When you are a 6 foot 8 inch bowler towering over others, the formula for success may seem simple –bang it in short. But the main reason why Kyle 'killa' Jamieson has had so much success so early on in his career is because he did not. Being tall does give you a natural advantage when it comes to bowling bounders, and while it may be very effective in the shorter formats of the game, test cricket is a totally different ball-game. Short-pitched deliveries can make the batsmen stay silent or be on the defense, but it may not yield you wickets. Jamieson has been very successful in shifting his length forward and throwing fuller deliveries that can bounce a bit higher than his compatriots. The result is to make quality batsmen play the ball on the front foot and get nice edge due to the swing and extra bounce.
Prior to joining the New Zealand under-19 team, Jamieson was playing as a batsmen, before his coach asked him to focus on bowling. Jamieson was brought into the New Zealand test team against India for his debut after Neil Wagner missed out due to the birth of his first child. But having bowled superbly during the first test and the second test so far, it looks unlikely that he will be taken off the team. After all, when your first two wickets of your test career are an in-form Virat Kohli and the dogged Cheteshwar Pujara, it makes for a very impressive bowling resume that needs no further questioning. The selectors at IPL may be eating their caps after having missed out on the Kiwi superstar who went unsold at the IPL auctions this year.
Nicknamed 'Killa' Jamieson has certainly shown his killer instincts in the ongoing Test against India. While Pujara and Jadeja both fell trying to hook Jamieson's short ball, Shaw and Yadav fell to his fuller deliveries. Vihari too would have fallen had Watling not squandered the catch. Jamieson's bowling style makes it easier for batsmen to play on the front foot only to be misled by the bounce he generates that results in the edge. With one more innings to go in the Christchurch test, there will be a lot more of Jamieson on the show. Although it is still to early to judge what sort of a bowler Jamieson would shape up to be, he certainly has shown promise and intent. He certainly giving the world's best Test team a run for their money.
