New Zealand fans backlash against Australia averted

Josh Hazlewood says he’s unconcerned by Australia’s schedule leading up to the Test series in New Zealand. “Every time I go out there now I’m just having fun”.

“I think while the ball is new at any stage it’s going to do a little bit”.

“The selectors weren’t 100% sure whether he’d get through this first Test match, so that decision was made”, Australia’s captain Steven Smith said on Thursday.

Usman Khawaja completed his fourth test century in his past six innings as Australia consolidated their first test dominance over New Zealand by reaching 238 for three, a lead of 55 runs, at lunch on the second day on Saturday.

Quietly the New Zealanders will still be fuming at the Bracewell no-ball blunder but they have to keep toiling hard as another major rescue job looms.

His third consecutive hundred also means he joins David Warner (twice) and Adam Gilchrist as the only Australian players post World War Two to have scored a century in three straight Test innings. “You look at the greats like Stephen Fleming and Daniel Vettori when they left, what key roles they had in the game – they played massive roles for New Zealand”, Warner was quoted as saying by stuff.co.nz on Friday. They played Sri Lanka in a couple of Test matches at home and perhaps unsurprisingly, they went on to register big wins on both occasions at Dunedin and Hamilton.

Smith was on six when an edge fell centimetres short of Craig at second slip, while he was on 18 when the ball burst through Craig’s hands. Sceptics of the idea were quickly silenced as in front of some lovely South Australia sunsets, not to mention huge crowds, the Baggy Greens won a thrilling, bowler-dominated encounter by three wickets on the third evening, with Siddle and a limping Starc dragging their side over the line and to a 2-0 series victory.

“We haven’t been good enough with the bat on wickets that have been doing a bit in the a year ago or so”, Smith said.

Boult picked up the valuable wicket of Usman Khawaja for 140 and then just two balls later he got Mitchell Marsh out caught and bowled.

New Zealand 1st innings: 183 (Mark Craig 41 not out, Corey Anderson 38; Josh Hazlewood 4-42, Nathan Lyon 3-32, Peter Siddle 3-37).

“We would have liked a few more runs but moving forward the game is very nicely advanced”, Craig said.

The Black Caps were hoping those two wickets in quick succession would shift the momentum to them, but Voges and new partner Peter Nevill stayed calm.

He then featured in a 10-over stand with Craig that produced 40 runs as they tried to knock the Australian bowlers off their length.

“He was outstanding again today. thought we bowled really well as a unit”.