New Zealand Missing Neil Wagner’s Aggressiveness, Toughness

New Zealand missing Neil Wagner’s Aggression and Character.

Over the last decade, Neil Wagner has developed his game to play a very difficult role for New Zealand. Bowling with the older and softer ball on flat pitches, Neil Wagner has made his dues. With accurate and intimidating short pitch bowling he adds variety to the New Zealand line-up. His presence is acknowledged and as seen earlier, New Zealand’s attack looks a little one-dimensional without his presence.

In Trent Boult and Tim Southee, New Zealand have the best new-ball pair in their country’s cricketing history. They have Kyle Jamieson who offers variety with his height and uncomfortable lengths, and then Matt Henry, who like Southee and Boult favours the new ball and can extract a lot of movement off the pitch.

However, in Boult, Southee and Henry, New Zealand have three bowlers who tend to offer similar skillsets. They each provide control and swing the ball well when it’s new. With the old ball though, the three swing bowlers tend to fall behind Neil Wagner in the sense of finding variety. Defending a target of 299, New Zealand’s bowling went flat pretty quickly. They struggled after the ball went soft on a flat track, and even Bracewell’s spin wasn’t competitive enough for New Zealand.

See Also: India vs South Africa 1st T20I Match Prediction – Cricket Winner

They lost Kyle Jamieson due to an injury midway in the Test, and this is where Neil Wagner was missed the most. Flat pitch, softball, high-pressure situation, these are moments Neil Wagner thrives in. He has proven himself as a fighter when the going gets tough and his marathon spells of short deliveries were dearly missed by New Zealand. While his inclusion may not have guaranteed victory, it would have definitely helped New Zealand find some other options when Jonny Bairstow and Ben Stokes were rampaging through the chase.

There have been cases in the past where Neil Wagner helped change the tide for New Zealand. Against Pakistan at home last year, he battled injury but bowled 12 over spells to help keep New Zealand fighting for a win. Against India in the WTC Finals, he used his short balls well to help trigger a collapse and frustrate players like Rishabh Pant, allowing New Zealand to have a gettable target ahead of them. He came into a bowl when the ball was soft, the sun was out and the game was in the balance. A strong partnership from the Indians would have given them the advantage, while a string of wickets would keep New Zealand in the game.

The string of wickets was achieved as Neil Wagner bounced out the likes of Pant and Rahane. Had his presence been there at Trent Bridge, Neil Wagner may have resorted to his short ball tactic. While both batters were fearless in their approach and ready to take on the square leg boundary, the chances of getting a wicket would have been higher.

Either way, the presence of Neil Wagner would have given another dimension to an attack which struggled to find control with the old ball. They were a bowler short but the existing pacers couldn’t find enough control to stop England. Now with Kyle Jamieson injured though, Neil Wagner has a strong chance of coming back. Leaving him out generally hasn’t worked for New Zealand in the past. He was left out in India as well. His ability to bowl long spells was missed immediately. Now with a chance ahead of him, Neil Wagner can once again show what he brings to the attack.