Cricket Australia chief James Sutherland has floated the prospect of two day-night Test matches next summer after declaring the first day of cricket’s new age an overwhelming success. But it could have been radically different.
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Concerns were, however, raised about the behaviour of the pink ball, unveiled for the first time at Test level, which came in for much criticism before the match.
Lyon walked nearly to the boundary after watching the replay of the incident but later returned when TV umpire Nigel Llong decided the Hot Spot blur on the bat was not conclusive.
The New Zealanders were particularly thrilled to remove Warner, who had scored 555 runs for the series going into last night’s innings.
The Kiwis snared Steve Smith’s prized wicket nearing the interval when he charged off-spinner Craig only to be caught by wicketkeeper B.J. Watling to end the skipper’s lone vigil as wickets tumbled around him.
New Zealand suffered an early setback after winning the toss when Martin Guptill fell lbw to Josh Hazlewood in the fourth over of the day.
The Black Caps destroyed the Australian innings with effective swing and then spin to keep the pressure firmly on the home side s scoring.
It was all New Zealand in the session as they captured six wickets for 62 to have the Australians on the run in a startling turnaround of fortunes. Some brilliant fielding by McCullum ended Shaun Marsh’s innings. Ross Taylor, his double century hitting partner in their 265-run stand for the third wicket in Perth, struck three centuries in as many tests against the West Indies in the 2013-14 season.
Smith and Adam Voges resumed with Australia on 54-2 but were under immediate assault, with Tim Southee inducing an edge off Voges that flew just beyond the reach of third slip in the third over of the session.
Marsh was on two when a diving Brendon McCullum made the most of his hesitation, throwing down the stumps at the non-striker’s end.
Marsh’s younger brother Mitchell fared scarcely better, adding only four runs before being caught behind having prodded needlessly at a Doug Bracewell delivery.
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The Aussies will still back themselves to get close to New Zealand’s score in the first two sessions today, after negotiating a tricky evening session for the loss of two wickets last night.
