My summer of bowling has finished. I have just had a massive feed of fried chicken, approved and signed off by both our trainer and physio. I need to put some weight back on my body and fried chicken is a good place to start. I haven't had a feed like that for a very long time and I am actually not feeling the best after it as my body isn't used to a high fat meal at the moment. But I'll survive and I'm sure I'll be ok in the morning.
So, we're chasing down 600+, well not really chasing it down but we're out there hanging tough to draw this match. Chasing that score, on any deck, has never been done, not even close and it won't be done here in Wellington. Time is the only thing against us and with us.
India batted for over an hour this morning, I opened up from the Adelaide Road end into the wind. I wasn't feeling as strong or quick as I was the night before even after a good rest and massage, all the bowling has really taken its toll on my body. My first couple of overs went just fine, lines ok, lengths not bad. And then Yuvraj happened; eighteen off one over. Three fours and a six, and my lengths weren't too bad, maybe a touch short, but not so much that I deserved to be hit like I was. He can play. It did though loosen him up and Tommy got him to go hard on the drive and nick one through to Rossco at first.
Tommy then claimed his second of the morning when Timmy took his first Test match catch at fine leg, it also just happened to be his second and third catch as he juggled it a couple of times before safely coming up with a smile and ball in hand.
It was great to be off the park and to take the bowling boots off for the last time In NZ for a while, the boots got thrown towards the bin as they won’t be coming with me to the UK and I have another pair ready to go.
No matter what, there is always that nervous feeling as the boys go out to bat. It's just in a cricketer’s nature to be nervous and sometimes for no real reason at all. The new ball was always going to be the tough part to get though, the Basin deck has been, for a long time now, a deck where the new ball does a little; as seen yesterday when I got one to jag back to VVS. This was the danger time, the first 15 to 20 overs of the new ball combined with Khan, who's in great form; and he got two in that time.
We were four down when bad light stopped play at drinks in the last session; Rossco and Franky got us through from 84-4 to inevitable early close of play at 167-4. For this Test, daylight savings is coming in very handy.
Day five tomorrow, the last day of international cricket this summer in NZ. It's been a long season and only one warm up left, and it's a batting warm up too. I'm hopeful of not needing to bat tomorrow, but if called on I am looking forward to trying to break my new PB that I set in the first innings; I only have 19 to beat, but that's a lot of runs when you only average around 5.
