New Zealand cricketer Fraser Wilson scores zero of 119 balls

What’s the story?

If you witnessed the classic knocks of Virat Kohli and Kedar Jadhav yesterday, here’s another one of epic proportions. Otago Country skipper Fraser Wilson scored an unconquered zero off 119 balls while trying to save his side from defeat in a Hawke Zone Cup elimination match against Southland in Alexandra.

What’s even more astonishing is Wilson could see only out of one eye during his two-hour vigil at the crease.

"I had a bung eye all weekend. I was putting a contact lens in and I dropped it on the concrete and it picked up some dirt, so I had an infected eye. I was playing with one eye the whole game. I had to open my stance up to pull my right eye around because I could only see out of my right eye,” he said.

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Wilson’s herculean effort, however, was wasted as his side lost with just three balls remaining in the game. Having come in as a No.8 batter with Otago reeling at 99/6, Wilson stayed put for 126 minutes.

The skipper put on a 23-over partnership with Tom Myles who scored 28 off 68 balls and frustrated the Southland bowling unit.

The wicket of Myles brought, Sam Blakely to the middle, with just under 14 overs to avoid defeat. But Sam fell after 12 more over and then Kurt Thompson removed Mark Knox with the fourth last ball of the game.

In the first innings Wilson had scored a 35-ball 20 and with the lather picked up figures of 5/42. Incidentally, he is also the team manager.

The heart of the matter

Otago Country skipper Fraser Wilson scored an unconquered zero off 119 balls while trying to save his side from defeat in a Hawke Zone Cup elimination match against Southland in Alexandra.

The right-handed batsman stayed at the crease for more than two hours and helped his side reach 141 chasing a target of 345.

What’s next?

Wilson said he played this knock as the situation demanded such an innings from him. For the record, he has a Hawke Cup century too and had won the trophy with Otago in 2011. At 35, he isn’t getting any younger and it will be quite interesting to see if he can do something similar in the future again.

Sportskeeda’s take

Even though Otago lost the game the sheer effort from their skipper deserves a long applause. The knock just shows the attitude and grit of sportspersons who give everything for the side they are playing for.