by two wickets through a last-ball bye scampered by an unstoppable Kane Williamson and an incapacitated Neil Wagner.
To say the crowd got their money’s worth was incorrect. Entry on the fifth day was free.
The previous test’s effort against England was in the Lazarus pantheon of resurrections.
Williamson’s 132 at Wellington anchored the Black Caps’ 483 in the second innings to set the foundations for the fourth follow-on victory in the sport’s history.
England finished one run short, dismissed for 256 when Tom Blundell caught James Anderson down the legside off Neil Wagner at a packed Basin Reserve. Which acts as a reminder; when is Blundell’s triumphant dive getting immortalised in bronze beyond the boundary?
Another instance occurred at Dhaka in December. New Zealand had slumped to 69-6 chasing 137 to defeat Bangladesh and level the two-match series.
Glenn Phillips and Mitchell Santner put on a brisk unbeaten 70 for the seventh wicket, defusing a fizzing ball in the fourth innings on the subcontinent.
The final exhibit came last month against South Africa at Hamilton, creating a moment to savour for the country’s purists.
The Black Caps, again under the batting stewardship of Williamson across an entire day, crossed a pioneering frontier against the Proteas, winning a series for the first time in 17 attempts across almost 92 years.
A ninth test victory against Australia also looms, and with that a bid to extend a record of 13 undefeated series at home.
