Fleming smacks a class 192
By Dylan Cleaver
From the Sunday Star Times, 21 December 2003
If Day One, in its own strange way, suggested, then
day two of this test confirmed: a Shoaib Akhtar-less
Pakistan holds no fear and this Hamilton wicket contains
few demons.
The supposed three-pronged Pakistani pace attack that
was meant to create havoc on our green seamers was found
to be prong-less once Akhtar was ruled out.
Mohammad Sami, Umar Gul and to a lesser extent Shabbir
Ahmed had no answer to twin lefties Stephen Fleming
and Daniel Vettori.
They bowled better than on the first day, but only marginally.
Sami has been a huge disappointment.
Black Caps coach John Bracewell intimated recently he
didn't think he would be as effective away from Pakistan's
kitchen lino wickets, but even he must have thought
he would see signs of life from the speedster.
Mind you, none of Pakistan's bowlers could have gained
much inspiration from their skipper, Inzamam Ul-Haq,
who alternated between first slip and mid-off and remained
as animated as a beanbag at both. Coach Javed Miandad,
from under the shade of a large umbrella, seemed to
be giving instruction more freely.
Miandad had the cones out yesterday morning, in a largely
successful effort to stem the tide of no balls. He should
have placed the cones where he wanted them to land the
ball as well. Half-trackers and half-volleys scare nobody,
especially not someone who starts the day on 124.
Fleming's sixth test century looked for all the world
to be morphing into his second double century.
There was no sign of abdominal worries as he continued
on his regal way through the morning.
He had been described in recent press reports as grumpy
and on edge as the first test approached. If this is
how Fleming bats when he's angry then somebody must
be appointed by New Zealand Cricket with the sole purpose
of annoying him.
There are all manner of ways it could be done: let down
the tyres of the BMW he has recently been seen driving;
remind him of his conversion rate from 50s to 100s.
This last suggestion is a moot point. Fleming's recent
form suggests he is long past his post-50 jitters.
Angry or not, Fleming's 192 was classy, sloppy bowling
or otherwise.
Still, there were shades of past trauma in the nervous
90s when he became the first New Zealand test player
to be dismissed in the 190s.
It was the second highest Kiwi score against Pakistan
after Mathew Sinclair's 204 in Christchurch in 2000-01
and he was eight runs short of joining one of the most
exclusive clubs in New Zealand cricket. If he had reached
200 he would have joined Sinclair and Glenn Turner as
the only New Zealand batsmen to post two test double
centuries.
May it even be suggested it could nudge him close to
a Halberg Award, following on from his heroics in Sri
Lanka where he scored an unbeaten 274 and 69 not out.
The innings pushed Fleming's average to less than one
run short of 40, the benchmark for class batsmen.
Fleming hit 31 fours during his 478 minutes and 332
balls at the crease.
He now has 4902 test runs.
And there was some nice historical symmetry, given Fleming
scored 92 in his test debut in Hamilton nine years ago.
No, batting was all too easy, so easy Vettori had opportunity
to demonstrate the little-used paddle sweep off the
back of the bat.
Shabbir, who has an action which can euphemistically
be described as curious, got the wickets, but largely
by default.
Pakistan would have gone into the second day with cause
for optimism given New Zealand's meek mini-collapse
in the final session on Friday.
But aside from the early removal of Robbie Hart, it
had little to "shebash, shebash" about.
What you see with Hart is nowhere near what you get.
If he sidled up to you in a playground fight and offered
to help you'd be inclined to turn him down and fend
for yourself. But behind the baby face lies a gritty
character who'd be filthy with the lame manner of his
dismissal: a leading edge popped up to short leg for
10.
It brought in Vettori and any further description of
his innings would be pointless here other than to say
he possesses shots no one else does and hits the ball
to parts of the ground no fieldsman has ever been stationed
at in the 126 years of test cricket.
With Fleming - who brought up his 150 with a contemptuous
hook - he treated Pakistan's bowlers with disdain, bringing
up an 100 partnership in 132 balls in 88 minutes. In
doing so, Fleming and Vettori broke Bryan Yuile and
Dayle Hadlee's long-standing record for the eighth wicket
against Pakistan - 100 at Karachi in 1969.
When Vettori and Daryl Tuffey posted a 50 partnership
(64 balls, 43 minutes) and extras went past 50, the
question had to be asked: was it a case of great batting
or poor bowling?
But at least, in test cricket terms, it was close to
normal.
Day one of the international summer of cricket was just
plain spooky.
Need an example? Well, look no further than the numbers.
Mark Richardson committing cricketing hara-kiri on 44;
Scott Styris marginally less guilty on 33; Craig McMillan
providing slip-catching practice on 22; and, inevitably,
Christopher Cairns falling for 11 to a wild slash. Jacob
Oram narrowly avoided the dreaded 00.
But it wasn't just the numbers. The pitch was flat.
There was no sign of the infamous "ridge"
which ruined the State Championship match between ND
and Auckland here recently. More pertinently, given
recent season's efforts, it was dry.
Then there was Akhtar. He pulled out at the last minute
with an unspecified calf problem which seemed to give
him little trouble as he stormed in off 40 paces during
warm-ups before day two.
Then there was the feeling of mutual generosity that
befits this time of year. While New Zealand's middle
order, bar Fleming, was intent on shooting itself in
the foot, Pakistan responded in kind with bowling and
fielding straight from the village green. And throw
in 30-plus no balls.
Yesterday was a case of almost normal service resumed.
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