Source: Radio New Zealand
Jacob Duffy celebrates his five wickets in the second innings against England at Wellington. Kerry Marshall / www.photosport.nz
Third test: Black Caps v West Indies
Bay Oval, Mt Maunganui
11am, Thursday, 18 December
Live blog updates on RNZ Sport
Jacob Duffy believes the Black Caps still have enough experience to beat the West Indies again, despite the injuries that continue to hit their pace-bowling stocks.
New Zealand lost Blair Tickner during the second test at Wellington’s Basin Reserve and now head into Thursday’s third test at Mt Maunganui with a combined seven caps among the four pace bowlers.
Duffy and Zak Foulkes have three caps each, Michael Rae has one and Kristian Clarke is yet to debut.
“The blind leading the blind in terms of test experience,” Duffy said on the eve of the contest.
“We’re all just trying to figure it out together, [but] there is enough information out there to guide us through it.
“The lucky thing is that we’re home in our own conditions, so we’re all just figuring it out together and having a good time doing it.”
Duffy, 31, is seen as the leader of the group. He has taken 14 wickets so far in the series and was named man of the match for the Basin Reserve game.
However, he admitted he didn’t want to think about his current good form.
“Trying not to ride the wave, really,” he said. “There are good times in cricket and there are bad times, and I’m lucky enough at the moment that the wickets seem to be coming.
“It’s a good feeling, but part of this Black Caps environment, it keeps you grounded nicely and try not to ride that wave too hard.”
Michael Rae celebrates a wicket against West Indies. Andrew Cornaga / www.photosport.nz
Duffy saw himself as a newball bowler who can swing the ball, but he has had to fill different roles so far in the West Indies series, starting as first-change bowler at Hagley Oval, until Matt Henry and Nathan Smith went down with injuries.
“One thing we always pride ourselves is being adaptable, having the game to suit the conditions.
“That’s probably what experience is, where you sum up conditions, assess what’s going on and adapt your game to what is needed at the time.”
The Otago man has limited redball experience at Bay Oval, but has played whiteball internationals there in recent years and knows what to expect.
“It’s a nice wind for an out swing, more of a cross wind instead of into it which is a nice change.
“It dries out a bit quicker than other grounds, so there is generally decent pace and bounce, and we might see a bit of that up top, but it could potentially be in for a bit of a grind and maybe spinners do come into play.”
Spinner Ajaz Patel was added to the squad as a replacement for Tickner, who dislocated his shoulder diving on the boundary.
Despite a limp finish by the West Indies at the Basin Reserve, Duffy said the tourists had “a lot of ticker”.
“We saw it in Christchurch,” he said. “They’ve got a lot of fight and they’ll be wanting to finish off their tour strong, so [we] expect a good fight in potentially conditions that might suit them a little more.”
Zak Foulkes celebrates a wicket against West Indies. Chris Symes / www.photosport.nz
Black Caps squad: Tom Latham (captain), Tom Blundell (wicketkeeper), Michael Bracewell, Kristian Clarke, Devon Conway, Jacob Duffy, Zak Foulkes, Daryl Mitchell, Ajaz Patel, Glenn Phillips, Michael Rae, Rachin Ravindra, Kane Williamson, Will Young
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
