THE opening day of the first day-night Test was as lively as organisers could have wished for with the pink ball swinging under lights and the crowd swelling to 47,441 as Australia struggled to stumps at 54-2 after bowling New Zealand out for 202 on Friday.
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“I think the wicket here compared to the two Shield games that have been played on it and particularly the pink ball shield game we played, it looked like the grass was a bit more lively”.
“The whole Test match was a great innovation, it was a great spectacle, and to get 120,000 people through the gates in three days is absolutely fantastic”, said Australia’s Smith.
New Zealand’s held a tenuous 94-run lead in the absorbing day-night third Test after a second day of tumbling wickets at the Adelaide Oval on Saturday. It was closely fought.
“It’s pretty hard to separate the two teams over the last two Test matches”, New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum told reporters. The two home tests should be crackers.
He lost his younger brother, Mitch, during the final session when he was caught holing out to spinner Mitchell Santner for 28, with 26 runs still needed of victory. A 49-run stand with Adam Voges steadied Australia, until Boult induced an edge to slip from Voges on 28.
After being set 187 to win, the hosts were rocked by the double loss of key batsmen Smith and David Warner in the space of seven balls.
The Kiwis eventually polished off the tail when Nevill lofted to Santner to give Doug Bracewell impressive figures of 3-18.
He challenged the lbw decision, but the TV umpire confirmed the dismissal after the ball tracker showed it hitting the bails. But the Hawk Eye technology had the ball just flicking the leg bail and that was enough to back up umpire Richard Illingworth’s on-field decision.
Smith left the field shaking his head after scoring just 14 and leaving his team on a precarious 66 for three, still 121 runs away from victory.
Shaun along with his brother Mitchell Marsh shared a crucial 46-run partnership which put Australia in the driver’s seat towards the end of the match.
New Zealand 2nd innings (overnight 116 for 5): T Latham c Nevill b Hazlewood 10, M Guptill c M Marsh b Hazlewood 17, K Williamson c Nevill b M. Marsh 9, R Taylor lbw b Hazlewood 32, B McCullum lbw b M. Marsh 20, M Santner stpd Nevill b Lyon 45, BJ Watling c Smith b Hazlewood 7, M Craig c Nevill b Hazlewood 15, D Bracewell not out 27, T Southee c Lyon b M. Marsh 13, T Boult b Hazlewood 5. His career-best 6 for 70 – and nine wickets for the Test – made him Man of the Match, and he stepped up as leader of the attack in the absence of the injured Starc.
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Fired by a five-wicket haul by seamer Trent Boult, who swung the specially developed pink ball with venom, New Zealand mowed through the top order and captured late wickets to turn what should have been a procession into a cliff-hanger.
