Stumps day two: New Zealand 202 (Latham 50, Starc 3-24) and 116-5, Australia 224 (Smith 53, Nevill 66, Bracewell 3-18)
The pink ball
All eyes were on Adelaide yesterday as the history-making Test match between Australia and New Zealand got under way. A pink ball is being used in this game as a Test match had a nighttime session for the very first time. By the time that final session was in full swing under the lights and a brilliant sunset-red sky, 47,500 were packed into the Adelaide Oval to be part of the spectacle.
Before the game there had been much conjecture about how well the pink ball would hold up, given it was relatively untested in First-Class cricket. Equally, how the conditions would change when the lights came on and dusk fell was also a source of much debate.
By the end of day one the cricket world breathed a sigh of relief; the pink ball held up just fine, the conditions in the evening session changed but not so much that it was unfair to the batting team and, most importantly, there was a cracking game of cricket in progress.
On day one New Zealand subsided from a decent position at 94-2 to 202 all out, losing wickets at regular intervals as no batsman could go on to play a major innings. Tom Latham top-scored for the Kiwis with 50 as Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood picked up three wickets apiece. In the nighttime session Australia dug in and, despite losing David Warner and Joe Burns cheaply, they would have been satisfied with their day’s work, reaching 54-2 by the close.
Day two — New Zealand fight back in the first session
Day two started with the Australians anticipating a good day’s batting ahead in the sunshine of South Australia, hoping to build a sizeable lead to take them a large part of the way to securing a 2-0 series victory over their closest geographical cricketing neighbours. The Kiwis, however, had other ideas as they roared their way back into the game in the first session, albeit aided by some soft Australian dismissals.
Adam Voges was first to go for 13, playing across the line to a ball on off-stump and edging to Martin Guptill in the slips.
Shaun Marsh did’t last long either. Recalled to the Australian side for a sixth time in just a 16-Test career, he looked nervous throughout his stay at the crease and this lead to ultimately lead to his downfall for two. Pushing the ball towards Brendon McCullum at mid-off Marsh waited, watched, set off, stopped, hesitated, started again and was ultimately run out by a country mile as his skipper Steve Smith looked disgusted at the other end. For a man with a patchy Test record who is frequently left out of the side, this was not a piece of cricket that will secure him a long-term berth in the Australian middle order.
His brother Mitch Marsh didn’t last long either, hanging his bat out to a delivery holding its line outside the off-stump to edge Doug Bracewell through to the keeper. However, Steve Smith was still there, and he passed yet another half-century, looking composed and in control. That was, however, until off-spinner Mark Craig produced a peach of a delivery. Bowling around the wicket and across the batsman to land the ball outside off-stump, Craig lured Smith down the track going for a big heave over long-on, but he only succeeded in getting an inside edge that BJ Watling did very well to pouch past leg-stump to send Smith back for 53.
Mitch Santner bagged his first wicket in international cricket on debut on the stroke of the tea break (or what would normally be the lunch break at the end of the first session) and New Zealand had hustled through most of the Australian line-up in the first session, taking 6-62.
Third umpire controversy
The turning point of the day, however, came soon after lunch. Australia were on 118-8 at the time when Nathan Lyon tried to sweep Santner. The ball bounced and ballooned up off his should to be pouched at slip. New Zealand reviewed immediately, believing there was a top-edge on the way up before the ball hit his shoulder. The third umpire Nigel Long had a long look at it and, despite there being a mark on the bat from Hot Spot, gave it not out, much to New Zealand’s disbelief.
Lyon, upon seeing the mark on his bat on the big screen, walked most of the way back to the pavilion before being called back. He couldn’t believe his luck and took advantage, going into overdrive. Whilst certainly not the worst tail-end batsman in the world, he’s equally no Sachin Tendulkar. However, that didn’t stop him sweeping New Zealand’s spinners to distraction, smacking three fours through the leg side and picking up a beauty off Craig to send him sailing over the rope for six. All the while at the other end keeper Peter Nevill was playing a superb innings, looking every inch a quality Test match batsman.
When Lyon was finally caught in the gully for 34, he and Nevill had added record-equalling partnership for the ninth wicket in Trans-Tasman contests between these two nations, with a crucial stand of 74.
Mitchell Starc hobbled out at number 11, batting with a broken foot sustained when bowling on day one. He was given out LBW first ball but reviewed successfully and he too took a liking to Mark Craig, smashing him for two fours and two sixes in the same over to heave his way to an entertaining 24* from just 15 balls.
Nevill was last man out for a well-played 66, brilliantly caught by a diving Santner out at deep cover and Australia somehow had a lead of 22. That was an excellent recovery from 118-8, albeit had Nathan Lyon been given out by the third umpire things could have been very different.
New Zealand’s openers weathered a tricky few overs ahead of the dinner break and came out to bat again for their first taste of batting at nighttime in a Test with the scores all level.
The Nighttime Session
As the players emerged for the night session, the folk of Adelaide continued to come into the stadium, swelling the attendance past 40,000 for the second consecutive day. The evening dusk crept over the ground and the floodlights took over the job of illuminating the pitch, with the atmosphere becoming noticeably more intense.
Despite being shorn of Mitchell Starc’s services, Australia struck early through Hazlewood as Guptill pushed at one outside off-stump and was caught in the slip cordon for 17. With the ball starting to do a bit in the air and off the pitch, Hazlewood and Peter Siddle gave the batsmen nothing as they probed away on a good line and length.
Latham battled hard, scoring 10 from 44 balls, before flashing at a tempter from Hazlewood that he threw out slightly wider of off-stump, nicking off to Nevill behind the stumps. Kane Williamson was next to go, feathering the faintest of edges through to Nevill to give Mitch Marsh his first wicket of the innings as the sun set and the sky glowed bright orange on the horizon.
By this point, Australia were on a roll and the ball was nibbling around aplenty, similar to the first morning of a Test match in England in early June. Ross Taylor and Brendon McCullum tried to be positive when given the opportunity, and Mitch Marsh was more expensive than the other seamers, but he picked up two big scalps. Having already snicked out Williamson, Marsh took the key wicket of McCullum, who had earlier survived one LBW review but not a second, when he was pinned bang in front to leave the Kiwis wobbling on 84-4.
Ross Taylor, fresh from making a record-breaking 290 in the previous Test, was the key for New Zealand if they were to post any sort of target for Australia to chase in the fourth innings. Dropped on nought, he was starting to look settled, but the impressive Hazlewood struck again. The bowler kept the ball pitched up and Taylor’s head fell across the line outside off-stump; the result was he missed the ball which cannoned into his pads right in front of middle-stump, leaving the Kiwis in big trouble at 98-5.
Santner and Watling saw the Kiwis to the close without further loss as they ended on 116-5, 94 ahead. It’s likely that these two will need to put on a big partnership tomorrow afternoon if they are to set their hosts a target that will test them.
The final official attendance for the day was 42,372. Whilst it’s early days yet as far as day-night Test cricket is concerned, if the cricket continues to be as good as this, the crowds will continue to come.
