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Bad light, bad luck

Jonathan Agnew | 18:17 UK time, Friday, 16 May 2008

The elements are conspiring to make it difficult for either team to win . Bad light dogged the second day, while the forecast for the third looks bleak indeed. Shame, not merely for the paying spectators who have been forking out as much as £75 for the best seats at Lord's, but because the match has been moving along nicely.

New Zealand's 277 does not look much of a first innings total, and England are well set in reply, but the tourists will be relieved to have recovered from their perilous 104 for 5. Jacob Oram eventually fell to Ryan Sidebottom after 2 hours and 20 minutes at the crease.

He and Daniel Vettori looked largely untroubled as they frustrated England's attack, but once they were parted, it was only a matter of time before England took the remaining three wickets. In fact, Sidebottom took the lot to complete remarkable figures on the day of 10.1 overs, 7 maidens, 4 for 5. This performance certainly put into perspective and there's no denying that the force is with him at the moment.

New Zealand will be disappointed with the way their seamers failed to make an impression in the gloom. is only 19 and very promising, but he is not consistent enough yet to bowl six balls in the same place. He will, in time, but with runs at a premium Vettori found himself searching for the right combination to apply pressure.

Andrew Strauss looked happy to be back in his preferred opening position and his footwork looked positive. Even with time being lost to poor weather, England should feel that a lead of 100 on first innings will leave New Zealand facing an awkward battle for survival - but they need the weather to be on their side.

Comments

  • Comment number 1.

    The match just goes to show how much NZ could do with their missing players; Fleming, Bond, Styris, Astle and Marshall especially look sorely missed

  • Comment number 2.

    Aggers you should find sidebottom tonight or tommorow morning early and tell him you are sorry for the bashing you gave him in your blog yesterday.sensational siders does it again.

  • Comment number 3.

    I'm not sure that comments directed at/against JA are helpful in gaining an understanding of the day's play. What counts, I believe, is to have insightful comment on what happened, who performed, who didn't, etc. And that is precisely what we get.

    Also, the weather prospects are rather more significant than bemoaning the absence of out-of-the-frame players.

  • Comment number 4.

    Dear aggers,
    There was a discussion Friday on TMS regarding players, such as McCullum, bringing their limited overs performances into the test match arena.
    What joy it would be if only we could see Denis Compton playing the one day or 20/20 games today
    comments please

  • Comment number 5.

    To win this game, England need to spend some time on the pitch! Can anyone explain to me why they went off for bad light yesterday at a time when they were taking apart the Kiwi attack?

  • Comment number 6.

    what is go good about scott styris?
    the guy has obviously got very little talent but people here talk about him like he is the best thing to hit cricket since Sachin and Sanath.

    there is obviously some bias going on here. the next time, some people here might even end up comparing him to Mahela Jayawardene of Sri Lanka.


    Bond, Styris and Marshall. Who the hell is Marshall? never heard of this guy before.
    Bond was and never will be anything special when you compare him to guys like Lee, Akhtar, Malinga, Umar Gul, Ishant Sharma and so on.
    Styris is useless and very lucky to be playing cricket. He is lucky is a New Zealender, the guy probably would not have made a club team in any other country.


    Test cricket is for sissy's.

  • Comment number 7.

    This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.

  • Comment number 8.

    can someone please tell me if they see the point of the above comment? test cricket is, in many ways, the most demanding and skillful game of cricket. i thought that was fairly obvious...

  • Comment number 9.

    nothing skillful about defending and plodding. any donkey can do it now. especially with the placid pitches being prepared nowadays.
    it obviously takes more skill to score a 20/20 century than a test century.

    test cricket is outdated and plain silly. it is fairly obvious to me that nobody gets tested from test cricket apart from the audience.

  • Comment number 10.

    Have you seen the CARROM BALL bowled by Sri Lankan spinning sensation Ajantha Mendis? It is called so because he bowls like a carrom player flicking the disc on the board. CARROM BALL is the latest addition to the cricket lexicon after the Doosra.

  • Comment number 11.

    you know where i can see a video of this so called 'spinning sensation'.
    some of the people in this blog will be comparing daniel Vettori to Murali soon.

  • Comment number 12.

    testmatchfowho, you're not as funny as you think you are. Some of the comments you are saying are just plain stupid.

    Test cricket will survive, because it is the purists versionof the sport, but there is no harm whatsoever with the impact of 20/20. Anything that creates interest in Cricket and takes it to new audiences can only be a good thing.

    The only format that may suffer is ODI's, which have been a bit tedious for a while now. Everyone was only interested in the first 10 and last 10 overs of one day cricket, so 20/20 slots in very nicely.

    Claiming 20/20 is a threat to Test cricket is akin to comparing MMA to boxing. As long as their are purists out there who respect the history, tradition and mental aspects of the sport, the sport will remain strong.

  • Comment number 13.

    A lead of 100 or so Aggers! At the rate we bat approx 1 run every 3 balls we will be lucky to equal New Zealands total never mind over take it after 31/2 days of batting!
    Why do we take 174 deliveries to score 63 runs, 108 deliveries to score 38 runs? Entertaing ? NO!

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