Analysis\u00a0<\/i>– There’s a bit of Rocky Balboa in this Black Caps team.<\/p>\n
They may be aging, and a little out of shape. They may be taking repeated body blows, battered and bruised and laid out on the canvas. But they won’t let that bell ring.<\/p>\n
Some how, time and again, this Black Caps team finds a way to beat the eight-count, to stand tall after suffering serious punishment, surviving to see home a victory.<\/p>\n
This past fortnight has summed up the Black Caps as a team, and their players have put in some prototypical performances that sum up the careers they’ve had.<\/p>\n
Two weeks after a mind-boggling one-run win over England at the Basin Reserve in Wellington – one of the greatest games in Test match history – New Zealand found themselves in the midst of another collosal encounter.<\/p>\n
Set 285 to win, rain looked set to spoil a thrilling final day, but it only added to the tension and drama that unfolded at Hagley Oval – a two-wicket win secured on the final ball of the match.<\/p>\n
Kane Williamson was the catalyst. His faultless 121 from 194 balls saw him toil through the difficulty of a newer ball on an aging wicket, before bringing the Black Caps home.<\/p>\n
His first 50 runs came from 120 balls, such was the difficulty early on. Sri Lanka’s bowlers were on song, but couldn’t find a way through the impenetrable former captain. His next 71 runs came from 74 balls, pushing the pace with the aid of Daryl Mitchell (81).<\/p>\n
The innings was pure Kane Williamson.<\/p>\n
The grit and determination while the going was tough. The calm and assurance as the game wore on, and victory seemed so far away. The modesty and reluctance of the man, giving a small wave after bringing up a 27th test century before appearing to be convinced to remove his helmet and salute the crowd. And then the focus, the intensity, the relentlessness to close things out.<\/p>\n
He is New Zealand’s greatest batter. He may be New Zealand’s greatest cricketer. And this test reaffirmed all the qualities he has brought to the Black Caps over a glittering career.<\/p>\n
And then there is Neil Wagner.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
SOURCE RNZ<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Analysis\u00a0– There’s a bit of Rocky Balboa in this Black Caps team. They may be aging, and a little out of shape. They may be taking repeated body blows, battered and bruised and laid out on the canvas. But they won’t let that bell ring. Some how, time and again, this Black Caps team finds […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":3707,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3706","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3706","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3706"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3706\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3708,"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3706\/revisions\/3708"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3707"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3706"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3706"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3706"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}