Day4: England fight for draw
At 10.30 the crowds were pouring into Old Trafford in their ones and twos, until there were at least 100 spectators in the ground. This, presumably, is the longsuffering English public's way of paying tribute to the heroics of their team which has succes
sfully survived three days so far against the might of New Zealand. But England would need a lot more determination - or a lot more rain - if they were to salvage a draw from this match. In the event, they were to get some of both on the fourth day, and
the crowd eventually swelled to about 5000.
More rain fell overnight, but not a great deal; the sky was still completely overcast but the light still acceptable for play. Fleming said the previous evening that he had no intention of declaring, and New
Zealand would be hoping for at least 500 before unleashing their bowlers on England's hapless batsmen again. The pitch on the second and third days played more easily than had been expected, but would eventually start to crumble, although only the rough
was to cause any real problems on the fourth day. England did save the 1998 Test at this ground, thanks in the end to the batting of Robert Croft and Angus Fraser - neither of whom were in the current team.
It took New Zealand five balls to bring up the 400 this morning, when McMillan turned a ball from Caddick backward of square leg for the required single. Tufnell opened from the Stretford end, only to have his
third and fifth balls swept for six and four espectively by McMillan.
Cairns also hit a boundary, through the covers, but must have had momentary worries in the next over, though, as he tried to loft Tufnell over the midwicket boundary and skyed it; there was a fielder in the
vicinity hoping to take the catch, but the ball still cleared him and the
boundary anyway.
After that Tufnell seemed to aim more than ever for the leg-side rough, and his plan succeeded the following over, as Cairns obligingly hoisted
the ball right down Caddick's throat at long leg. He had made 41, and New Zealand were now 425 for seven. He faced 90 balls, having restrained himself gallantly at times, and hit 3 sixes and 2 fours. The partnership
had added 94, and McMillan was still there on 72.
A long period of consolidation followed the demise of Cairns, as Nash settled in with McMillan, who eschewed all fireworks as he set his sights on a Test century. Runs came mainly in ones and twos in front of a small
and apparently somnolent crowd, while the fifty partnership took about an hour to achieve. Then Nash finally opened his shoulders to Such, smashing a drive to mid-off where Caddick clung to a ball at about shoulder-height to his left, and Nash had fallen
for 26. McMillan was still on 92, and New Zealand were 476 for eight, with two competent batsmen in Harris and
Vettori still to come.
McMillan finally moved to 96 with a reverse-sweep for four off Such, but had a scare on the verge of his century. Reverse-sweeping again, the ball was apparently narrowly saved by Butcher, but McMillan decided to run through for four. Harris was unaware
of his intentions, and McMillan in mid-pitch had to race back to the bowler's end and narrowly escaped being run out. This last development proved to be incidental, though, as the camera showed that Butcher had actually been in contact with ball and rop
e
at the same time, and McMillan was therefore credited with the four that brought him his century.
Almost immediately he lost Harris, bowled unluckily by one from Tufnell that pitched in the rough and spun in a long way to hit off stump, possibly including the inside edge. Harris made 3, and New Zealand were
487 for nine. Vettori came in at number eleven, having recently recorded a first-class century, and was dropped on 1 off a low chance to slip off
Such. McMillan opted for continued accumulation even at this stage rather than big hitting, and at the interval New Zealand were still just short of
500, on 496 for nine. Despite his team's lack of haste in the last few overs before lunch, Fleming declared during the interval with a lead of 297.
A well-timed cover drive by Atherton off Nash gave England their first boundary, then Butcher off-drove Cairns for four in the fifth over, followed immediately by a thick edge to the third-man boundary.
Generally, though, the scene was good but not dangerous bowling that forced the batsmen to be watchful and wait carefully for the right ball to hit.
Then the New Zealand bowlers began to sharpen up and bowl some fine deliveries, as Butcher soon discovered to his cost. A shortish ball from Nash kept a little low, but found Butcher back on his stumps playing down
the wrong line, to be given out lbw by umpire Tiffin. However, the replay showed that the ball had pitched outside the line of leg stump, although it would probably have hit the stumps. Butcher made 9, and England were 19 for one, with Atherton also on
9.
Atherton fought back with three runs to leg off two balls from Cairns, but Stewart enjoyed a slice of luck when, playing back, the ball hit his gloves and bounced over the keeper's head for a four to fine leg. New Zealand had a confident appeal against A
therton for a catch behind down the leg side, but umpire Shepherd rightly judged that the ball had flicked his body rather than his glove. Then Stewart collected another involuntary four off the edge trying to handle a flyer from Cairns. The batsmen wer
e looking none too comfortable at this stage. Stewart decided to set the record straight with a lashed four off Cairns to the cover boundary. Atherton got in on the act with a good hook off the same bowler, only to have Bell at short leg involuntarily g
et his helmet in the way and possibly save a four; the batsmen got two, Bell got a minor headache but still continued to field at short leg.
England's fifty came up in the 14th over, and it was clear that their approach this time was much more positive. A short wide ball from Cairns received a lashing through the covers from Stewart, and suddenly it was the bowlers who were struggling. Nash
replaced Cairns and immediately had Stewart pull him to the midwicket boundary with a fierce crack of the bat.
When Vettori came on to bowl, Stewart turned him to leg for a couple to bring up a positive fifty partnership between England's two most experienced players. Had the team batted in similar vein first time round, they would probably not have found themsel
ves in their current mess.
The batting went through a quiet period as both sides fought for supremacy. Atherton played a memorable hook for four off a short ball from Nash, and
then Stewart cut Vettori neatly to the boundary. An on-drive by Atherton brought another boundary, and almost for the first time in the match New Zealand appeared to be struggling to control the situation.
Harris is the man so often called on to restore order, although usually only in one-day matches. He did indeed prove hard to score from, until he put one outside leg, enabling Atherton to turn him to the fine-leg boundary and in the process notch up for
himself 1000 Test runs against New Zealand. A tight over from Harris, conceding only a single, prevented England from
reaching their hundred by tea; they were 98 for one, with Atherton on 35 and Stewart 43.
In the first over after tea, Atherton cut at Vettori, and Astle at slip missed a sharp chance, giving the batsman two runs off the rebound and bringing up England's hundred. The light began to deteriorate, and New Zealand were naturally wary of using the
ir fastest bowlers in such a situation. Harris was perhaps not quite as accurate as usual, the occasional widish ball giving the batsmen the opportunity to break the shackles, such as the one Atherton was able to cut to the third-man boundary to take him
into the forties.
Vettori caused some difficulty when coming round the wicket to bowl in the rough. He soon found his spot and made the ball spit, but the batsmen countered him by padding up or shouldering arms extravagantly. This
helped to keep the scoring rate down, though, and both batsmen struggled through the forties. Atherton moved ahead of Stewart when he managed to cut Vettori for four to third man, but was not to reach his fifty.
On 48 he tried to sweep Vettori, and the ball hit his arm on its way through to Astle at slip. Umpire Shepherd ruled him out, and he walked back to the pavilion shaking his head gently all the way. The question was whether the ball also flicked his glov
e on the way through, and the television replays suggested he was unlucky. Certainly the New Zealand
appeal was not very convincing. England were now 118 for two, with Stewart on 47, and the pair had added 99 together.
In another way Atherton was certainly unlucky, as he had no sooner entered the pavilion than a light rain started, causing the players to flee the field. Had it arrived two minutes earlier, the fatal ball would not have been bowled. Although the rain so
on stopped and the light appeared no worse than it had been when the players were on the field, play was not resumed, and it was eventually called off soon after 6.15 p.m.
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Day5: England saved by rain
The duller the weather, the brighter it was for England in this Test match. The renowned Manchester Liquid sunshine did not let the country down at
the start of the final day's play. Sure enough, Mancunians awoke to steady rain from leaden skies; although it gradually eased off before the scheduled starting time, it left the light very gloomy, along no doubt with the New Zealanders, and the ground very wet - no comparisons to be made here with the England batsmen. At 11 a.m. it was announced that there would be a further inspection at 12 noon.
Certainly England had a realistic chance of escaping the defeat they had deserved now. They batted much better on the fourth day, enjoying good luck from the weather and bad luck from the fact that both wickets to fall appeared to be the result of unfortunate umpiring errors. In fact, they would doubtless have been pilloried if they did fail to salvage a draw.
At 1.35 an announcement was made that play would start at 2 p.m., and that a minimum of 70 overs would be bowled - weather permitting. The field was still quite wet and the sky cloud-covered, but further rain did not appear imminent.
At 2 p.m. Vettori trotted in to complete his over to Thorpe, who came in after the demise of Atherton the previous day but did not face a ball. Thorpe began very quietly, especially against Vettori pitching into the rough outside the left-hander's off stump, and took 27 balls to get off the mark. Stewart on the other hand reached his fifty off the first ball
he faced. Harris uncharacteristically bowled just outside leg stump, and the batsman neatly leg-glanced him to the boundary. Later he flicked Cairns, when he replaced Harris, through midwicket for four, and in the
next over struck him sweetly off the back foot for four and then three through extra cover. Thorpe looked much less elegant as he slogged Vettori to the boundary wide of mid-on.
Thorpe unleashed a superb drive to the extra-cover boundary off a wide ball from Vettori, taking his score to 20, and then slashed Harris for four to square cover. He was looking more confident but often, though, he preferred to use his pads, especially to balls aimed for the rough.
Stewart too was generally content to wait for the wide balls, and lashed one from Vettori to deep point for four. A light drizzle had started, though; only a few umbrellas went up around the ground, but it was enough
for the batsmen, who were only too eager to go off when the umpires offered them the choice. England were at this stage 181 for two, with Stewart on 83 and Thorpe 25.
The drizzle intensified and endured, while the light worsened, and it soon became clear that further play was unlikely and that New Zealand had been denied the victory they deserved in a match they had dominated almost from the start. The match was officially abandoned at 4.50 p.m. England at least finished the match with some honour, but the fact remains that they
were never in a position where they looked like winning.
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