Watch: Michael Bracewell bowls huge wide to Prabath Jayasuriya as wind causes unreal drift in Wellington Test

A sport which can be affected by climatic conditions in more ways than one, Cricket witnessed a rare instance on the fourth day of the second Test match between New Zealand and Sri Lanka at Basin Reserve today.

A venue which a reputation of experiencing heavy busts of wind and rain more often than not, “windy” Wellington converted a delivery form New Zealand all-rounder Michael Bracewell into a wide ball. While an off-spinner bowling a wide ball outside the off-stump to a right-handed batter (Prabath Jayasuriya, in this case) is quite rare in this format, Bracewell’s astonishing delivery came as a surprise for one and all.

Michael Bracewell bowls huge wide to Prabath Jayasuriya as wind causes unreal drift in Wellington Test

It all happened on what would’ve been the third delivery of the 121st over when a strong passage of wind produced unreal drift on a delivery bowled by Bracewell. As a result, the ball ended up pitching right at the corner of the pitch only for New Zealand wicket-keeper Tom Blundell to collect it outside of it.

Irrespective of the same happening due to climatic conditions and not by any error on Bracewell’s part, umpire Richard Illingworth was right in signaling a “wide ball“.

For the unversed, drift in cricket is a phenomenon which comes into play for spinners. It is the process of moving the ball sideways whilst it is in the air before pitching.

New Zealand beat Sri Lanka by an innings and 58 runs

Following on, the Sri Lankan tail tried its best to not gift away their wickets but still couldn’t prevent an innings defeat. Having lost the match by an innings and 58 runs, Sri Lanka ended up on the wrong end of a 2-0 series whitewash.

As many as four Sri Lankan batters namely Dhananjaya de Silva (98), Dinesh Chandimal (62), Dimuth Karunaratne (51) and Kusal Mendis (50) scored half-centuries in the second innings but at least one of them needed to convert his start into a mammoth knock for them to challenge the hosts especially after lacking behind by 416 runs in the first innings.

Having led New Zealand to a Test series win for the first time, captain Tim Southee was the pick of their bowlers in the second innings with figures of 27-13-51-3. Much like Southee, pacer Blair Tickner also dismissed three batters in a winning effort.

Michael Bracewell to join Royal Challengers Bangalore for Indian Premier League 2023

Bracewell, meanwhile, returned with bowling figures of 18-3-58-1 dismissing a key batter in de Silva as a solitary spinner. The 32-year old all-rounder will soon be seen plying his trade for Royal Challengers Bangalore in Indian Premier League 2023. It was a handful of days ago when he was named as a like-for-like injury replacement for England all-rounder Will Jacks.