PlayBack 2013 – Part Two – Team Reports

New Zealand

Day 2 of the year and New Zealand were blown away for 45 against South Africa with only Kane Williamson reaching double figures with a score of 13, eighth lowest in test history. Their innings lasted only 19.2 overs. One never can sum up New Zealand cricket of 2013 exactly. Players left, players performed, team lost hugely, team had moral victories, shone brightly as a team, had performers but like always lacked consistency. Had a whitewash against Bangladesh but no post-mortem done. On the whole, a roller coaster year.

There are few times when victory was denied. Against England, first 2 tests ended in draws but the third test was a dramatic draw. Their bowlers couldn’t pick up the last wicket, in the process handing Prior his 7th test 100. They couldn’t break the Prior-Panesar partnership. They denied themselves a series victory. Against WI, rain might have saved the visitors but again NZ couldn’t get that one wicket. Where does the home advantage go?

Record – Ross Taylor became the second New Zealander to score centuries in three consecutive Tests.

Low – The Cape Town “45”. It was the country’s third-lowest total and the shortest Test innings of all time (19.2 overs). Even the 26 all out, in 1955, lasted 27 overs.Retirement – New Zealand’s most underrated but most successful player Chris Martin hung up his boots after 12 years. He has 233 test wickets, the third highest for his country. Martin has been an integral part of the team while playing at home.

Best Debutant – Who other than Mitchell McClenaghan can even be nominated? He has taken 35 wickets in the 14 ODIs he played in 2013. He has been a revelation in tests against West Indies.

South Africa

Dale Steyn started with his 300th test scalp against NZ and finished the year with 350 wickets against India. Jacques Kallis passed 13000 test runs against NZ and finished retiring by overcoming Dravid to become the 3rd highest run getter in tests. South Africa won the test maze and remained number one throughout the year.

If I say that South Africa has performed wonderfully throughout the year then it will be a lie. They lost as many number of ODIs as they won. They even lost their home ODI series against Pakistan and New Zealand and struggled in Sri Lanka. South Africa have a package of options to choose from. Only that picking the right combination for the day is missing. Dropping Graeme Smith for Quinton de Kock looked like a better idea but still he has performed well only in T20s and last 3 ODIs of the year.

Retirement – When Tendulkar retired, every head turned towards Jacques Kallis – the only cricketer of the previous era. Many people followed cricket for these legends. Kallis, like his nature, chose to announce his retirement in a calm way. The announcement came through CSA. No special exit, no special plans. But unlike others greats of his time, Kallis decided to quit tests and prolong his career in shorter format. He has been part of many great South African teams but always fumbled at the summit. That naturally would have triggered him to be part of 2015 world cup, one final time, given that South Africa are already number one in tests.

Record – 100 tests as captain for Graeme Smith. Incredible record indeed.

Low – More than the loss to Pakistan, the drawn test at Wanderers against India is the low point for SA. Faf du Plessis and AB de Villiers steered the chase with hundreds, but when du Plessis was run out taking a risky single, South Africa needed 16 runs from 19 balls. They chose to play safe and played out a draw.