Australia pacer James Pattinson gets bowled in bizarre manner in Sydney Test

Australia pacer James Pattinson got dismissed in a bizarre manner on Day 2 of the third Test against New Zealand in Sydney on Saturday in the bowling of Neil Wagner. The seamer’s bouncer hit the left-hand batsman’s helmet following which the ball bounced off his bat, shoulder and then the backside of his willow to softly hit the stumps. The bails were dislodged as a result and Pattinson was out for two off 20 balls.

One of Wagner’s ploys in this series has been to bounce the batters out and when the trick paid off, the ball hadn’t bounced too much. It was the fall of the eighth wicket for the home team as it put up a mammoth 454 in the first innings. Marnus Labuschagne hit his career-best 215 in the innings while Steve Smith made 63.

Wagner, one of the Kiwis’ top bowlers in the series who took 14 wickets in the first two Tests, was the pick of the bowlers again with 3 for 66 in 33.1 overs at an economy rate of less than two.

New Zealand chasing yet another huge Australia total

In reply, New Zealand were 63 for no loss after 29 overs at stumps with stand-in captain Tom Latham and centurion of Melbourne Tom Blundell batting on 26 and 34, respectively. New Zealand lost the earlier two Tests by 296 and 247 runs, respectively, to concede the series.

Latham was captaining New Zealand for the first time in Tests as regular skipper Kane Williamson was ruled out because of a prolonged illness. The visitors made five changes to their XI for the Test because a number of players have been plagued by illness.

Pattinson made a return to the Australian side since playing the Ashes last August. The 29-year-old seamer took six wickets in the second Test in Melbourne and said he was a year away from his best. Experts saw it as a warning to India who will be touring Down Under next Australian summer for a four-Test series and the Kangaroos will be eyeing to avenge their 1-2 loss of 2018-19.

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