ICC World Test Championship: Josh Hazlewood (5-31) claimed his 12th five-wicket haul in his 70th appearance and Mitchell Starc overtook fellow quick Dennis Lillee as Australia bowled out New Zealand for a paltry 162 before Marnus Labuschagne struck an unbeaten 45 to steady the visitors’ innings on the opening day of the second Test here on Friday.After skipper Pat Cummins won the toss and elected to field, Starc started the ball rolling for Australia by sending back Will Young for 14 as New Zealand lost their first wicket for 47.
The New Zealand batting crumbled against some brilliant bowling by Hazlewood and Starc as they shared eight wickets between them. Hazlewood started his assault on New Zealand’s first innings by sending back Tom Latham (38), getting him to edge behind to Alex Carey and then struck another blow in quick succession by getting allrounder Rachin Ravindra for four. Daryl Mitchell too fell to him for four, caught by Carey as he used his swing to great effect. He claimed the wicket of Kane Williamson, trapping him LBW for 17 off 37 before completing his 12th five-wicket haul by getting Matt Henry caught behind for 29.
Mitchell Starc overtook fellow quick Dennis Lillee on the list for most Test wickets by an Australian bowler as the reigning ICC World Test Championship winners dominated the first two sessions on the opening day of the second Test against New Zealand.
Starc claimed figures of 3/59 to help dismiss the Kiwis for 162 at Hagley Oval and in the process went past Lillee’s total of 355 Test scalps to become fourth on the list for most Test wickets by an Australian.
Only Shane Warne (708), Glenn McGrath (563) and Nathan Lyon (527) now lie in front of Starc’s total of 357, while fellow pacer Hazlewood (271) is also making ground after his five-wicket haul of 5/31 on Friday.
Starc followed suit with wickets in consecutive deliveries and only some late hitting from Matt Henry (29) and Southee (26) allowed the hosts to sneak past 150.
Australia’s first innings was in disarray as they lost Steve Smith (11) and Usman Khawaja (16) and were down to 32/2 in the 14th over. Marnus Labuschagne scored a vital 45 off 80 balls, hitting eight fours, and shared a crucial partnership with Cameron Green (25).
Labuschagne and Green added 49 runs for the third-wicket partnership, taking the score to 81 before Green was castled by Henry, sneaking through the small gap between bat and pad. Henry then claimed the wicket of Travis Head (21), getting the Aussie batter to edge one behind to Tom Blundell. Henry ended the day with 3-39 from 13 overs.
Australia has taken the upper hand by dismissing New Zealand by 162 in their first innings on Friday, but the hosts fought back well to will be hoping to continue this on the second day on Saturday.
Brief scores:
New Zealand 162 all out in 45.2 overs (Tom Latham 38, Matt Henry 29; Josh Hazlewood 5-32, Mitchell Starc 3-59) lead Australia 124/4 in 36 overs (Marnus Labuschagne 45 not out; Matt Henry 3-39) by 38 runs.
