Queensland opener Matthew Renshaw has had an emphatic return to form when he remained unbeaten on 92 off 140 balls on the opening day of Australia A’s tour of New Zealand. With this he has made himself a strong contender for a slot in the squad for the Ashes.
Renshaw was included in the playing XI in the first test during the recently concluded Test series against India and was sent in as a concussion substitute in the 2nd match. He failed to make much impact though, and was subsequently axed for the later games.
Here is how the innings panned out for Matthew Renshaw on the first day of Australia A’s exploits
After the first session at the Bert Sutcliffe Oval in Lincoln was washed out, Renshaw smashed 12 fours and a six on the way to his innings of 92 before bad light forced the play to be called off for the day. He is well within sight of his 18th first-class century, and will look to complete it when play resumes tomorrow.
At the end of day’s play, Australia A were 155 for the loss of 1 wicket from 44 overs. Tim Ward, on 38 is giving Renshaw able company at the crease. Renshaw and the 18 year old batting prodigy Teague Wyllie, put on 42 runs for the first wicket before Wyllie when Scott Kuggeleijn had him caught at gully. That Wyllie was sent ahead of Tim Ward in the batting order shows that the Aussie selectors are eyeing him as the future of Australian Cricket.
On being asked about how he felt after his knock, Renshaw said, ” It’s really strange times at the moment for me, I feel like I haven’t really had much of a bat since the Big Bash … only four bats ago was the Big Bash,”. “That’s the way cricket can be sometimes so it’s nice to be back in the middle, back scoring runs and just enjoying batting.”, he continued.
Here’s a quick highlight of the playing conditions in India
Speaking on the change of playing conditions in India where he played a month ago and in New Zealand he said, “We probably would have looked to bowl first if we won the toss but it’s a really enjoyable challenge on a green wicket with a Dukes ball that after being in India for six to seven weeks facing an SG ball that doesn’t bounce above your knee, it was a nice change and challenge coming over here.” All eyes will be on Renshaw when play resumes tomorrow with him being 8 runs shy of his century. It will also be interesting to see how much Australia A can gather in their first innings after a solid start by the top 3 of the batting order.
