Captains create thrilling finish

All hail the two Stephens.

In a match that lost more than 150 overs in the middle three days to rain, the possibility of anything other than a draw being witnessed on the final day of the first Test was, at best, remote. But thanks to positive captaincy from New Zealand skipper Stephen Fleming and his Australian counterpart Steve Waugh, Test cricket again proved its amazing capacity to surprise in what turned out to be thrilling last-day run chase.

In truth, it would have been a galling upset had Australia lost the match after controlling so much of it. Yet, despite that, the game was all New Zealand’s to either win or draw through much of its final stages. In fact, when the equation was down to 21 required off 18 balls with the extraordinarily powerful Chris Cairns at the crease, it seemed certain New Zealand would record a stunning triumph.

A loss for either side would have raised questions about the wisdom of their declarations, especially in this match-fixing era, but ultimately both Stephen Fleming and Steve Waugh have to be applauded for wanting to win enough to risk embarrassing defeat and producing a thrilling final day.

In the morning it seemed that the one objective for New Zealand was to avoid the early loss of wickets, prevent Australia from gaining any momentum, and thus secure a draw. The Kiwis, however, had more positive intentions in mind.

Against an attacking field set for wickets, Chris Cairns took the positive approach in trying to wipe off the deficit with clean hitting. New Zealand scored at the brisk rate of a run a minute, despite Nathan Astle being made to hop and appear generally uncomfortable by the shorter length deliveries angled into him from McGrath and Gillespie. Astle was fortunate that none of several inside edges collected the stumps but Cairns needed no such luck, reaching his half-century from 54 balls.

Brett Lee replaced Gillespie and bowled with good rhythm, absent from McGrath’s spell, making the breakthrough when he had Astle caught behind from a regulation nick for 66. New Zealand were then 4/190.

Cairns became Lee’s fourth victim with the score at 243. Lee held the delivery back slightly and Cairns, shaping to hit the ball over the top, spooned a catch to cover for 61. With New Zealand still 44 runs from making Australia bat again, the Aussies had an outside chance to run through the tail and press for an unlikely victory.

One impressive aspect of New Zealand’s side is their batting depth, with accomplished keeper/batsman Parore at No. 8 and Nash, who can also wield the willow, at No. 9. The pair made life difficult for the Australians, blunting the best Lee and Warne could hurl at them with a period of dogged resistance, albeit with Nash barely surviving Lee frequently going past his edge.

The second new ball heralded the eighth wicket, and Lee’s fifth, thanks to a brilliant catch by Steve Waugh in the gully. Parore sliced Lee off a thick outer edge and Waugh, showing reflexes not befitting a 36-year-old, dived to his right to snare a one-hander off the ground that is sure to feature in the next classic catches segment. Importantly, it made New Zealand 8/271, still 16 behind the score they needed.

It could have been nine down for the same total when Vettori edged Lee’s next ball to Warne at slip. Warne, who earlier was seen practicing his shadow golf swing, must have had his mind on other things as he moved to his left and could only get one hand to the chance. That reprieve prompted Nash and Vettori to swing for it, throwing their bats at anything full.

A series of edges and mishits got New Zealand to the required 287 just before lunch when events first took an intriguing twist. Having averted the follow on, Stephen Fleming immediately declared, which both took the initiative and threw the onus back on rival skipper Steve Waugh.

Australia had not drawn a match for two years and it is well known that they believe in pursuing victory at all costs. In opening the window for a possible Australian declaration and fourth innings run chase in which New Zealand against all odds would have a chance at victory, Fleming tested the extent of Australia’s commitment to that philosophy.

Australia’s openers told you everything about their intentions: It was Adam Gilchrist, not Langer, who strode out to open with Hayden. Australia had accepted the challenge and in rattling up 84 in almost an hour, set a target fair for New Zealand.

Gilchrist and Hayden blasted 30 from four overs before Gilchrist was bowled by Cairns, charging down the pitch to a slower ball that slipped under the bat and clipped off stump. Hayden also fell victim to the limited overs mayhem, run out for 13 charging back for a third run after lofting Cairns over mid off. He was unfortunate, with the ball rebounding off Cairns’ knee back onto the stumps.

Ponting slapped 32 and Langer 18, with Fleming pushing the field back shortly before the declaration in an indication he thought Australia had enough. Waugh declared at 2/84, setting New Zealand 284 to win from a minimum of 57 overs (run rate required 4.98), a fair target given the pitch was effectively a third day wicket. The Test had become a limited overs match.

New Zealand stuck with their conventional opening pair, sending out Bell and Richardson, who could have been out first ball of the innings scrambling a single after digging out a Lee yorker, but Ponting’s throw to the bowler’s end missed by millimetres.

Interestingly, Waugh elected to give Lee and Gillespie first use of the new ball ahead of McGrath, either out of high regard for their first innings performances or because of doubts over McGrath’s form. It saw Richardson and Bell carry New Zealand to a positive 0/33 before McGrath replaced Gillespie after two overs, and promptly struck with his first ball. Bell was trapped plumb in front on the back foot for 5 by one that nipped back dramatically, a seemingly obvious decision until side-on replays suggested it would have carried over the top; umpire Harper again in the firing line.

Richardson, who had earlier chopped a Lee no-ball onto his stumps, went to tea 41 not out and New Zealand 1/55. With a minimum of 44 overs to be bowled in the last session, New Zealand required a further 229 at 5.2.

Richardson raised his fifty from 54 balls before being found lbw by Warne for 57. Richardson went across his stumps to sweep, Warne pitched on line of off and the ball went straight on. Australia then had both set batsmen within 8 minutes after Warne removed Sinclair for 23 to make New Zealand 3/90. The stumping was classic Warne, a leg-spinner drifting away to leg to entice Sinclair down the pitch before the ball ripped back sharply as he overbalanced looking to play to the on side.

In liaison with Nathan Astle, Stephen Fleming led from the front as the game scenario began to resemble a one-day match, or rather a limited-overs fifth day run chase, which was exactly what it was. The pair purposefully clipped the ball around the field and ran hard between the wickets, clearly batting to win, and the more the partnership blossomed the more it caused the Australians to keep one eye on the scoreboard.

The run rate required was above six but began to come down as Lee and Gillespie, despite generating some reverse swing, could not make the breakthrough. Shuffling his bowlers, Waugh turned to Mark Waugh and then back to Warne, who would so nearly become the villain.

With the partnership exactly 100, Astle succumbed on 49 when he swung wildly across the line to a ball tossed up outside off and skied a catch to Gillespie at mid off. Warne produced a wicket maiden but had also brought about the arrival of Chris Cairns, something of an Australian nemesis.

Cairns, with his intimidating open stance against the spinner, was New Zealand’s best hope. And he so nearly delivered. After Fleming and Cairns were initially restricted following the wicket, the runs/balls countdown became like a one-day international. With Australia only able to avoid defeat, New Zealand held the psychological edge entering the final ten over in which 79 were required.

Waugh took a considerable stride towards ensuring a draw when he ran out his counterpart for 57. Fleming struck the ball to cover and took off, failing to make his ground as Waugh’s throw hit from near side on. On his way off, Fleming spoke to incoming batsman Craig McMillan, apparently urging him to continue. With 70 needed off 48 and Warne bowling full outside leg, Cairns, nimble on his feet and immensely powerful, remained the one batsman capable of countering him.

The equation dropped from 52 off 30, after McMillan pulled McGrath for six, to 38 off 24, still seemingly in Australia’s favour…until Warne almost lost the match when 17 were blasted from what was his final over. Australia did have an opportunity to remove Cairns a little earlier when he smashed a McGrath full toss to Waugh at cover, where he put down the diving two-hander, which almost proved costly. In that Warne over, Cairns struck the spinner for a stunning six way over long on and when McMillan did likewise to Warne’s final ball, only 21 off 18 were needed.

Glenn McGrath unquestionably saved the match, bowling an over that was brilliant under the circumstances. After being correctly called for a couple of wides earlier in the spell, much to his disgust, McGrath pitched full and wide of off, hitting a length so good that McMillan was repeatedly unable to lay bat on ball as he looked to back away. He conceded just one and it brought the margin to back to 20 off 12.

Brett Lee was entrusted with the penultimate over, rewarding that faith when Cairns clipped a full ball swinging onto middle into the hands of Ponting at long on. The fact that Cairns had barely got hold of the ball and Ponting held the catch at chest height on the extremity of the long on boundary said everything about his power in an innings of 43 off 38.

With Cairns gone, the target was beyond reach, and New Zealand fell 10 short. Both captains, however, more than lived up to the mark.

Scorecard:
Australian 1st innings | New Zealand 1st innings
Australian 2nd innings | New Zealand 2nd innings