Christchurch [New Zealand], March 8 (ANI): Australian seamers Josh Hazelwood and Mitchell Starc’s exceptional performance bundled out New Zealand for 162 runs on Day 1 of the second Test of the two-match series at Hagley Oval on Friday.
At Day 1 Stumps, Australia are 124/4 and they still trail by 38 runs with Marnus Labuschange (45) and Nathan Lyon (1) unbeaten on the crease.
In reply to Kiwis 162 runs, as the visitors didn’t have the start which they wanted. Openers Steven Smith and Usman Khawaja were able to put on only 18 runs as as the former fell to Ben Sears after scoring 11 runs.
Australia lose the second wicket when the team score was 32. Khawaja was sent back to the pavilion after scoring 16 runs with the help of two fours.
After two wickets, Labuschange and Cameron Green built up a partnership of 49 runs before the latter was dismissed by right-arm seamer Matt Henry in the 27th over. He scored 25 which was laced by six boundaries before going back to the dressing room.
Travis Head was the fourth one to be dismissed. The southpaw amassed 21 off just 19 with the help of two fours and a six.
For the Blackcaps, three wickets were grabbed by Henry in the spell of 13 overs where he conceded 39 runs and bowled four maiden overs. One wicket was bagged by Sears in his spell of 11 overs where he conceded 98 runs and bowled three maiden overs.
Earlier in the day, New Zealand batted first after losing the toss. Whole team was dismissed for 162 runs. The highest run-getter for the hosts was Tom Latham who scored 38 runs with the help of seven boundaries.
Players like Henry (29), Tim Southee (26), Tom Blundell (22), Kane Williamson (17) and Will Young (14) also contributed some important runs to the team’s total.
The pick of the bowlers for Baggy Greens was Hazelwood who snapped five wickets in his spell of 13.2 overs where he conceded just 31 runs and bowled four maiden overs. Three wickets were taken by Starc in his spell of 12 overs where he conceded 59 runs.
One wicket each was taken by Pat Cummins and Cameron Green in their spells of 11 and 4 overs where they conceded 35 and 21 runs respectively.
Brief Score: Australia 124/4 in 36 overs (Marnus Labuschange 45*, Cameron Green 25, Matt Henry 3/39) vs New Zealand 162 in 45.2 overs (Tom Latham 38, Matt Henry29, Josh Hazelwood 5/31). (ANI)
