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Key events
36th over: New Zealand 140-7 (Phillips 62, Henry 15) Matt Henry gives Lyon some long handle once again – a slog sweep over long on clears the ropes for SIX. A pull into the deep brings Phillips onto strike. Lovely batting – a straight drive down the ground for four more.
35th over: New Zealand 127-7 (Phillips 58, Henry 8) Cummins to Phillips. Shot – the stocky all rounder opens the face and glides for four through point.
34th over: New Zealand 123-7 (Phillips 53, Henry 7) Lyon is extracting some huge turn from this day two pitch, a couple of deliveries spit and spin sharply back into Phillips. A single brings Henry on strike for one ball. Can he survive? You betcha – a lusty blow sees the seamer bunt Lyon over cow corner for SIX.
33rd over: New Zealand 116-7 (Phillips 50, Henry 1) Matt Henry is the new batter and he nearly has to head back to the hutch immediately too – fending a Cummins short ball up in the air that somehow plops short of point.
On a side note – this just made me chuckle… on my lonesome… in my lounge at 4am.
32nd over: New Zealand 113-7 (Phillips 50, Henry) Lyon’s over started so well for New Zealand – Glenn Phillips notching up his first Test fifty on home soil off the first ball of the over. Phillips could only watch on from the non strikers end as Lyon spun his web and snaffled a brace in four balls. Damage limitation for the kiwis from here – all eyes on Glenn Phillips.
WICKET! Kuggeleijn c Green b Lyon 0 (New Zealand 113-7)
Lyon has two in the over as new man Scott Kuggeleijn holes out to Cameron Green in the deep!
WICKET! Blundell c Head b Lyon 33 (New Zealand 113-6)
Gah, the OBO curse does for Blundell. He falls to a Lyon and Head combinayshun, inside edge onto pad and a simple looping catch to Head at short leg. A plucky knock comes to an end.
(Sorry Tom)
31st over: New Zealand 106-5 (Blundell 27, Phillips 49) The toddler has roused and is demanding company. The tension ratchets up a notch here in London. Dawn still a good while off yet, could go either way this.
In Wellington, Cummins brings himself on but can’t stem the flow. Blundell has settled nicely and looks good as he glides, drives and pulls six runs off the Aussie skipper.
In their wildest dreams, the people at Toblerone couldn’t have envisaged all the free advertising they get from cricket commentators as a result of the boundary rope shape #NZvAUS
— Ronny Lerner (@RonnyLerner) March 1, 2024
30th over: New Zealand 106-5 (Blundell 27, Phillips 49) Lyon hasn’t found his groove yet but there are signs of grip and turn in Wellington. A short ball is tickled away fine by Phillips and Matt Renshaw makes a hash of the boundary riding to gift a boundary.
29th over: New Zealand 100-5 (Blundell 26, Phillips 44) A single to each batter off Starc sees the hundred on the board for the home side. At 29-5 it looked in serious doubt that they would ever make three figures.
Glenn Phillips and Tom Blundell are giving an exhibition of attacking batting. #NZvAUS
— noncritical fan (@Vishwacr8) March 1, 2024
28th over: New Zealand 98-5 (Blundell 25, Phillips 43) Lyon it is with shades on, a slip and a short leg in place. A drag down is swivelled away behind square by Phillips for four. Poor ball from the experienced spinner as he gets fingers and shoulder loosened up. SIX! Phillips drop to one knee and slog sweeps a length ball over midwicket and onto the grass bank. Good positive batting, New Zealand inching back into the contest, albeit they trail by 285 runs still.
27th over: New Zealand 89-5 (Blundell 24, Phillips 35) Glenn Phillips shows off his lightning quick hands by drilling a 149kph half volley from Starc down the ground for four. That whistled away at some speed. Nathan Lyon is limbering up for a bowl.
26th over: New Zealand 80-5 (Blundell 24, Phillips 27) Blundell glides for a single past point to bring up the fifty stand off 48 balls. Hazlewood pins Phillips on the pad but the ball was heading over the top of the stumps. Phillips hangs back and jabs a single into the off side off the final ball.
“History of little success against a team creates scars & skeletons that keep returning to haunt you,” is how Gilbert Enoka, who spent 23 years with the All Blacks, described NZ’s poor recent Test record against Australia & boy have they returned to haunt them today #NZvAus
— Bharat Sundaresan (@beastieboy07) March 1, 2024
25th over: New Zealand 78-5 (Blundell 23, Phillips 26) Thirteen runs off Starc’s over! Tom Blundell gets on top of the bounce to carve for four through point and then gets onto the front foot to drive a full ball handsomely through cover for another boundary. A single brings Phillips onto strike and he gets the caveman club out to bosh a shorter ball away to the leg side fence. Starc looks like he’s just licked a battery. Not a happy chappy.
24th over: New Zealand 65-5 (Blundell 14, Phillips 22) Counter punch by Phillips! He rocks back and hammers Hazlewood square of the wicket for four and then follows up with a beautiful straight drive down the ground for four more!
23rd over: New Zealand 56-5 (Blundell 14, Phillips 13) Glenn Phillips takes a step or two down the wicket to Starc and pierces the infield to pick up four. New Zealand showing some positive intent after the tea break.
“Good morning from Perth”
Hello to you, Lewis Corner.
“Mr Extras contributed 41 runs to Australia’s innings. New Zealand’s first five back-to-the-pavilion batsmen totalled 25. Has half a test side ever previously been dismissed before overhauling the extras they conceded when bowling? I think we should be told!”
Way too early and beyond my skillset to dig into this but it is chin stroker, surely the OBO hivemind can crunch the numbers?
22nd over: New Zealand 50-5 (Blundell 12, Phillips 9) Josh Hazlewood starts things off after tea. Blundell throws the blade at a wide-ish ball to pick up four and then plays a more controlled stroke in a similar area for three. Precious runs, the follow on score is still a distant dream for New Zealand even if I don’t actually think Australia will enforce it?
Time to pad past the sleeping toddler’s room like a ninja and brew up a very strong coffee. Just watched this, man I love Jeremy Coney.
A highlight of last year was going to lunch with the great man and listening to a few of his stories.
I lived for a year in Splott just on the south side of Cardiff. Of course, the locals pronounce it ‘Sp-low’ not ‘Sp-lott’ which gives it a whiff of something a bit more salubrious.”
Listeners familiar with the lilting sing-song of Jeremy Coney’s Kiwi accent will note that that final “salubrious” lasts a beat or two longer, its syllables rolled around and luxuriated, given the full Jeremy Coney treatment. There has been no sign of his favoured “parsimonious” during the course of what runs to a two-hour chat with the former New Zealand captain turned broadcaster and commentator, though “lugubrious” and “nefarious” are pleasingly deployed within the first few minutes of us sitting down.”
21st over: New Zealand 42-5 (Blundell 4, Phillips 8) Blundell punches a single off Cummins to end the session. The safe harbour of the tea break can’t come soon enough for New Zealand.
21 overs, 42 runs and five wickets is the story of the session.
20th over: New Zealand 41-5 (Blundell 4, Phillips 8) Blundell tries to hoick a shorter ball from Marsh away into the leg side but is foxed by the lack of pace and connects only with the breeze. Marsh gives him some width off the final ball and Blundell picks up three with a steer wide of point. New Zealand have to cling on to the tea break and try to gather themselves over some cucumber sarnies.
19th over: New Zealand 38-5 (Blundell 1, Phillips 8) Tom Blundell is off the mark with a poke into the covers for a single. Glenn Phillips isn’t going to die wondering, he throws the bat at a Cummins full ball and the ensuing edge flies just wide of Cameron Green’s albatross wing span in the gully and away for four.
18th over: New Zealand 33-5 (Blundell 0, Phillips 4) Carnage at the Basin Reserve. Ruthless by Australia. Marsh nearly adds to the Kiwi misery by taking the shoulder of Phillip’s blade with a back of a length ball but the edge narrowly drops short of the waiting cordon. Flash hard! Phillips scythes away over the slips this time to pick up a boundary. Maybe flinging the bat at a few is the way to go here… the deficit is is 350 odd runs for crying out loud!
WICKET! Young c Carey b Marsh 9 (New Zealand 29-5)
Sickener! Will Young is strangled down the leg side by Marsh as Australia take two wickets in two balls!
WICKET! Mitchell c Carey b Cummins 11 (New Zealand 29-4)
Gah! Mitchell pulls Cummins away for four but is then drawn into a loose drive next ball and edges to Alex Carey behind the stumps who holds on to a tumbling catch. New Zealand in the mire as Glenn Phillips arrives in the middle.
16th over: New Zealand 29-4 (Young 9, Phillips)
Photograph: Kerry Marshall/AP
15th over: New Zealand 22-3 (Mitchell 5, Young 9) Marsh bustles in, another no-ball on the front foot sees the score tick up by one. Young plinks into the leg side for the only other run off the over. Tough going at the minute for the home side.
14th over: New Zealand 20-3 (Mitchell 5, Young 8) Cummins thuds a back of a length ball into Mitchell’s gloves and then pins him on the front pad… a stifled appeal but Marais Erasmus says no. It was going over the top and Australia wisely choose not to review. Mitchell clips a full one for two into the leg side and is then beaten by a beauty off the least ball – Cummins angling one in and then getting the ball to jag away past the outside edge. Fantastic over from Big Pat.
13th over: New Zealand 18-3 (Mitchell 3, Young 8) A resplendently mulleted Mitchell Marsh is into the attack to replace his captain. If you haven’t yet seen this then do yourself a favour. Such a likeable cricketer. He oversteps first up to giveaway a single but it is tidy stuff after that, six dots defended by Young.
12th over: New Zealand 17-3 (Mitchell 3, Young 8) I was really looking forward to watching Rachin Ravindra unfurl a few strokes against Australia’s gun bowling line up, he’ll get another chance in the second dig of course but have just caught up with his wicket and it was a bit loosey goosey, you can’t gift your wicket away like that, especially not to this Aussie outfit. The Williamson run out was a bit of a sickener too, sharp work by Marnus as the batters ended up grappling with each other mid pitch like Ollie Reed and Alan Bates… but with clothes on. DH Lawrence references at 2am is it? La-di-dah.
Hazlewood is tucked behind square for a single by Mitchell, the Kiwis need the man they call ‘Moose’ to get a big one here.
James Wallace
11th over: New Zealand 16-3 (Mitchell 2, Young 8) Thanks Angus and hello all. Inky black skies here as it creaks towards 2am in London town. The sun beats down on Pat Cummins’ broad shoulders as he steams in at the Basin Reserve, he sends down a maiden to Will Young who is watchful outside off. New Zealand clinging on in this game.
10th over: New Zealand 16-3 (Mitchell 2, Young 8) Almost a catch! Hazlewood got his first ball to lift off a length and it crashed into Will Young’s thumb and ballooned just short of the third slipper in a four-man cordon. That hurt Young but his wicket is intact. He wrings out his right glove between deliveries but Hazlewood, relentless as always, frays those nerves further by sliding a ball past the outside edge. Close! Finally, Young squirts one onto the legside to scamper a run.
That’s me done for the day. James Wallace will take you home to stumps and I will catch yers on the morrow. Thanks for your company and enjoy the rest of the day!
9th over: New Zealand 15-3 (Mitchell 2, Young 7) NOOOOOOOOO! That’s the baritone yowl issuing from Daryl Mitchell at the moment, a no-run call reeking of high anxiety but delivered at a volume meant to convey authority. Starc keeps him in his crease with a maiden, whipping the final ball just past the outside edge to keep the Kiwi on edge.
8th over: New Zealand 15-3 (Mitchell 2, Young 7) Mitchell almost falls into the trap! Cummins, sensing the big No 5 will be fighting the instinct to attack when needing to defend, has moved a man into a leg gully position. Hazlewood dug one into Mitchell’s hip and it popped up and bounced a metre away from that man. Rueful grins all round but the Black Caps bank a single and keep the Australians at bay for another over.
7th over: New Zealand 14-3 (Mitchell 1, Young 7) The Kiwis are in survival mode here. Mitchell, a naturally attacking batting allrounder from Hamilton, will have to curb his baser instincts here and do as Cam Green did by shepherding the middle and lower order batters to a decent total.
6th over: New Zealand 13-3 (Mitchell 1, Young 7) Daryl Mitchell has come to crease after that rapid triple-strike by the Australians. He’s a 21-Test veteran band a man in form (he averages 53.4 in Tests) but this will be a mighty challenge for him with Starc and Hazlewood in their pomp, Cummins in the wings and bad luck dogging the Kiwis.
WICKET! Ravindra c Lyon b Hazlewood 0 (New Zealand 12-3)
Another one! New batter Ravindra flays at a wider ball from Hazlewood and holes out to a great catch from Nathan Lyon at point. New Zealand collapsing early! That was a well judged catch by the GOAT. He reacted straight away but flew too far too his right and ended up pouching it in his naval while six feet off the ground! Spectacular by Australia and deadly for the Black Caps.
WICKET! Williamson run out 0 (New Zealand 12-2)
Chaos at the Basin Reserve! Kane Willamson has run himself out on his second ball. He struck it firmly down the ground but then ran smack bang into Will Young on the way to the other end. Starc, holdimng his ground in his follow-through got in the way as well, and the throw from Marnus Labuschagne was on target at the bowler’s end. Shocker!
WICKET! Latham b Starc 5 (New Zealand 12-1)
Starc strikes! He’d been hit for a boundary in the previous ball so summoned a bit of extra venom on the next. It rushed in on Latham and he had to play, chopping it onto his stumps. First blood to the visitors! That brings the Black Caps’ champion Kane Williamson to the crease in his 99th Test looking for a fifth consecutive Test ton.
5th over: New Zealand 8-0 (Latham 1, Young 7) First boundary! Starc strayed onto the pads a little and Latham punished him with a pull shot to the rope. That brought the crowd to their feet.
4th over: New Zealand 8-0 (Latham 1, Young 7) Latham takes a sharp single from Hazlewood’s first ball and the bowler responds with a fast lifter that eludes the groping bat of Will Young. He recovers to work two runs down the legside. Hazlewood is now the world’s No 5 bowler behind Bumrah, Ashwin, Rabada and Cummins.
3rd over: New Zealand 5-0 (Latham 0, Young 5) After 15 Tests and seven fifties, Will Young is still looking for his maiden Test century. Is today the day? No better time to score it, with his team still stunned by that first session flogging. And no greater attack to score it against than an Australian attack so feared they’ve become “a cartel.” Starc is attacking the stumps here, landing it on a nice full length at a consistent speed in the mid-140s. He delivers consecutive maidens, not something we get to type too often.
2nd over: New Zealand 5-0 (Latham 0, Young 5) Here comes newly christened allrounder Josh Hazlewood, primed to follow-up his excellent 22 run knock with a few wickets. Alas, it isn’t to be – yet. Will Young brings the Hoff back to earth with a well-timed midwicket clip for four. First runs to the Kiwis.
1st over: New Zealand 0-0 (Latham 0, Young 0) And we’re back! Starc sprays a few about before zinging a 145kph yorker at Tim Latham’s pads. He survives, as a man averaging 40 from his 78 Tests should. Can;’t score from the rest though. A maiden plays out.
1st over: New Zealand 0-0 (Latham 0, Young 0) And we’re back! It will be Mitchell Starc to Tom Latham to get us underway. As is his custom, Starc sprays a few around before zinging a 145kph yorker into Latham’s pads. The Canterbury wicketkeeper-batter keeps it out. He is averaging 40 from his 78 Tests but Latham can’t score from Starcin this over and a maiden plays out.
LUNCH: Australia all out for 383
What a session that was! With No 11 Josh Hazlewood at the wicket, plenty of life left in the pitch and a ball five-overs old in their hands, everything pointed to New Zealand wrapping up the Australia innings quickly. Instead, the visitors tore up the script.
Hazlewood endured, then prospered, defending with ease and attacking at will. But it was Cameron Green who tore out the Kiwi’s heart. Right from the get-go he controlled the tempo of the game superbly, farming the strike while flaying the Kiwi attack all over the ground. It was a brilliant knock of 174 and it might’ve gone on and on and on.
But after 146 minutes and 116 runs, the Black Caps finally bagged their bunny just before lunch. Now, after the humiliation of that first session, their batters must recover and reset to find the energy to chase down this hugely-inflated total of 383. And they must do it against Cummins, Starc and Hazlewood, the greatest pace attack in the game.
But hey, it’s still day two and this Test is very much alive with a long way to go. New Zealand have a formidable batting line-up but can their key men deliver after that battering? We’ll break for a bit. See you in a hot half hour for the home side’s chase.
WICKET! Hazlewood c Ravindra b Henry 22 (Australia 383-10)
Hazlewood holes out! It was a faster ball from Henry and he chipped it to Ravindra at mid-off. That’s the innings done. Henry gets a hard-earned five-for and Cam Green walks off with a magnificent undefeated 174 not out. Handy knock from the Hoff too who stayed out there for 62 balls and 148 minutes to score 22 runs, break a record for the 10th wicket against New Zealand and shatter a few Kiwi hearts along the way.
Australia break record for 10th wicket partnership against New Zealand!
That Cameron Green cover drive takes them to 115 past the 114 set by Jason Gillespie and Glenn McGrath at the Gabba in 2004.
115th over: Australia 378-9 (Green 170, Hazlewood 22) O’Rourke floats a few past Green but surely he’s got to attack the stumps or the man here? There’s no pressure on the batters here. Only pain. And Green delivers another dose with a fantastic drive down the ground. That’s the record!
114th over: Australia 378-9 (Green 170, Hazlewood 22) New Zealand delivered a middling first session on day one but redeemed it with late wickets. That hasn’t happened today. The breakthroughs haven’t come and Australia has controlled the tempo of the game. Green’s single from the final ball of Henry’s 30th over is just the second scoring shot in four overs, further proof that the baggy greeners are cantering.
113th over: Australia 377-9 (Green 169, Hazlewood 22) Bowling speeds are falling with spirits here at Basin Reserve as the New Zealnd bowling attack flags in the shadows of lunch. The crowd, a healthy smattering across pavilions and grassy knolls, has been largely silenced by this stubborn last-wicket stand (now 110). Hazlewood plays out another maiden as Australia look for the safety of the long break.
112th over: Australia 377-9 (Green 169, Hazlewood 22) A maiden. Yep, you read it right. A maiden. Cam and Josh must be hungry. They’ve shut up shop to eye off the buffet.
111th over: Australia 377-9 (Green 169, Hazlewood 22) Hazlewood hits out! He cracks the New Zealand captain through covers to notch his fourth boundary and enter the roaring twenties. Meanwhile, Southee enters the nervous nineties with 0-92.
Rob Wilson is enjoying the show from Paris. “That pic at the top of the page (Cameron Green cleaving another six) is magically cheering on a horribly wet and wintry Parisian night. I’m also chuffed by the delightfully existential way that Green has mostly chugged along quite languidly with the last man in before giving it a bit of sporadic humpty. Somehow feels very Les Deux Magots in the 1950s. Sartre would have approved. Run rate is a hollow farce and the boundary rope is truly inside us all. Getting a double-ton is the ultimate gesture of despair.”
Thanks Rob! Given JP believed the underlying motivation for action is to be found in the nature of consciousness which is a desire for being, I think he’d be a Cam Green fan too.
110th over: Australia 373-9 (Green 169, Hazlewood 18) Day one destroyer Matt Henry returns for a 28th over and straight away elicits AN EDGE from Green… but it falls short of the man at gully. More pain for the Black Caps. Australia’s run rate is 3.4 but it’s the ease with which the runs have come this morning that must be vexing the home side. They have been utterly untroubled by these so-called Kiwi Assassins.
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