Extras in Test matches is just unpardonable. If it’s wides, its blasphemous, just for a simple reason, that unlike the white-ball formats, where an extra run is given as soon as the ball goes outside the leg stump, that isn’t the case in red-ball format. It really takes a wayward delivery to be ruled out wide.
In the first NZ vs AUS Test in Wellington, the hosts ended up conceding 20 wides in all, to go with additional three no balls. That means 23 additional runs to a struggling Aussie batting line-up that was reduced to 267-9 at one stage, and went up to score 383. Of course, Cameron Green played a sensational knock of 174 not out, but if not for extras, the visitors would have been all out for 360.
NZ’s Unwanted Record
After giving away those many freebies, the Kiwis had an unwanted record to their name. Their wides in the first innings is now the second-highest number of runs conceded through that mode (20). The record has only been surpassed twice, 21 each by England and West Indies, in 2019 & 2008, respectively.
