In the field

It was an early start on Friday as we headed off an a typical retirees weekend away in Wellington. We took the bus into town to stay at the Ibis - rooms a bit small but good price for pensioners.Of course we got there before our room was ready so we began the slow amble towards  the Basin Reserve, with a coffee and muffin break along the way.  Of course  we got there well before the game started but it was fascinating to get acclimatised  to watching the whole field rather than just the whole of the TV.

Team practising before the toss.

Duncan wanted to sit in the R A Vance Stand. It was a good decision as the day got very hot, it was shaded but the steps up to our seats were very steep.

There is a good start from New Zealand, with Guptill going on to make 100. I have to say I was disappointed that the lovely Laura McGoldrick-Guptill did not do the sideline interviews - she must have been at home minding the baby.

NZ does pretty well at batting

The elderly gentleman sitting next to me was Pakastani, but he said he had been here for 44 years. I asked him who he was supporting and he said he thought he might support NZ given the past few games. His (adult) grandson was with him - but he slipped away probably for a beer or two for quite a bit of the game.

The best thing about being there was seeing the field placement

I think this is Santner coming to the crease.

I was disgusted with Lachie Ferguson which seemed to be giving away far too many runs. At one stage the overs seemed to be slipping away from us and I let rip with a BOOO as the Pakistanis scored another boundary. The cricket fans in the R A Vance stand looked askance but after a few more boundaries there was a general muttering of BOOO resounding through the stand. In the end Lachie "bought" the wicket and the last Pakistani was out, caught trying to hit another big shot.
In the end we won 271/7NZ against Pakistan 256 all out, but it was a good game which got a little bit too close for comfort in the last four overs.

We walked back to the Ibis and had a freshen up before going to Avida a Spanish Tapas place which we loved. We enjoyed having a Rioja wine as well - reminding us of our trip to this area of Spain in 2006

The one on my plate is honeyed feta in a choux pastry