NZ Vs AUS: New Zealand recently ended their losing streak in the Test matches against South Africa. They won their maiden red ball series before the start of this current series against the Aussies. The Kiwis won that two match series by a margin of 2-0.
But in this 1st match of this two match Test series, the home side New Zealand is on the backfoot and the visitors, Australia is well in front after the end of day 2 of this red ball match, which is being played at Basin Reserve in Wellington.
New Zealand couldn’t pick the last wicket early on the second day in the morning session. The Blackcaps side allowed the game to drift away as the lone centurion maker of this whole Test Match, Cameron Green took Australia to a position of strength and that too single-handedly.
Green batted excellently on the second day as well with just one wicket remaining. He was an unbeaten batsman on the score of 174 runs in the 1st innings of Australia which helped the visitors to pile up 383 runs in their first outing.
Matt Henry who had got four wickets yesterday ended up with a five-wicket haul. While the other bowlers, William O'Rourke and Scott Kuggeleijn got two wickets each with Rachin Ravindra got one scalp to his name. But New Zealand gave even more disappointing performance with the bat in hand.
The home side managed only 179 runs on the board in the 1st innings. Apart from Glenn Philips who was the top scorer with 71 runs, no other batter from New Zealand could do anything special. Matt Henry was the second top scorer with 42 runs in their 1st outing.
After Cameron Green’s terrific batting display, the bowlers of Australia were on the charge to dominate this red-ball match. The bowlers of the Baggy Green side never allowed any Kiwi batter to settle.
The visitors kept on picking up wickets at regular intervals which hurt the Blackcaps side in their 1st innings. Kane Williamson’s run out on 0 was also the main reason why New Zealand didn’t put up a good batting show.
Nathan Lyon was the pick of the bowlers in the 1st innings for the Aussies. He picked up four wickets to his name. Josh Hazlewood got two wickets while Mitchell Starc, Skipper Pat Cummins and Mitchell Marsh got one wicket each to their names.
Despite bowling brilliantly, Australia didn’t start their 2nd innings well with the bat. Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne were dismissed early by the Kiwi skipper Tim Southee. The Aussies have lost two quick wickets with just 13 runs on the board.
But still, the visitors are ahead of this Test match and they have a lead of 217 runs under their belt. Now on day 3, the Aussies should look to score beyond 400 runs as the target for New Zealand.
Usman Khawaja and Nathan Lyon will be the overnight batters for them. Khawaja will be key for Australia in the 2nd innings along with the other batters to follow.
However, New Zealand will have to fight back hard with the bowl first and then with the bat in hand. The Kiwis will have to bundle out this Australian side cheaply, so that they will not have to chase a daunting score in their 2nd innings.
Kane Williamson will be the key batter to take them through this tough run chase. But Williamson will also require the others to fire as well in their last innings.
