David Warner suspects the second Test could be a final-hour thriller, with Kane Williamson continuing to play a defiant hand on New Zealand’s tour of Australia.
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At one stage Australia were 512 for four on Saturday, but they collapsed after lunch with New Zealand spinner Craig (3-123) on a hat-trick as the wickets tumbled in the chase for quick runs.
Khawaja recovered from knee surgery to regain his place in the Australia side and will be eager to avoid another lay-off after seemingly making the number three spot his own in the last week or so. Their first reward was the key wicket of Warner, who had savaged the tourists with two centuries in the first test at the Gabba and his maiden double century on Friday.
Williamson continued from where he left off in his 140 and 59 in the first test in Brisbane with a plucky half century bringing it up with his seventh four, an exquisite cover drive off leftarm swing bowler Mitchell Johnson. It was Boult’s second wicket of the day after claiming the vital Warner wicket.
New Zealand offspinner Mark Craig took wickets in successive deliveries, having Starc caught on the long-on boundary, and then wicketkeeper B.J.Watling stumped Mitchell Johnson.
A career-best 253 by Dave Warner has all but shut New Zealand out of the test match and gave Australia a stranglehold to force a win and take the series 2-0.
Left-arm paceman Mitchell Starc trapped Martin Guptill lbw for one in the third over of New Zealand’s innings, while Tom Latham (36) fell to Nathan Lyon after raising 81 runs with Williamson.
What made the Black Caps’ response even more notable was the high-30s heat they had to operate in. The reality was much different as the captain was shackled, particularly by Southee, and scored from just nine of the first 53 deliveries he faced on day two. All five first-innings totals in those matches have exceeded 500 (average 544), and with last summer’s pitches widely castigated as being too batsmen-friendly, it’s been more of the same to date in this series.
Smith was the next to go, caught behind off Matt Henry for 27.
If he had plans to imminently declare the choice of shot would have been explicable.
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Smith is cautiously confident, especially given most of the current New Zealand team have never played at the WACA.
