New Zealand, after what could have been a repeat of the first Test after the opening day in Christchurch, have fought back well and strongly to find themselves in the driver’s seat to not only win the second match but also level the series 1-1. The whole fightback began with the ball when Matt Henry picked up a 7-fer with the ball on Day 2 and then Tom Latham and Kane Williamson followed it up with the bat. Latham, Rachin Ravindra and Daryl Mitchell continued it on Day 3 as New Zealand ended up setting up a strong target of 279 runs to win for the Australian side.
The day started with Latham continuing on his good work done on Day 2 and added a few more runs with Rachin Ravindra before the latter combined for a 123-run stand with Daryl Mitchell. Two of the stars across formats for New Zealand in the last six months frustrated the Australians for over a session as they not only helped their side build a solid lead but also got them into a position from where they could really bat the visitors out of the game.
Ravindra smashed his half-century, Mitchell reached his milestone too and the body language of the Australian team summed up the game situation before Josh Hazlewood broke through with the wicket of the latter. The Kiwis underwent a mini-collapse losing three wickets within three overs before another partnership between Glenn Phillips and Scott Kuggeleijn resurrected the team’s innings.
Ultimately, skipper Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon finished off the innings but Kuggeleijn’s quickfire 44 ensured that the Kiwis had a strong lead.
Steve Smith‘s poor run as an opener continued, Marnus Labuschagne couldn’t utilise one life he got and Australia were down on their haunches. Matt Henry and Ben Sears breathed fire as the Kiwis had Australia on the mat at 34/4 before the duo of Mitchell Marsh and Travis Head played their natural game to fight fire with fire.
The duo has already shared an unbeaten 43-run stand in less than 10 overs and both will be key if Australia have to chase down 202 more runs that are required.