Leeds: New Zealand's Neil Wagner said on Wednesday he wanted to make England batsmen "hate him" and "get in their face" as the Black Caps look to square the Test series with victory at Headingley.
England won the first Test of this two-match campaign with a commanding 170-run success, achieved with more than a day to spare, at Lord's last week after skittling New Zealand out for a mere 68 in their second innings. But that margin of victory could not disguise two modest efforts with the bat by England, who twice struggled to get past 200 at Lord's.
Now South Africa-born left-arm seamer Wagner is keen to remind the likes of England batsmen Nick Compton and Jonny Bairstow of their modest returns at 'the home of cricket'. "I like to look for little battles, to create something," Wagner told reporters after a New Zealand net session at Headingley on Wednesday. "I think it's about getting into a guy's face. It's about irritating them, make them really angry, make them look at you and think 'I really do want to hit this guy for four'.
"You have just got to get them to the point where they really hate you. When you get to that point, you sometimes make them think about something else - a split second of concentration lapse that could give you a wicket....
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01:08 PM, May 23, 2013
With quick wickets falling at the other end, Hamilton Masakadza waged a lone battle as his side crumbled down to 257 runs in 95.3 overs. Zimbabwe second innings: 257 all-out Over 95.3 Kyle Jarvis is trapped in front of the wicket by Shakib Al Hasan for seven runs. Zimbabwe all out for 257. Bangladesh win by 143 runs and level the series 1-1. End of over No. 87: Century for...
01:28 PM, Apr 29, 2013
Harare: Chastened by a heavy defeat that has once again highlighted their lack of progress, Bangladesh begin the second and final Test against Zimbabwe on Thursday looking to prove they can adapt to foreign conditions and match their fellow Test strugglers. The Asian side came into the series as favourites after improved performances in Sri Lanka, only to be bowled out for 134 and 147 as they lost the first...
01:07 PM, Apr 24, 2013
Shane Shillingford shines once again as he takes a five-wicket haul and helped West Indies to beat Zimbabwe by an innings and 65 runs. ...
07:43 PM, Mar 22, 2013
The Colombo track will hopefully have more in it for the bowlers after the run feast in first Test. ...
05:49 PM, Mar 15, 2013
It's been learned that the Uppal curator had given the Indian team two pitches to choose from, and it took MS Dhoni & Co just one training session on Thursday to make up their mind and point at the drier of the two surfaces. ...
09:46 AM, Mar 01, 2013
The hindsight to India's comprehensive win in the Chennai Test last week is that just one bowler and two batsmen touched the international performance bar, and had R Ashwin not recorded his career best match haul of 12 wickets, India could have struggled to bowl out Australia twice. ...
10:12 AM, Feb 28, 2013
Hashim Amla remained unbeaten on 106 as South Africa ended day one's play at the score of 325 for 4. ...
01:35 PM, Jan 11, 2013
SACA says that players are opposed to Cricket South Africa's plans to expand to a 16-member board in 18 months. ...
11:13 PM, Jan 10, 2013
Kevin Pietersen (186) and Monty Panesar (11 for 210) combined to help England record a 10-wicket win on day four. ...
10:47 AM, Nov 26, 2012
After the ignominious defeat in Ahmedabad, the visitors are enormously under pressure against MS Dhoni's men at Mumbai. ...
10:43 AM, Nov 22, 2012
In reply to Bangladesh's 387, the tourists closed day two on 241 for 2 thanks to an unbeaten 198-run stand between Samuels and Bravo. ...
09:30 AM, Nov 22, 2012
Michael Clarke (224 not out), David Warner (117) and Michael Hussey (103) made merry as the Aussies closed on 482 for 5 against South Africa at Adelaide. ...
07:34 AM, Nov 22, 2012
Abul Hasan became only the second man in 135 years of Test cricket to hit a debut hundred while batting at number ten. ...
09:33 AM, Nov 21, 2012
He was out for nought in Australia's only innings in last week's drawn first Brisbane Test - his third duck in four Test innings against the Proteas. ...
02:29 PM, Nov 20, 2012
The visitors go into the second and final Test beginning Wednesday with a 1-0 lead after winning the first by 77 runs. ...
01:24 PM, Nov 20, 2012
R Ashwin's 5-wicket haul restricted New Zealand after India were bowled out for 353 on Day 3 of the second Test in Bangalore. ...
09:05 AM, Sep 02, 2012
New Zealand reached 328 for 6 at the close of day one of the second Test, riding on skipper Ross Taylor's brilliant century. ...
11:51 AM, Aug 31, 2012
After Ojha sent back Taylor (113), van Wyk and Bracewell have put up a stiff resistance while taking the visitors past 300 on Day 1. ...
08:50 AM, Aug 31, 2012
