NZ tour of Oz, Dec 12 - Jan 7

[mikesiva]

Wagner removed Warner. Again.

[GarlicJam]

It took Smith thirty nine (39) balls to get off the mark.

Maybe he is determined not to let Wagner get him this time?

[mikesiva]

Labuschagne gets another half century!

[Arthur Crabtree]

Good start to the year for the Aussies.

But are Labu and Smith among the five cricketers of last year?

viewtopic.php?f=4&t=21984

[Arthur Crabtree]

Smith out. But Aussies way out ahead again.

[GarlicJam]

I just watched Wagner do something that will win over a fair few cricket fans, I reckon.

The new ball is 7 overs old, Wagner is bowling to Wade, serves him up a wide one on a good lemgth and gets smacked through the covers. The next three are bouncers which were ducked, pulled for six and pulled for four. All three boundaries were great shots, in control, by Wade.

End of the over, we see footage of Wagner and Wade sharing a fist bump and a laugh/smile.

Good attitude from Wagner (not so sure we'd see the same from many Aus bowlers) and good respect between the two.

[GarlicJam]

With one over to go, it has been a pretty good day for Aus - but NZ started behind the 8-ball, with the chaos of player availability and team selection issues, then losing the toss.

[bigfluffylemon]

What a disaster tour for NZ. I didn't necessarily expect them to win, but I expected so much better than this.

[alfie]

Yeah disappointed in this series. I thought NZ were potentially competitive but nothing has gone for them from the off ...injuries , illness and they've found themselves chasing big scores in each match : still cannot believe Williamson threw away their one chance to bat first !
This match they are just about down to the baggage handler as next replacement...

Labuschagne the new Smith ? Seems he can do no wrong at present . I quite liked him even back in UAE ; but didn't think he was this good. If he keeps this up he's going to rewrite the record books ! Australia not suffering for Smith becoming merely mortal

Only one way this match is going now , for all Wagner's indomitable spirit.

[yuppie]

It might be time to admit that i did not think Manus would turn out this good.

Though his opposition this summer has not been up to much, but fair play to him, head and shoulders above everyone else at present.

The summer tests have turned out to be very one sided. Pakistan was not a surprise, but like many, this NZ has really been a disappointment.

It does feel like that Australia has got its mojo back though, which should make next summer series against India a lot more interesting. I just hope the ACB do not alow India to dictate the tour to them.

Wagner and his on field spirit has been great to see.

[mikesiva]

Wade out to Somerville for his overnight score of 22.

Labuschagne passes 150!

Finally out for 215.


Australia 454 all out

Wagner 3-66
de Grandhome 3-78

[Arthur Crabtree]

Nine hour knock from Labuschagne. Fine effort.

[GarlicJam]

Nine hour knock from Labuschagne. Fine effort.

It was.

bBut it was NZ's day. imo. Full credit to them. They fought hard all day, and limited Aus, then wrapped up the tail pretty well.

Surviving until stumps was a good start for tomorrow. Still, they have a bit to do to make up for yesterday, but a good scrapping day from them.

[alfie]

Were scrapping pretty well this morning too...until the last few minutes. Raval had actually played quite well until he pushed indecisively at Lyon and fell lbw - wasting a review as he did - and then Latham tossed all his good work away with a tame clip of Cummins straight to mid on. Two wickets in five minutes and they've slumped from 117/1 to 119/3.

Australia will be all over the two new bats now with twenty minutes to lunch...

[mikesiva]

Three starts which failed to carry on, like Marnus did....

Blundell 34
Latham 49
Raval 31