Kyle Jamieson surpasses Shane Bond to become fastest NZ bowler to 50 Test wickets

New Zealand all-rounder Kyle Jamieson on Saturday beat ex-fast bowler Shane Bond’s record to become the fastest bowler from his country to pick 50 Test wickets during the ongoing Test match against India in Kanpur. Jamieson dismissed opener Shubman Gill for 1 with his first delivery on Day 3 to achieve the feat in the final session. He bowled a delivery which came in straight with the arm after pitching, found a gap between Gill’s defence and crashed into the stumps in the second over of India’s second innings.

9 – Kyle Jamieson has taken his 50th Test wicket in just his ninth game – the fastest to 50 wickets of any @BLACKCAPS player in Test history, eclipsing Shane Bond’s record of 12 Tests. Pace. pic.twitter.com/KX3sOonrZb

— OptaJason (@OptaJason) November 27, 2021

KYLE JAMIESON A TOP CLASS BOWLER!

Jamieson, who picked 3 wickets in the first innings, added yet another to his tally with the new ball to better Bond’s record. Jamieson now has 50 wickets from 9 Tests at an average of 15.02 with 5 five-wicket hauls and a 10-for. Former New Zealand speedster and bowling coach Bond had taken 50 wickets in 12 Tests in 2001.

Overall, Jamieson is the joint-fourth fastest to the milestone along with Robert Peel (England), John Ferris (Australia & England), Sydney Barnes (England), Arthur Mailey (Australia), Maurice Tate (England), Frank Tyson (South Africa), Peter Pollock (South Africa), Andy Roberts (West Indies), Colin Croft (West Indies), Stuart MacGill (Australia), Ravichandran Ashwin (India) and Yasir Shah (Pakistan).

Former Australia pacer Charles Turner holds the record for being the fastest to 50 Test wickets, having achieved the feat in 6 matches in 1888.

Jamieson is the third fastest to the landmark in the 20th century, in terms of the number of balls taken to a half-century of Test wickets. The 6 foot 8 inch Jamieson has taken 1865 balls to get there, which is only behind South African Vernon Philander (1240 balls) and Australian Brett Lee (1844 balls).

RAHANE AND DRAVID KEPT THE DRESSING ROOM CALM

Young left-arm spinner Axar Patel gave a sneak peek of the dressing room atmosphere under head coach Rahul Dravid, saying he and stand-in captain Ajinkya Rahane maintained a calm environment even when wickets weren’t falling in New Zealand’s first innings.

India battled hard in the first innings of the Kanpur Test as Tom Latham and Will Young stitched a 151-run opening stand, batting out close to 70 overs (66.1 overs) before R Ashwin struck in the first session of Day 3 by removing Young, 11 short of his hundred. Latham and Kane Williamson had a good second-wicket stand but Umesh Yadav got the New Zealand captain’s wicket just before Lunch on Saturday to peg the visitors back.

Axar Patel then ran through the New Zealand middle-order in the post-Lunch session as the visitors lost their last 9 wickets for just 99 runs. Axar picked up his fifth 5-wicket haul in just his 7th innings in Test cricket as India sealed a handy first-innings lead.

“Obviously, if you don’t get wicket for 67 overs, it’s tough but dressing room was calm as Ajju bhai and Rahul sir kept a calm environment. They said we have to keep patience because if we get one, we will get a few more and then we can make inroads,” Axar said.