Australia vs New Zealand 1st Test Day 5 Review: Australia completes a thumping win as NZ batsmen falter

Australia vs New Zealand 1^st Test Day 5 Review: Australia completes a thumping win as NZ batsmen falter: In a somewhat anti-climatic finish to what was expected after yesterday’s final session, Australia completed the formalities of cleaning up the New Zealand batting order. Despite forecasts about rain affecting the final day’s play, the conditions came out to be perfect for play, and the Aussies bowled out the visitors with more than a session to spare. For New Zealand, things were looking downhill post the dismissal of Kane Williamson, and quite predictably, with the exception of captain McCullum, everyone faltered.

Earlier, Josh Hazlewood provided the Aussies with the early breakthrough, picking out the out of form Ross Taylor with a short delivery. In came James Neesham, who is ruled out of the series due to back injury. Neesham gave good company to the captain, McCullum, who looked positive against the Aussie bowlers. Both these batsmen ensured that NZ did not suffer any more casualties going into lunch.

After lunch, McCullum continued to make merry out of the Australian batsmen, getting to his half-century off just 44 deliveries. Meanwhile, Johnson equaled Brett Lee’s tally in Test cricket by picking out Neesham with some excellent short stuff.

But Nathan Lyon engineered a collapse which resulted in the black caps losing 3 wickets in the space of 9 balls. Watling, the new batsman in the crease, took an ambitious review in an attempt to overturn the umpire’s call. But the dismissal was as plumb as it could have been, and New Zealand exhausted all their reviews. In a cruel twist of fate, McCullum was judged out when the ball had failed to touch the bat at all. Marsh made a short work of Bracewell, and the match’s outcome was pretty much sealed in Australia’s favor.

Albeit a little resistance from the tail, Hazelwood and Starc picked out the final two batsmen to seal Australia’s victory by a huge margin of 208 runs. And Steve Smith, the newly appointed captain for the baggy green, started the new era with a thumping victory, thanks to an incredible overall performance, especially from his deputy Warner. New Zealand, meanwhile, will rue on missed opportunities to savage a draw in a batting friendly pitch.

Summary

Clear skies ensured that Australia had the luxury to have enough bowlers to wrap up the Test, and they did it quite convincingly. Thanks to a collapse triggered by Lyon, the Australians wrapped up the Test with more than a session to spare. The New Zealanders, meanwhile, will look to regroup going into the second Test, especially sort out the injury concerns.

Scorecard

Australia 556/4 decl & 264/4 decl

New Zealand 317 & 295 (McCullum 80, Williamson 59; Lyon 3-63)

David Warner Man of the Match