5m1tm t1_jacunqp wrote on February 28, 2023 at 3:00 PM

Reply to comment by njd19634 in New Zealand defeat England by 1 run in the 2nd Test Match at Wellington by IntoThePeople

I replied to another comment on this comment thread and the same answer applies here so I'm just pasting that comment of mine here:

Foakes was trying to protect the tailender at the other end because tailenders obviously can't bat nearly as well and England couldn't afford to lose easy wickets. That's why he was taking singles only towards the end of the over, to minimise the balls that the tailenders faced so as to minimise their exposure to the NZ bowling.

It made total sense what Foakes was doing. In fact, it would've been stupid to not do that.

Itrlpr t1_jad5xih wrote on February 28, 2023 at 4:15 PM

I mostly agree. They were definitely right not to take quick singles early in the over.

I think Foakes could have been more aggressive throughout the whole over though. He was pretty consistently getting a single on the 4th ball, and giving NZ two balls at Leach. An extra boundary or two from batting normally would have been worth the risk of not getting the late over single IMHO.

5m1tm t1_jad6jmw wrote on February 28, 2023 at 4:19 PM

Yeah he could've hit more boundaries early on in those overs, but to be fair, he was trying to do exactly that. Many of the balls he hit went deep into the field near the boundary, but were cut-off by the fielders or ended up reaching right near them. Also, he did start hitting more boundaries later on in his innings. I wouldn't blame Foakes here.

Itrlpr t1_jad77rj wrote on February 28, 2023 at 4:24 PM

Yeah, he handled it nearly perfectly. I just don't think Leach dead-batting an entire over would have been the end of the world if it meant getting a boundary off ball 5 or 6 of the previous over.

5m1tm t1_jad7ng7 wrote on February 28, 2023 at 4:27 PM

Yeah I get what you're saying. But ultimately these are just "what-ifs" and if go into those, this will become a never-ending conversation lmao

njd19634 t1_jacxt9y wrote on February 28, 2023 at 3:22 PM

Yeah I understand the part of protecting the tailenders. Hindsight is always 20/20 so who knows if Leach would have caught an edge or something to produce a wicket if Foakes hadn’t of stepped up and protected him. I felt like he (Leach) was battling well though even dropping his hands and taking one off of his chest there at the end too. Helluva test though. I’m becoming a huge fan of the game.

5m1tm t1_jacy37p wrote on February 28, 2023 at 3:24 PM

Haha yeah these "what-ifs" always remain in cricket (and in sport in general). So usually it's better to side with common sense tactics. And here, the common sense was that it's better shield the guy who can't bat much haha.

I'm glad that you're getting into this beautiful game, especially Test cricket! Welcome the community! :D