New Zealand Test Series

[Admin]

First Test 16/2/23 to 20/2/23



Bay Oval is a cricket ground in Mount Maunganui, Tauranga in the Bay of Plenty area of New Zealand.[1] The ground was built in Blake Park and opened in 2005.

Bay Oval has hosted men's and women's international limited overs matches since 2014. It hosted its first Test match in November 2019.[2]

History
Blake Park was established in the 1950s.[3] It was used by Northern Districts for List A fixtures between the 1987/88 season and 2001/02, with the team playing 24 matches on the ground in the New Zealand limited-overs cricket trophy. During the 1980s and 90s, large holiday crowds flocked to the ground to watch one-day matches,[4] and New Zealand A played two matches on the ground against Pakistan A in December 1998.[3] Northern Districts Women played two matches at Blake Park in the 2004/05 State League.[3]

The Bay of Plenty Cricket Association constructed Bay Oval within the same site, with construction beginning in 2005.[5] Northern Districts women's side played their first match on the ground in December 2007 and it held its first senior men's match in the 2008–09 State Twenty20 with Northern Districts playing Otago. Both sides have played on the ground regularly since, with it hosting its first first-class cricket match in April 2015.[6]

The first One Day International (ODI) on the ground took place in January 2014 between Canada and the Netherlands as part of the 2014 Cricket World Cup Qualifier. In March 2014 New Zealand women's side played their first ODI on the ground and in October of the same year it hosted the first two ODIs of the New Zealand men's home series against the touring South Africa, but was not used for the 2015 Cricket World Cup later in the season. It has been used as a limited overs venue by New Zealand's men's and women's sides since.[6]

In November 2019, when England toured New Zealand, the first Test match was played on this ground which New Zealand won by an innings and 65 runs.[7]

In December 2020, the Bay Oval hosted its first Boxing Day test between New Zealand and Pakistan, where the home side defeated Pakistan by 101 runs.[8]

In January 2022, when Bangladesh toured New Zealand, in the first test match, played at this venue, Bangladesh defeated New Zealand by 8 wickets which was their first win against New Zealand in New Zealand across formats (in 33 matches) and their first win in test against New Zealand.[9] It was the first test loss for New Zealand against an Asian side since 2011, when Pakistan beat the home side at Hamilton by ten wickets.[10]

Ben Stokes (Durham) Captain
James Anderson (Lancashire)
Stuart Broad (Nottinghamshire)
Harry Brook (Yorkshire)
Zak Crawley (Kent)
Ben Duckett (Nottinghamshire)
Ben Foakes (Surrey)
Will Jacks (Surrey)
Dan Lawrence (Essex)
Jack Leach (Somerset)
Ollie Pope (Surrey)
Matthew Potts (Durham)
Ollie Robinson (Sussex)
Joe Root (Yorkshire)
Olly Stone (Nottinghamshire)

[Butter_Fingers]

Beautiful setting, but is it really a venue for Test cricket, looks like the sort of ground you'd play a charity match at.

[alanw]

Feb 12, 2023 5:22:51 GMT Butter_Fingers said:

Beautiful setting, but is it really a venue for Test cricket, looks like the sort of ground you'd play a charity match at.

Agreed. I'm travelling to New Zealand and will be going to the Wellington test, I've always wanted to go to a test in Christchurch.

[Admin]

This is a day nighter so probably start around about 1 am, nope will not be up to watch it at that time

[Admin]

Not at tea yet already we are just shy of 300

[Admin]

325-9 declared

[Butter_Fingers]

Not watching live, just keeping an eye on the scoreboard, New Zealand making a better fist of it than I thought they would, had this down as a England victory by teatime on the third day. The 4-day Test match suggesters will be looking on keenly.

N.Z currently 235-7(68.1)with Blundell 80* and debutant Kuggeleijn 20*

[Admin]

27-4 chasing 394 think tomorrow will be spent watchng India hammer the Aussies

[Admin]

23/2/23 to 27/2/23



The Basin Reserve, officially known as the Cello Basin Reserve for sponsorship reasons,[1] and commonly referred to as the Basin, is a cricket ground in Wellington, New Zealand. It has been used for Test matches, and is the main home ground for the Wellington Firebirds first-class team. The Basin Reserve is the only cricket ground to have New Zealand Historic Place status (Category 2) as it is the oldest Test cricket ground in the country.[2] The ground has been used for events other than cricket, such as concerts, sports events and other social gatherings, but now it is mostly used for cricket, particularly Test matches.

The New Zealand Cricket Museum is located in the Old Grandstand. It houses cricket memorabilia and a reference library. It opened in 1987, and was relaunched in 2021.[3][4][5]

There have been 64 Test matches played at the Basin Reserve as of September 2020.[20] The average runs per wicket is 31.42 while the average runs per wicket through New Zealand is 31.27. The average runs per over is 2.85. The ground is more noted as suiting fast bowlers as opposed to spin bowlers. Nine of the top ten wicket takers at the ground are fast bowlers with top wicket taker being Chris Martin with 58[21] although he only has the 13th best bowling average on the ground.[22]

Brendon McCullum has the highest innings, 302, and is the first Black Cap to pass 300 runs in a test. The previous highest score at the ground and for any NZ test cricketer was the 299 runs by Martin Crowe in 1991[23] Almost a year later in 2015, Kumar Sangakkara scored his 12000th test runs and his 11th double century there while McCullum dropped three catches and scored a two-ball duck in the first innings. It is also a ground where Trent Boult made the most of his one-handed catches. One of which was the one that removed Sangakkara in 2015. In the same test, Kane Williamson scored his first test double century, with his 6th wicket partner BJ Watling scoring a century in the second innings. Williamson also contributed on the field to help NZ win the test match. His catch also made the top play on Sports Center in America[24] In 2017, this is also the ground where Henry Nicholls scored his maiden test century. Late in that year, Tom Blundell scored his maiden Test century on debut, then walked home while still in uniform as he lives near the ground.

The highest total set by a team here in Test cricket was by the New Zealand national cricket team when they scored 680/8 dec on 14 Feb 2014 against the Indian national cricket team. The most runs scored in this ground have been by Ross Taylor- 1279 runs, Kane Williamson (1137 runs) and Martin Crowe (1123 runs). The most wickets have been taken by Chris Martin- 60 wickets, followed by Daniel Vettori-57 wickets and Richard Hadlee- 53 wickets.

[Admin]

NZ win toss and bowl

[Admin]

Rain shortened day still got over 300 Harry Brook seems to find playing tests easy 184 not out Root 101 not out

[Admin]

435-8 d
NZ 138-7

Winning in three days me thinks

[Admin]

Decent fight back by NZ after following on still trail by 24

[Admin]

We need another 210 after NZ make 483 with little from the last four batsmen

[alanw]

Bizarre collapse by New Zealand when England seemed to have run out of steam. Williamson caught down the leg side from an innocuous Harry Brook delivery and Bracewell carelessly run out. Got to say the wicket has improved through the game. I would be surprised if England don't knock the runs off tomorrow.