Anticipation
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When the highlight of the day is a guy bowling 4 wicketless overs you know something’s going on
It is hard to think of more anticipation around a New Zealand bowler taking a test wicket.
This is Ajaz Patel’s 22nd test, going back to 2018. He famously has the best innings return by a New Zealand bowler, has a test average of under 30 and was man of the match when New Zealand sealed that extraordinary clean sweep in India last year.
85 tests wickets, 7 * 5WI and 2 * 10WM. These are world class stats, yet there is that 0. everyone wants to see removed. A test wicket would be nice to add to his 85 abroad.
It’s a funny time of year, but the anticipation of this achievement has been quite the narrative.
When he chipped in with a run-a-ball 30 late on day 2, the radio commentary made no mention of the strides he’s taken as a lower order batsman but rather how this should give him confidence in his quest for the elusive debut home wicket.
When he got a bowl later that day the crowd at Bay Oval gave him a warm round of applause. We’re all in on this.
At the start of today he had bowled 53 overs at a cost of 115. When the wicket came it was after 65.4 overs at a cost of 169 runs.
A lot of this fanfare is the feeling that he should have played a lot more test cricket, and being omitted for the fast home test after the 10 wicket haul was odd.
His previous home test was pre-COVID, and it’s 2, 562 days since he first played a home test. That was the test when Mathews and Mendis batted through an entire day.
What a wicket it was too. Athanaze, stuck in his crease, and well outside leg, managed to get it off his knee and onto the stumps.
The celebration was genuine with Patel rising one finger to the skies. Well worth the wait.
Fun fact. The continent where he has the best average?
Europe. 2 tests, 4 wickets at 20.25