Australia captain Pat Cummins bowled Kane Williamson in the final hour of play on day two of the second Test in Christchurch on Saturday and the batting maestro threatened to upset New Zealand A game ahead.
With 14 wickets knocked down on day one and a further seven wickets before tea, Williamson and Tom Latham hit the pause button on a frantic game and their The partnership scored 105, erasing Australia’s first-innings lead and giving the home team a 17-run lead.
Cummins returned to bowling in the early evening gloom and bowled his first delivery, and Williamson dragged the ball to the stumps while trying to bat and walked away shaking his head, scoring 51 runs.
Opener Latham was later caught out by Australian wicketkeeper Alex Carey but got to the stumps for 65 not out and will face Rachin Ravindra on Sunday Recovering together, Ravindra remained unbeaten in 11 games as New Zealand finished with 134 runs and a 40-run lead between the two teams.
“It’s nice to be able to get some partnerships going and hopefully tomorrow we can get a few more and try again,” Williamson said. “It’s great to be ahead at the moment, we’ll just have to see how much of a lead we can get. No goals at the moment, just hitting the ball and implementing the plan.”
New Zealand were beaten by 172 runs in Wellington last week, trailing 1-0 in both Tests and have not beaten Australia at home in 31 years.
Seamus Matt Henry earlier bowled 7-67 to keep the Black Caps at bay as New Zealand dismissed Australia for 256 and limited the visitors’ first-innings advantage to 94 runs.
Marnus Labuschagne rediscovered his batting touch with a 90-run stand to make up much of the lead, but was left stranded by New Zealand skipper Tim Southee’s bowling. Glenn Phillips’ unparalleled flying catch over the gully cost him a chance at a 12th Test century.
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The run out saw Australia bowled out the hosts for 162 on Friday and resume play on 124-4 to go into lunch on 221-8 before Henry added Mitchell Starc (28) and Pat Cummins (23) Substituted, ending the typically stiff rear resistance.
Nathan Lyon, who has been a night-watchman in this series, got his tail early but Henry restricted him to 20 on Saturday as he took five wickets for the second consecutive game Door.
Starc struck early for Australia, removing Will Young with a delightfully rising ball that flew off the shoulder of the opener’s bat and into the gloves of Alex Carey behind the stumps.
