Black Caps vs England: ‘Bazball’ hasn’t got inside our heads, insist floundering hosts

As Tom Latham and Henry Nicholls each trudged back to the Basin Reserve pavilion on Saturday, their New Zealand side plummeting towards another test defeat, all sorts of questions arose.

Top of that list was: had England’s seemingly unstoppable ‘Bazball’ approach got inside their heads, after both got in an awful tangle attempting reverse sweeps with their side under huge pressure on day two of the second test.

Batting coach Luke Ronchi insisted no, that England’s fearless attacking style which has them hurtling towards a seventh straight test win had no bearing on the home batters’ approach.

Whatever caused either’s moment of madness when a lofted drive (Latham) and conventional sweep (Nicholls) had worked perfectly well against Jack Leach’s spin, home fans among another Basin sellout were left shaking their heads as the Black Caps lurched to 138-7 at stumps.

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Tom Blundell and captain Tim Southee will resume on Sunday at 10.30am still 297 behind England’s 435-8 declared, their victory chances up in smoke.

New Zealand’s winless streak will stretch to eight tests, going back one year to their victory over South Africa in Christchurch, and their 10-series unbeaten run at home which stretches back to 2017 will also tumble with this likely 2-0 defeat.

It’s bleak for the reigning World Test Champions whichever way you look at it, but Ronchi insisted ‘Bazball’ was not to blame.

“I wouldn’t have thought so. We also know Baz [Brendon McCullum] so that’s a phrase that’s been thrown around and from a cricketers’ point of view I don’t think many people take much interest in it. We want to play our style of cricket; England are bowling well which is going to hamper that. The guys need to go out, and the big word is trust,” Ronchi said.

“Our guys have made hundreds recently, they’ve made runs as a batting group and we know how to bat on a Basin wicket, we’ve played here lots of times and made lots of runs. It’s about going out each and every time and playing our way.

“They know they can bat 180-200 balls if they want to make a hundred, some of them will face 140 balls, it doesn’t really matter as long as they’re doing it the way they want to do it, and know how to do it.”

Granted, England were outstanding with the ball as 40-year-old Jimmy Anderson set the tone with impeccable lines and seam movement. He nicked off Devon Conway with a peach, then Kane Williamson hung the bat out at one he never needed to play, fifth ball, which knocked the wind out of their reply.

The usual sirens circling the Basin were fitting, as the recalled Will Young became Anderson’s third wicket and New Zealand were 21-3, exactly the same as England after Southee sent them in.

Instead of Harry Brook (186) and Joe Root (153 not out) combining for an epic 302-run stand – which featured Brook dancing around the crease, advancing and clattering the pickets, and Root unfurling a reverse lap shot in Saturday’s second over – the collapse continued.

Latham batted 103 minutes and Nicholls 79 before they departed within four overs of each other, with a dramatic and calamitous swish of willow. Latham’s dismissal was controversial and he reviewed it, but Craig McMillan in the Spark Sport commentary box felt TV umpire Aleem Dar got it right and the ball brushed the wristband on his glove.

For Nicholls, since his eighth and most recent test century against South Africa a year ago, the left-hander has 199 test runs at a sickly 16.58 and a top score of 39. He will bat for his immediate test career in the second innings.

Of the reverse sweeps, Ronchi said: “They’re trying to put some pressure back into Leach and make sure we’re still trying to score. The way cricket is these days you want to try and score. But it’s also understanding that you don’t need to score every ball.”

Leach – relishing the bounce that South Africa’s left-armer Keshav Maharaj did when spinning South Africa to victory at the Basin six years ago – then had Daryl Mitchell prodding forward and brilliantly caught by Ollie Pope, and Michael Bracewell offered Stuart Broad a simple return catch.

Fine weather is forecast for the final three days as Blundell and Southee attempt the improbable – first to get past the follow-on mark of 236 then to try to narrow the gap on England before they flail the willow again. If Bazball hasn’t got inside their heads, it most certainly has demoralised the hosts and sapped their confidence to the point a three-day test remains highly likely.