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Press “F5” get OBO updates. Newest at top. Comment here , or mail freak@sportsfreak.co.nz The NZ innings highlights have just been played; there was not a single shot hit down the ground. James Anderson’s misfield at backward point which gifted a boundary to Baz looks even worse on the replay. And then Collingwood reels off some excuses, before adding “But we’re not making excuses.” Ryder gets the “Hero of the match” thing, whereas all he probably wants is a decent Bourbon. A bit harsh on McCullum though, given he scored more runs, and scored them faster. But you can not keep a Cult Hero down 165/0 in 18.1 overs. McCullum 80*, Ryder 79* And the fine people of Exotic Hamilton stand as one and wave their beer-bottles at the departing heroes. Richardson interviews the Tattoed One, but Ryder is going to have none of that; he’s in a hurry…. NZ 160/0; 18 overs Oxymoron has lost his swing now, so it is looking a bit easier from his end. He even sends down a really sad leg-side wide bouncer. Collingwood should then have run Ryder out; he’d given up running. And so we enter the last over of the match….. NZ 154/0; 17 overs Ryder’s getting a bit tired now. He has an almighty heave at Collingwood and misses, and you could almost feel the sigh Collingwood then serves him a decent bouncer, but Cult Hero just smiles and winks back at him. Crowe is starting or trying to sound like Martin Luther King; “We have seen the future.” NZ 150/0; 16 overs In the perfect irony, Oxymoron drops Ryder off his own bowling. He then looks around in vein to find someone to blame. More extras from Ryder after that with a chip on the on-side This is likely to be amongst the biggest wins ever by a NZ side in terms of overs used. And beating the opposition by 10 wickets is normally something only done against Australia. NZ 145/0; 15 overs At last; Martin Crowe has dropped a “Holy Cow”. And that was just after Ryder put Collingwood out of the park. He then moves on to thanking Mason for this batting performance. These two are just toying with them now, and Ryder has rightly worked up a decent sweat. Remember, both these batsmen were dropped in the first few overs. NZ 137/0; 14 overs Ho hum. Two sixes from McCullum in that over; both over cow corner. This game has round about 5 – 10 minutes to run. McCullum has overtaken Ryder now. NZ 123/0; 13 overs Collingwood on, and 6 runs from the over; all run. Voting for the “Hero of the Match” (whatever happened to Man of the Match) is on at the moment. Crowe will vote Mason, Smith will go for Oram, but Bopara has to be worth a thought. NZ 117/0; 12 overs Swann is on, and treated with some respect for the first 3 deliveries. But then a lofted drive over cover through the Tui bottles on the boundary is followed by a smart-arse reverse sweep that Jimmy Anderson made a total git of himself over. It went straight to him. It’s schoolboy stuff. England’s “Third Disciplines” tonight have been lamentable. We thought Bangladesh were well short in those departments, but this is worse. And the last ball went for 4 too. Baz’s 50 was faster than Ryder’s. NZ 103/0; 11 overs Ryder squeezes an Anderson full-toss through a very small gap on the offside to start the over. He then follows it up with probably the biggest six ever seen at Seddon Park straight down the ground. 51 in 39 balls. He then rips the top off a square-cut for good measure. Jessie’s in hurry all right, there’s no doubt about that. A leg-side four finishes the over, the 100 up in 11 overs. NZ 85/0; 9 overs Salt into wounds here. McCullu
That means picking a winner for this one is about as straight-forward as getting Parore and Ryder to share a man-hug before the game starts. Or Parore and anyone. Come back at 1330 for toss and team details. Will England be so stupid to leave out Mascarenhas again? Will Patel get to play consecutive matches for once in his life? Will the pitch develop a crater? Will new standards in running between the wickets be set? And will Stuart Broad get out of Hamilton alive?
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