Day 1 at Wellington: Thank God For Bad Light

At the risk of completely redirecting the reader from my site, Sportfreak has published an excellent account of the first day's play from a spectator's point of view. Hope we get to see more.

It was a pretty ordinary effort from the bowlers, really. Not gobsmackingly awful, just meh. In the sort of conditions that Daryl Tuffey and Jacob Oram circa 2003 would've wreaked havoc, NZ ended up bowling either too short or too full, and were surprisingly listless. Bracewell was disciplined without being particularly threatening, Martin was so-so, and Gillespie was about as consistent as the weather's been through this series. Vettori continues to bowl flat and quickish, similar to how Harbhajan was bowling in England last year.

They just didn't come across as a side who are 1-0 down in the final test of the series.

And even the two wickets were fortuitous ones; Smith was was unlucky to be given caught behind when the evidence was inconclusive either way, and Amla top-edged a bad delivery which might have been a no-ball in any case.

And so it was a relief when bad light halted play. Essentially, a stay of execution which gives NZ a chance to regroup and have another crack at a batting lineup without Jacques Kallis. But with just four bowlers, and with Duminy and Petersen each having a point to prove, it'll need a massive lift in intensity.