NZ vs Australia, Test series, 2010

[Serani]

Still a ****.

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NZ vs Australia 2nd test, Day 1 : Aussies fall flat under pressure New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori celebrated his 100th Test by claiming 4-36 as Australia were skittled for 231 on day one of the second Test at Seddon Park in Hamilton. More... New Zealand bowlers on song as Aussies struggle on opening day From Greg Buckle in Hamilton, New Zealand March 27, 2010 New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori celebrated his 100th Test by claiming 4-36 as Australia were skittled for 231 on day one of the second Test at Seddon Park in Hamilton. The home side ended a great day for the underdogs on 1-19 at stumps, seeking their first Test win against Australia since March 1993 in Auckland. Skipper Ricky Ponting chose to bat first and Australia's batsmen struggled to cope with the slow-paced pitch and the disciplined bowling of Vettori and paceman Tim Southee (4-61). Opener Simon Katich top-scored with 88 in his 50th Test but his dismissal triggered a collapse of 6-51. Katich, who is playing in his 50th Test, says the Hamilton pitch has to take plenty of the blame for the dismal total. "It was that sort of wicket where it was a little bit two-paced,'' Katich said. "A couple of wickets fell to balls stopping in the wicket so hopefully we can use that to our advantage when we bowl. "As the game goes on it'll be interesting to see if the pitch deteriorates or whether it gets better. "There's no doubt we'd be disappointed with only 231 given we were three for (172). "Anything over 300 would have been reasonable. We're not in that position now so we have to do some work with the ball, but there's still a lot of Test cricket left in this match.'' Poor decision-making also cost Australia dearly, as Ponting (22) fell to an ambitious attempted single and vice-captain Michael Clarke played an ugly slog to long-on. Shane Watson (12) mistimed a pull shot in the eighth over and was caught at mid-on. Ponting pushed a ball to mid-off and set off for a single but his rival skipper Vettori threw the stumps down at the non-striker's end at 2-63. Ponting 13th run out sets a world record. Southee struck again after lunch when Mike Hussey, in his 50th Test, was caught behind for 22. Clarke holed out for 28 to spinner Jeetan Patel. Vettori claimed the key wicket of Katich caught at short leg in the penultimate over before tea at 5-180. Katich was dejected as he left the field, dismissed between 80 and 99 for the fifth time this summer in 12 innings. The left-hander struck 11 fours in his four-hour stay. Australia lost 3-1 in eight deliveries after tea when Southee removed Brad Haddin (12) and Marcus North (9) and Mitchell Johnson (0) fell victim to Vettori. Australia's 74.3-over innings was their lowest total in New Zealand since their 214 in Auckland in March 2000. Australia paceman Doug Bollinger bowled Tim McIntosh for four. But the Kiwis settled with Bradley-John Watling six not out and Mathew Sinclair on eight. Earlier, Ponting won the toss for the eighth successive time, including the five ODI matches and two Tests on the New Zealand tour. Australia lead the two-Test series 1-0.

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Cricket: Taylor cracks fastest test century, NZ claim 33-run lead Ross Taylor cracked the fastest test century by a New Zealand batsman as the hosts claimed a 33-run first innings lead over Australia in the second cricket test here today.Taylor's 138 off 104 balls lifted New Zealand to 264 in... More... Cricket: Taylor cracks fastest test century, NZ claim 33-run lead Sunday Mar 28, 2010 Ross Taylor cracked the fastest test century by a New Zealand batsman as the hosts claimed a 33-run first innings lead over Australia in the second cricket test here today. Taylor's 138 off 104 balls lifted New Zealand to 264 in reply to Australia's 231 as they were dismissed just before tea on the second day at Seddon Park. The New Zealand vice-captain notched his fifth test century off just 81 balls to write his name into the record books, as regular wickets fell at the other end. He beat captain Daniel Vettori's previous mark of 82 balls, set against Zimbabwe in Harare in 2005-06, when he cut paceman Mitchell Johnson through third man for four. Taylor hit 17 fours and a six in bringing up the milestone, having batted 133 minutes. But he rode his luck, edging between the slips cordon on seven then being dropped on 52 by Johnson and on 92 by Shane Watson. He hit Nathan Hauritz for three consecutive sixes as the offspinner conceded 25 off one over, equalling Andrew McDonald (against South Africa in Cape Town last season) for most expensive over by an Australian test bowler. During the over, Taylor was caught on 110 by Shane Watson but he had to throw the ball away as he tumbled over the boundary rope at deep mid-wicket. Taylor was finally dismissed via the umpire decision review system when replays showed he got a thin edge to Doug Bollinger. He hit 19 fours and four sixes in his 179-minute knock. Opener BJ Watling was the next highest scorer with 46. Johnson was the most successful bowler with four for 59 while Bollinger and Ryan Harris too three wickets apiece.

[SSJ4Kakashi]

Looks like Taylor is finally going to perform for NZ as well as he does for :brc:

[Ram]

Taylor is a misfit in this team full of talentless, gutless batsmen. Remove Taylor and Vettori from this team and the Kiwis will struggle to beat B'desh. Forget Taylor, the rest of the Kiwi batsmen should take a lead at least out of someone like Guptill. He knows he isnt the world's most talented, knows his limits and plays within them. Very rarely will you find him throwing his wicket away. The other Kiwi batsmen are a direct mirror image to this. You will frequently find them playing with gay abandon, as though they're playing a game within the game, without putting a price tag on their wickets. How often is it, that a team bowls out Australia for sub-250 total in their first innings? The kiwis had a golden chance and they blew it badly. Australia will probably pile on a 450+ total, declare with 2,3 wickets in hand and bowl out New Zealand for less than 200 in their 2nd innings.

[gaurav92]

Taylor is a good batsman, he has got an unusual technique of his own, but well, if he performs well in that technique, nobody will point fingers at you.Taylor has done pretty well for NZ, and he is now one of their very few match winners.

[rahulrulezz]

Kiwwis players really need to take more risks.. They are so scared of loosing their wickets that they dont even score runs on good balls either... as some1 said, attack is the best form of defence and other than Taylor,McCullum and Vettori, noone knows a jack of attack

[Mr Eintstein]

Kiwwis players really need to take more risks.. They are so scared of loosing their wickets that they dont even score runs on good balls either... as some1 said' date=' attack is the best form of defence and other than Taylor,McCullum and Vettori, noone knows a jack of attack[/quote'] actually our problem is that our batsmen dont value their wickets enough. one or two more mcintoshes would be great.

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Australia wrests control of the Test from Kiwis as Katich inspires the revival Simon Katich hits his 10th Test century as Australia dominate day three of the second Test against New Zealand. More... Australia wrests control of second cricket Test Peter Lalor in Hamilton From: The Australian March 29, 2010 AUSTRALIA is in a commanding position at the end of the third day of the second Test with a lead of 300 over New Zealand and six wickets in hand. Simon Katich’s patient 10th Test century righted the ship after some early wobbles and contributions from Michael Hussey 67 and Shane Watson 65 also helped. Marcus North 42no and Michael Clarke 42no took the score to 4-333 at stumps. Katich’s 106 comes as some relief as the opener has made a habit of stumbling before the milestone this summer with scores of 92, 90, 99, 98, 79 and an 88 in the first innings here. He made a solitary even 100 against Pakistan at Hobart. Katich has had a golden run since returning to Test cricket in May 2008, scoring 2534 runs in 27 Tests at an average 56 _ the second best by an opener in the history of Australian cricket. He has past 1000 runs in the last two calendar years and was voted the Australian Test Batsman of 2009-10 last month. Both Hussey and Katich are celebrating their 50th Test and shared a 150 run partnership to mark the occasion. Hussey was eventually dismissed, caught Brendon McCullum bowled Brent Arnel (2-43) for 67. Katich went soon after. The pair began playing against each other in Western Australia as nine year olds and have been friends since. Shane Watson started the day brightly, scoring another half century, but had a rush of blood, pulling Tim Southee to BJ Watling at the mid on boundary when he was 65. Dan Vettori then set a clever 6-3 field to tie down Ricky Ponting at the start of his innings. The captain hit a top edge six off Southee (2-75) before being snapped up at short leg by Watling and was out for six.

[rahulrulezz]

actually our problem is that our batsmen dont value their wickets enough. one or two more mcintoshes would be great.

exactly... Till you guys keep supporting players like Mcintoshes, NZland will always be a below average team... Just look at your good players ...all of them were aggressive and had an above average Strike rate..example Nathan Astle, Vettori, Cairns, McCullum, Vincent, Taylor .Even great players like Sachin, Ponting, Lara, Sehwag have above average strike rates.. It only takes 1 good delivery to get you out so make sure to score runs on the rest... Everytime I watch NZland bat with McIntosh opening, I always sense a wicket round the corner but when Taylor or McCullum are there, I expect some runs P.S. I love NZland team and nothing against them..:icflove:

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Day 4 : Mitchell Johnson captures 150th test wicket, oversees New Zealand collapse as Australia near win More... Mitchell Johnson puts Australia in perfect place AUSTRALIA has moved closer to securing a 2-0 series win over New Zealand with Mitchell Johnson removing both Kiwi openers in a fiery spell in the second Test. AUSTRALIA needs a further five wickets for a 2-0 series win over New Zealand after the heroics of Mitchell Johnson this afternoon. New Zealand was 5-185 at stumps today and has to bat three sessions to save the game, or post a record 479 to win. Johnson took the first wicket of the day _ his 150th from just 34 Tests _ and finished with 3-39. No left-armer in history has got to 150 wickets from less games and only six Australians have done it faster. Johnson had his tail up, bowling at over 150kmh and was just too fast and too intimidating for Tim McIntosh (19) who he clean bowled with the score on 19. Ricky Ponting had moved in a leg gully and the opener was expecting a short one, but Johnson pitched it up and he was trapped on the crease. BJ Watling (24) was also trapped in no man’s land, waving the wand and getting an edge to Brad Haddin with the score 2-53. In an interesting move Ricky Ponting used Michael Clarke ahead of Nathan Hauritz and the vice captain did the job removing Mathew Sinclair (29) to finish 1-25 from 13 probing overs. Hauritz came on and picked up the wicket of his opposite number Daniel Vettori (22) The Australians declared at lunch on 8-511 after cashing in on Simon Katich and Michael Hussey’s hard work from the previous day. Ryan Harris (18) and Nathan Hauritz (41) were undefeated when Ponting called the innings over. It was a crisp morning session, the batsmen scoring 178 entertaining runs, which couldn’t be further from yesterday’s dour affair. The Australians started the day on 4-333, with both Clarke and Marcus North eight runs shy of their 50. Neither wasted time getting there, but Clarke fell soon after for 63 lbw to Brent Arnel. North moved quickly toward what would have been his second century from three innings, but gloved one down the leg side from Daniel Vettori on 90. The West Australian captain will return home content that he has erased doubts over his position. Johnson was a little too ambitious first ball and holed out to long on, putting Vettori on a hat-trick, but fellow spinner Hauritz wasn’t gifting him that one. Haddin was another who fell short of a milestone, hitting his way to a bright 48 from 40 balls before trying to hit Jeetan Patel to the next island. He was bowled.

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Australians beat New Zealand by 176 runs for cricket Test clean sweep AUSTRALIA beat New Zealand at Hamilton this morning by 176 runs, completing a two-nil series win and an unbeaten 2009-10 Test summer. More... Australians beat New Zealand for cricket Test clean sweep Peter Lalor From: The Australian March 31, 2010 The Australian cricket team celebrates a perfect summer after beating New Zealand in Hamilton. Picture: Getty Images Source: Getty Images AUSTRALIA beat New Zealand at Hamilton this morning by 176 runs, completing a two-nil series win and an unbeaten 2009-10 Test summer. Man of the match Mitchell Johnson took 10 wickets for the match, including 6-73 in the second innings to secure the Test just before lunch on the last day. Despite some cavalier batting by the tail and early resistance from the middle order the Kiwis were all out for 302. The Australians' series win goes with a 3-0 victory over Pakistan and a 2-0 result against the West Indies in eight Tests across the summer. The only blemish was a draw to the West Indies in Adelaide. Johnson bowled with the ferocity of a man who knows he is in for a well-deserved break. He has taken 41 wickets at 25.9 from eight Tests this summer. He beat Simon Katich (88 and 106) for the man of the match award. The Kiwis got through the first hour without a loss, Brendon McCullum and Martin Guptill batting with resolve to bring up their half centuries. Bollinger (2-87) dismissed McCullum for 51 and Jeetan Patel for 3, but then took some stick from Tim Southee who crashed a 25 ball 45, 17 of them from one Bollinger over. Johnson was brought back on and summarily accounted for Brent Arnel (0) before cleaning up Southee.