It gets easier from here, right?

They say in music that the second album for an artist is a vastly more difficult proposition than the first. The first album is the product of years of creative energy; all the best ideas nurtured over the course of years, if not a lifetime, to bring to life a creation that represents your dreams of ‘making it’. 

The second album is a different creative endeavour altogether. A different set of commercial pressure, with a different timeframe. Under vastly more pressure to deliver now in a fraction of the time the same level of creative output that took a lifetime to assemble the first time around. 

Perhaps not the same experience writing my second blog, but the creative process is difficult to replicate. What seems to be easy to replicate for New Zealand this Summer is quality fast bowling, and fast bowlers. Last time it was Kyle Jamieson’s turn to impress on T20 debut against the West Indies. This time it’s the promising Otago paceman Jacob Duffy who excels under the limelight against Pakistan.

In our preview of the domestic summer for New Zealand we spoke to Jacob, the white-ball captain of the Otago Volts. A promising age-group fast bowler in New Zealand, the depth of fast bowling and the generational talent of Southee, Boult, and Wagner, and the discovery of Lockie Ferguson, and Kyle Jamieson more recently has thus far kept Jacob Duffy from representing New Zealand. He spoke passionately about his desire still to play for his country at the start of the season - you could almost sense the passion and frustration at not having had an opportunity to date.

Here at Eden Park again Duffy was handed the new ball on debut, and was in the action almost immediately. ‘Duff-man’ thrusting himself in the direction of a ball offered back just to his left - almost a wicket from his first ball in international cricket. A portent of things to come, he wasn’t made to wait for long to break through in international cricket. Three wickets on debut is an incredible start -  first a bit of bounce to force a catch to mid-on, then a bizarre tennis forehand from Mohammad Rizwan to cover. And then three wickets on debut off the last ball of his second over and all of a sudden he’s on a hattrick, and in with a chance to join <link>Damien Fleming’s<link> hattricks on debut club. Or form the New Zealand chapter at least. He’ll have to settle for an associate membership, as Scott Kuggelijn competes a nice caught and bowled to complete a team hattrick instead. 

And then just when you thought his debut couldn’t get any more superlative - there’s <link>an outstanding catch<link> at wide third-man. Touching down he was adjudged to have grazed the boundary. In a game of millimetres, only a layer of keratin touched the advertising hoardings from his fingernail as he landed, somehow denying what would have been the catch of the summer, or many summers.

A mini fightback from Pakistan restored some respectability to the middle overs, but a score of anything less than 180 is not competitive. Particularly when you steer the ball down their man’s throat just when you’re starting to dig yourself out of a hole. As uncomfortable as the New Zealand pace bowlers have made batting, even the more strident of Pakistan supporters would agree that shot selection has been poor tonight. A function of an extended lockdown and an inability to train in quarantine? Perhaps. 

New Zealand have let the game drift for too long in the middle overs. Bringing back Jacob Duffy proved a masterstroke after one ball, taking his fourth wicket on debut. A ‘Michelle’ proved elusive (a more exclusive club than the Fleming club for debutants) the remaining five balls going for 20 in a reminder that sometimes you’re a rooster, and sometimes you’re a feather duster. Still, no New Zealander has more wickets on debut in a T20I. A fine performance from yet another product of the New Zealand fast bowler factory.

I’m an unashamed fan of Shaheen Shah Afridi, having watched him in the 2019 Pakistan tour of Australia. Speaking of fast bowling production lines, there is perhaps no nation that has produced more promising fast bowlers than Pakistan. Along with Naseem Shah, ‘Charlie’ Shaheen looks like the future of Pakistan fast bowling for the next ten years or more.

When defending a low total you need luck to go your way, or something special in the field. A cliché, absolutely. But no less apt in this case. A spectacular running catch to dismiss the dangerous Martin Guptill is just the tonic that Pakistan needed to get them into the contest early. Bang bang. That’s another cliché. The in-form Devon Conway was either dismissed by a sharp caught and bowled, or a victim of the commentator’s curse, as an anonymous member of the podcast crew who had mentioned Conway’s Bradman-esque average of over 100. 

Even in the hurdy-gurdy world of T20 cricket, there’s still room for composure and patience under pressure. New Zealand teams, under Fleming and Kane Williamson in particular, are known for composure, patience, and good decision making. Molded in the image of their leaders, even a succession of dot balls means little, even in the context of the shortest version of the game. In moments of pressure, New Zealand’s decision making belied a lack of experience in their batting order. Both Phillips and Chapman offered up their wickets at crucial times. Pakistan took one chance, and spilled an easy gift from Chapman. If New Zealand are to compete for the T20 WC, then decision making in key moments may make the difference. What is working in New Zealand’s favour is the impressive run of strong performances from newcomers to the squad. There’s depth in every facet of New Zealand’s game, and world class players who can win you a big tournament final.

For Pakistan, a little like the West Indies, the trend line of future potential points up, higher than the current trend of their actual performance. Whether either side will fulfil their potential in the next 12 months in time for the WC remains to be seen, but judging on the performances at Eden Park both the West Indies and Pakistan have a way to go with their batting to truly compete with the elite T20 sides.

Was that tough to write? A difficult second effort? Clearly so if this is my closing. Let’s just hope that the third series is a little less difficult. I mean, it gets easier from here, right? Right?

Baldy