Okay, let’s get this out of the way. Kyle Jamieson has not bowled in a Test match outside of home conditions (English pitches are known to offer a similar fare to New Zealand). For all you know, a dusty Indian pitch under a baking sun could prove his undoing. A lot of Virat Kohli fans on social media are certainly looking forward to that day. (Some have already called for his Indian Premier League contract to be cancelled; he plays under Kohli there, for the Royal Challengers Bangalore.)
But that’s a bridge Jamieson will cross when he comes to it. As of now, eight matches in, the six-foot-eight medium-quick has taken 44 wickets, with five fifers, and has been the quickest Kiwi to the mark. A real scrooge with the ball, his average reads 14.13, and he picks up a wicket every six overs or so (strike rate 35.9).
He made his debut against India in February 2020, and took four in his first innings, including the wicket of Kohli. Under the English sky, he came back to haunt the Indians. He took five wickets, including captain Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Rishabh Pant. He bowled 12 maidens, and gave away only 31 runs, at an economy rate of 1.4.
Right before Jamieson got fellow tall lad Ishant Sharma caught behind, Indian commentator Dinesh Karthik observed that, with the New Zealander’s high release point (at 2.3m), batters have to look slightly higher than they do with regular bowlers. This bounce can throw off even the most established of batsmen, no offence to Ishant.
But it’s not all bounce when it comes to Jamieson. English commentator Nasser Hussain alerted the viewers in the first session that Jamieson had bowled fuller today, compared with yesterday. A full 85cm fuller on average. And that got him the wicket of Kohli. In fact, it was the only ball he had bowled to Kohli on the stumps. He had got Rohit with a full ball, too.
Former fast bowler and commentator Ian Bishop added that Jamieson had been fuller than swing bowlers Tim Southee and Trent Boult during the West Indies tour of New Zealand in December 2020.
As for his next victim of the day, Pant, he went over the wicket to change the angle. Hussain brought this up, saying that Jamieson was swinging it too much into the left-handed Pant to get an LBW decision. Now bowling from over the wicket, Jamieson tempted Pant with a wider one, and Pant took the bait. He was out caught behind.
The very next ball after he got Ishant, Jamieson trapped Jasprit Bumrah LBW with a yorker. Not the regular Test delivery, but that is just one of the quivers in Jamieson’s bow. Having already made it to the New Zealand side in all three formats, he has had to expand his arsenal from his junior days.
And he has not only taken up that challenge, he is, pardon the pun, taking giant strides on the international stage. Again, he still needs to be tested elsewhere. But hey, he’s done everything right till now. But if he continues like this, he has a chance to become one of the modern-day New Zealand greats.
Tall claim? Tell it to two-metre Kyle.
