WELLINGTON: New Zealand crumbled to be all out for 183 as Josh Hazlewood and Peter Siddle ensured Australia took early honours on the opening day of the first Test in Wellington on Friday.
Australian captain Steve Smith called correctly at the toss and put New Zealand in to bat on a green-tinged wicket that Hazlewood and Siddle exploited to the maximum.
They had New Zealand reeling at five for 51 in the 12th over before a determined knock by Corey Anderson and some lusty hitting at the end by Mark Craig and Trent Boult stretched the innings through to 48 overs.
Craig and Boult put on 46 for the 10th wicket, New Zealand's best partnership, which ended with Craig unbeaten on 41 and Boult caught by a quick-thinking Usman Khawaja on the boundary.
Khawaja had the presence of mind to catch the ball and immediately flick it high in the air as he fell over the boundary rope before stepping back into the field of play to complete the dismissal.
Hazlewood took four for 42 and Siddle three for 37, with all seven wickets caught in the cordon behind the stumps as New Zealand struggled to cope with full-length deliveries that moved off the deck.
Nathan Lyon mopped up the tail with three for 32 including the wicket of Anderson (38) who had stopped the initial wicket slide for New Zealand.
He occupied the crease for 15 overs with BJ Watling as the two set about stopping the tumble of wickets, putting on 37 runs between them.
He then featured in a 10-over stand with Craig that produced 40 runs as they tried to knock the Australian bowlers off their length.
Craig had one element of luck in his innings when a Mitchell Marsh delivery hit his leg stump but the bails were not dislodged.
For New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum it was a dismal way to mark his 100th Test.
He was in the middle after 38 minutes, much sooner than he would have hoped, and was gone without scoring seven balls later.
Comments
Comments are closed.