The prospect of Luke Ronchi coming in at No7 is a daunting one for an international bowling attack, as England discovered when he made his Test debut at Headingley last week. For a second-string county attack, however, his arrival at the wicket is the stuff of nightmares, and the Kiwi wicketkeeper duly took Leicestershire’s young attack to the cleaners, smashing 13 fours and two sixes in a 70-ball century.
He was not the only one to make the most of his opportunity as New Zealand prepared for the one-day international series against England. Grant Elliott, who has been playing for Leicestershire in the T20 Blast this season, also hit a fine century. From 152 for five, the pair added an unbroken 221 for the sixth wicket in 25.1 overs.
Even more usefully, though, as far as the captain, Brendon McCullum, was concerned, was four of his bowlers getting through 10 overs apiece; the spells bowled by Ben Wheeler, a left-armer who swings the ball at a good pace, and Mitchell Santner, a left-arm spinner who found turn and bounce in the usually unresponsive Grace Road pitch, will have given him food for thought when it comes to selection.
“Ben wasn’t in the squad at the start of the tour, but he impressed at Somerset swinging the Duke ball and he did well here too,” said Elliott. “When I first saw Mitch, I said to the guys we’d finally found a left-armer who turns the ball.
“Whether they’ll play remains to be seen, it’s a question of getting the right combination and balance for a particular game. I could certainly see Mitch being involved at somewhere like Edgbaston, where there’s usually a bit of turn.”
Turning out in expectation of seeing the New Zealanders attack from the start, the crowd was not disappointed. McCullum faced eight balls, but tried to hit each for six, swinging and missing with an abandon that verged on recklessness, but Ross Taylor hit 77 off 62 balls, and Leicestershire did not help themselves by dropping Ronchi on 49, Ollie Freckingham grassing a straightforward chance off a disbelieving Umar Akmal at long leg.
There was one shining light for the Foxes, though, in the form of their young left-arm quick bowler Atif Sheikh, who – having hurried Nottinghamshire’s international batting lineup in Leicestershire’s T20 victory at Trent Bridge on Friday – discomfited New Zealand’s in a similar manner. Figures of three for 49 did not flatter him.
Facing the small task of scoring 7.5 runs per over to win, only Angus Robson’s 67 gave the Leicestershire innings any substance. The young opener’s predilection for the late cut was soon spotted by McCullum and, at one stage, New Zealand had four fielders within a few yards of each other around the backward point area. At other times they had five slips and a gully, along with two men on the hook, with only one man – McCullum – in front of the bat. It amused the crowd no end: the series against England is likely to prove equally entertaining.
