Australia gain upper hand in historic day-night Test
Hosts Australia took command of the third Test match against New Zealand who are 94 runs ahead in the second innings with just five wickets remaining.
Issued on:
The Kiwis, trailing 1-0 in the series, failed to capitalise on their excellent bowling display in the morning as13 wickets tumbled on the second day of the match which is the first to be played under floodlights with a pink ball.
At the close New Zealand were 116 for five with BJ Watling and Mitchell Santner at the crease.
Josh Hazlewood was the wrecker in chief taking three wickets in the absence of injured Mitchell Starc.
Earlier, New Zealand bowlers had Australia on the ropes with the hosts reeling at 116 for eight and trailing the Kiwis by 86 runs.
Nathan Lyon and Peter Nevill struck a crucial 74-run partnership for the ninth wicket that enabled Australia to take an important 22-run lead in the first innings.
Lyon walked three-quarters of the way off the ground believing he was out before he returned to continue batting and join in a record Australian trans-Tasman series 74-run ninth-wicket stand with Peter Nevill.
Resuming on their overnight score of 54 for 2, Australia lost their next six wickets for just 62 runs. Nevill was the top scorer at 66 followed by Captain Steve Smith who scored 53 runs. The tail enders Lyon and Starc scored 34 and 24 respectively.
For New Zealand, Doug Bracewell was the best bowler taking three wickets for just 18 runs.
Speaking after the day’s play, Hazlewood said the pitch was not as bad as might be thought, given that so many wickets had been taken in two days.
“We had a middle-order collapse today. We should probably be still batting now. We'll try and fix that for the second innings,“ he concluded.
Daily newsletterReceive essential international news every morning
Subscribe