New Zealand v Australia: second Test, day three – live | Australia cricket team

63rd over: New Zealand 188-3 (Ravindra 37, Mitchell 18) Lyon likes his possibilities right here. In the absence of spin he’s began floating it into what quantities to tough. He beats Mitchell on the third however Daryl responds brightly on the rebound, leaping out to strike a beautiful six down the bottom. A reverse sweep sees Smith diving to his proper at leg slip once more. Was {that a} catch?

62nd over: New Zealand 181-3 (Ravindra 36, Mitchell 12) BANG goes Daryl Mitchell! Starc put it full and large and there’s no motion on the market but so Mitchell stands and delivers, driving for 4 down the bottom. Great shot by Mitchell D off Mitchell S.

61st over: New Zealand 177-3 (Ravindra 36, Mitchell 8) Cummins will get Lyon on the road. Mitchell does properly to reverse sweep the second supply for a single that scythes alongside the patchworked turf right here at Hagley Oval. Ravindra tries a special tactic, stepping again and driving down the bottom with a excessive elbow for a single. Mitchell revisits the reverse sweep on the fourth however Steve Smith is in a leg slip lure and he begins shifting the moment Mitchell unfurls the stroke and saves 4 as he bats it down. Freaky abilities from Smudge.

sixtieth over: New Zealand 174-3 (Ravindra 35, Mitchell 6) Top edge! But it falls into area and Ravindra survives. That was a candy nut from Cummins and the younger Black Cap prodigy second-guessed himself halfway via the hook shot. Again the intent was attacking. Ravindra is a batter who backs himself. Timid he ain’t. So he banks a boundary, his third of his 72-ball innings.

59th over: New Zealand 165-3 (Ravindra 31, Mitchell 6) Need a spark? Bring on Starc. And right away large Mitch attracts a graceful and a mish from Rachin Ravindra. Beautiful ball first up from the person who moved previous Dennis Lillee on the wicket-takers record within the first innings. Ravindra sends his personal type of congratulations for that feat – a sweetly laced drive down the bottom for 4.

58th over: New Zealand 165-3 (Ravindra 26, Mitchell 6) Almost a run-out! Non-striker Ravindra set off for the only and Mitchell – who makes a behavior of over-compensating for a scarcity of runs with an overload of decibels in his calling – sends him again.

Simon McMahon has chimed in: “Evening Angus. Just watched the Mitch Marsh speech for the first time, and I’m not crying. It’s just raining on my face. We need more of that, please. What a guy. Still rooting for New Zealand, though.”

Let ‘em flow, Simon. Happens to the best of us while making a lasagna.

57th over: New Zealand 163-3 (Ravindra 26, Mitchell 4) Mitchell gets a well-legged two after working Hazlewood off his toes. Now Ravindra angles his bat and slides two down to third man. After snaring 5-31 from 1`3 overs in the first innings, Hazlewood’s figures at the moment are 0-43 from 18 within the second. New Zealand lead by 69.

56th over: New Zealand 157-3 (Ravindra 23, Mitchell 1) Alex Carey is respiration a bit of simpler. His fumble of Latham final evening has solely value his aspect a handful of runs and he was key to Cummins reviewing that double-noise the skipper detected. Now Daryl Mitchell is on the crease enjoying and lacking. I do know he’s a senior man on this aspect – 32-years-old – however he’s solely bought 22 Tests to his title and he’s appeared very ropey all sequence.

Cummins strikes! He bought the ball to rear and transfer again a bit of and it caught Latham fending. There had been two noises detectable right away and the umpire mentioned ‘Yeah but nah’ however Cummins reviewed and there was a wee smidge of bat on it earlier than it defloected onto the thigh pad. Early breakthrough for Australia!

fifty fifth over: New Zealand 155-2 (Latham 73, Ravindra 22) Misfield by Australia! That was the usually impeccable Marnus Labuschagne in shut and his fumble on the fly delivers three to Ravindra. Now Latham will get three too, driving Hazlewood via mid on. Ravindra is into the 20s now however we all know he can go large…

54th over: New Zealand 149-2 (Latham 70, Ravindra 19) Cummins is zeroing in on the timber right here, various his tempo, trying to catch Latham lbw. Not a lot motion to be detected so far. How quickly earlier than we see Nathan Lyon launched I ponder? He has solely bowled six overs on this innings to date. Cummins delivers a maiden.

53rd over: New Zealand 149-2 (Latham 70, Ravindra 19) If Josh Hazlewood was disenchanted by Carey dropping Latham final evening he didn’t let it present. Cool as ice, he winced and spun on his heel to go once more. Now he’s charging exhausting, eager to snuff Latham’s second life earlier than it unspools an excessive amount of farther. It all goes to plan for 5 balls because the batter stays pinned in his crease by sensible size bowling. But Latham leans into the marginally fuller and straighter remaining supply and clips it the fence for 4.

52nd over: New Zealand 144-2 (Latham 66, Ravindra 18) Statement of intent right here from Pat Cummins. He retains Starc on ice and takes the opening spell himself. The captain bowled magnificently final evening to extract Kane Williamson. But right away Ravindra accepts the problem, rising on his toes to the second ball and slashing it to the rope. Runs a single on the following. Latham is the senior man on this partnership however Ravindra is the hazard for Australia. Young, aggressive, with a gimlet eye and a full arsenal of strokes, he may prolong this 50-run lead in a short time.

51st over: New Zealand 138-2 (Latham 65, Ravindra 13) Josh Hazlewood should’ve miscounted his run-up. He begins the day with a no-ball, very uncharacteristic by The Hoff. Ravindra runs a fast single and will get a bonus run into the cut price as Mitchell Marsh’s run-out try ricochets awkwardly off the stumps. Now an edge! But Ravindra’s mushy arms ship it on the bounce to Steve Smith at second slip. He readjusts his mark, taking a half-step ahead. Australia will nonetheless be smarting from Alex Carey’s diving fumble final evening that spared Tom Latham. How a lot will it value them?

Pundits are selecting this as a batting day. The Hagley Oval wicket reveals few indicators of cracks and nonetheless has tinges of inexperienced. There’s a “wee nor’easter” sliding in however the skies are blue and cloudless. Mitch Marsh says its been cricket wicket for 2 days to date. “Who can break the game open for Australia? “Me, hopefully!”

As Josh Hazlewood marks out his run-up for the primary over of the day, right here’s one other squiz at Marsh’s now-legendary Allan Border Medal speech…

Blue skies and light breezes here at Hagley Oval. Australia will come out swinging in a bid for early breakthroughs. New Zealand will look to knuckle down to survive this first session hoping to make hay later in the day. Batting conditions are improving by the hour so the Black Caps need to supercharge this slender 40-run lead to give Australia a chase big enough to get their nerves jangling and their mind playing tricks on them.

Merv Hughes – 212 wickets from 53 Tests – is at the ground today sporting his trademark handlebar moustache, now white as the froth of a 1989 Fosters Lager. Apparently he grew the mo on a backpacking odyssey around Australia as a young tearaway and hasn’t shaved it since. Here’s his hat-trick ball against the West Indies in 1988-89, complete with a trademark Swervin’ Mervyn send-off.

For those that got here in late, right here’s how Day 2 performed out…

Welcome to day three and a second Test on a knife’s edge.

After 14 wickets fell on a frenetic opening day, Day Two took a different path – surging then steadying before eventually settling into the slow, delicious simmer of classic Test cricket.

Thanks to Marnus Labuschagne (90) and tail-wagging from Nathan Lyon (20), Mitchell Starc (28) and Pat Cummins (23), Australia defied a seven wicket collapse after tea to build a 94-run first innings lead.

But, inspired by Matt Henry’s magnificent haul of 7-47 and Glenn Phillips’ flying catch to deny Labuschagne his 12th Test century, New Zealand dug in and duked their way to a position of power at stumps.

Kane Williamson and Tom Latham put on a partnership of 105 to wipe Australia’s lead and put the home side ahead. Some Pat Cummins magic got rid of Williamson for 51 but wicketkeeper Alex Carey undid the good work by dropping Latham late.

Latham resumes on 65 not out this morning with the dangerous Rachin Ravindra – fresh from his epic 240 against South Africa last month – unbeaten on 11. It puts New Zealand 40 runs ahead on 134-2 with eight wickets in hand and three days to play.

Can the Kiwis avenge their 172-run loss in Wellington last week? Is their first victory over Australia on home soil for 31 years slowly winking into existence? Or will normal service resume and see this all-conquering Australia side blast back into ascendancy?

Buckle ‘em up and batten ‘em down, of us – the primary ball of Day 3 is nigh!