Duffy\u2019s contribution set the tone for the Black Caps, who remained patient and measured, chipping away at weakened opponents because of Shai Hope\u2019s enforced absence through food poisoning.<\/p>\n
Batting looked comfortable, given the development of footmarks outside both off stumps remains a work-in-progress. Cinderella-sized imprints will surely broaden into those of a sasquatch with two days left.<\/p>\n
Fielding and bowling sparked less appeal with gusty westerly winds blowing across the salt mountain. Like the seagulls darting about the ground hunting rogue chips, you had to seize wickets on the rare occasions they presented to preserve a buffer of runs.<\/p>\n
Duffy now has the opportunity to prove a Grinch for the visitors\u2019 Christmas by stealing the series. He had 14 wickets at an average of 16.21, the most of any bowler heading into the decider, including two five-wicket bags. That\u2019s an impressive showing from the man who must now be considered the attack leader. Pre-series the 31-year-old had played one test against Zimbabwe this year after making a first-class debut in 2012.<\/p>\n
Duffy described himself with tongue wedged in cheek as \u201cThe Enforcer\u201d after the second day of the first match in Christchurch. He\u2019s done his best to bring truth to the myth.<\/p>\n
Kavem Hodge was asked who was the hardest New Zealand bowler to face after making his second test century.<\/p>\n
\u201cDuffy. Yes, he\u2019s relentless. He swings the ball and can also hit that hard length.<\/p>\n
\u201cAny batsman will say consistency is what troubles you most. I think it\u2019s the energy he puts on every delivery.\u201d<\/p>\n
Patel was of a similar bent when assessing Duffy.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s a class bowler, even in first-class cricket he was one of those guys really into his spells.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s no foreigner to going through long days and putting in the work for the team. He\u2019s matured a lot and that shows now he\u2019s on the world stage.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Duffy\u2019s contribution set the tone for the Black Caps, who remained patient and measured, chipping away at weakened…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":193365,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[107439,20251,7022,42574,95661,107887,12811,28523,54173,26522,117,111,43,139,69,90,2114,1532,122,3807,2963],"class_list":["post-193364","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-alderson","tag-andrew","tag-black","tag-caps","tag-delivering","tag-duffy","tag-hero","tag-indies","tag-jacob","tag-keeps","tag-new","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-on","tag-opinion","tag-oval","tag-unlikely","tag-west","tag-zealands"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/193364","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=193364"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/193364\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/193365"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=193364"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=193364"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=193364"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}