Dominant Australia Seamers Crush New Zealand’s Batting Lineup After Green’s Heroic 174
Cameron Green’s unbeaten 174 paved the way for Australia’s imposing first innings total of 383 runs, putting New Zealand on the back foot.
At teatime, Australia’s seamers claimed a wicket for each, and Williamson was run out, leaving New Zealand at 42 for 5.
Tea: Australia 383 (Green 174*, Marsh 40, Henry 5-70) versus New Zealand 42 for 5 (Phillips 8*, Blundell 5*, Starc 1-4) is behind by 341 runs.
After Australia’s formidable first innings of 383 in difficult conditions at Basin Reserve thanks to a magnificent century from Cameron Green, New Zealand’s disastrous day two proceeded when Kane Williamson was horribly misplaced and run out for duck.
After being thoroughly outclassed by Green, who ended the first Test unscathed at 174 and shared a record-breaking tenth-wicket partnership of 116 with Josh Hazlewood, New Zealand became even more rattled when they lost three wickets for no runs in the span of six deliveries.
Although Daryl Mitchell and Will Young briefly resisted, they eventually gave in to subsequent deliveries, shocking the packed house as New Zealand reached tea in serious trouble at 42 for 5. The four seamers from Australia were unrelenting and grabbed wickets in unison, even though spinner Nathan Lyon had not yet been called into the assault.
The pitch looked to be leveling out, as is sometimes the case at Basin Reserve, and New Zealand had great hopes of mounting a strong response. However, it never happened as they collapsed to 29 for 5, the ball still appearing to bounce unevenly off the divot.
In his maiden Test match in New Zealand, Mitchell Starc attempted to bowl full, but it was a good-length delivery that left opener Tom Latham unsure of whether to bat after he chopped onto his stumps, causing a collapse.
Just two balls after hitting three tons in four innings against South Africa, Williamson was out due to a mix-up. As he attempted to knock a single, he struck Young, who was observing the ball, while Marnus Labuschagne struck the stumps with a close throw.
Josh Hazlewood’s full and wide delivery tempted Rachin Ravindra to drive in the following over, but he sliced it to Lyon, who made a wonderful catch at point.
Due to the predicament, Mitchell had to curb his aggressiveness and scored just 7 off his first 35 deliveries until whacking a short delivery from Pat Cummins to the boundary. But on the next ball, he nicked off a brilliant length delivery from Cummins, who is also playing his first Test in New Zealand.
The earlier attack by Green, who pounded 71 runs to fully dominate a protracted opening session, seemed to have broken New Zealand’s morale.
With a superb century on the first day of the series, Green cemented his position as Australia’s No. 4 and used a combination of power and placement to play with the nerves of New Zealand’s attacking unit. There were five sixes and 23 boundaries in his 275-ball masterpiece.
In a partnership of 116 runs, he and Hazlewood—who scored 22 off 62 balls—surpassed Australia’s previous record last-wicket stand against New Zealand, which was 114, set by the illustrious partnership of Glenn McGrath and Jason Gillespie at the Gabba in 2004.
They had by far the best partnership of the innings. When Adam Voges and Hazlewood combined for 97 runs in Roseau, Australia’s innings against the West Indies in 2015 had not been topped by a tenth-wicket stand before.
For a while, it looked as though New Zealand might bowl Australia out for less than 200, so it was a terrible letdown. At times, their quicks were shoddy, and New Zealand gave up 41 additional points. Matt Henry was the most outstanding bowler of the innings and grabbed a well-earned five wicket haul.
Australia sought a score of 300 after resuming at 279 for 9, but Green had other plans as he carried on his exploits from the first game. With the field stretched and with one slip in place, Green played shrewdly and refrained from going all in right away.
Before he hit Australia’s 300th run, Green had only scored seven runs in the opening half hour after Henry’s short delivery had gone over deep square leg and into the stands. He surpassed his greatest Test score of 114 with that same shot.
He kept applying power-hitting to hamper New Zealand’s onslaught, taking one short delivery from Will O’Rourke for six on the leg side to reach his 150.
After going 27 innings without scoring more than 11, Hazlewood turned his back on the ball and produced his highest Test score in five years while playing excellent defence and producing a number of beautiful shots.
Australia was nine wickets down when play was prolonged by thirty minutes, and Henry eventually made the breakthrough by getting Hazlewood to chip to mid-off.
