Australia vs New Zealand, 2019-20: 2nd Test, Day 4 – Blundell's record knock, End of New Zealand’s unbeaten streak, Cummins' 2019 and more stats

Australia took a 2-0 winning lead in the 3-match Test series against New Zealand with a 247-run margin in the Boxing Day Test at the MCG. Australia declared their 2nd innings at 168/5 on the 4th day morning to set a target of 488 runs. New Zealand’s struggles with the bat continued but Tom Blundell showed grit with a brilliant hundred. Blundell scored 121 out of New Zealand’s total of 240 as was the 9th wicket to fall in the innings. The game came to a conclusion with that wicket as Trent Boult was absent hurt due to a fractured finger.

All the statistical highlights from Australia’s big victory in the Boxing Day Test match.

End of New Zealand’s unbeaten streak:

7 – This series defeat was New Zealand’s first since the 0-1 series loss against South Africa at home in 2017. Between these two series losses, New Zealand won five series and draw two series. It was New Zealand’s longest streak without losing a series in Test cricket.

A rare feat by Blundell:

2 – Tom Blundell scored a century in his maiden Test as a wicketkeeper and also in his maiden Test as an opener. He scored an unbeaten 107 against West Indies in 2017 on his Test debut while playing as a keeper. This Boxing Test at the MCG was his first Test as an opening batsman.

Sri Lanka’s Brendon Kuruppu is the only other player to score a century in the maiden Test as a keeper and also in maiden Test as an opener. In his Test debut against New Zealand in 1987, Kuruppu scored an unbeaten 201 where he played as a keeper and also opened the innings.

A big score in the 4th inning:

121 – Blundell’s 121 is now the highest 4th innings score in a Test by a New Zealand opener. The previous highest was 120 by Bryan Young in the 1994 Christchurch Test against Pakistan. Young’s 120 was the last of the previous three hundreds in 4th innings by NZ openers.

This is also the 4th highest individual score for New Zealand in 4th innings of a Test and the highest since Daniel Vettori’s 140 against Sri Lanka in 2009.

Blundell gets NZ’s first at the MCG:

1 – Tom Blundell became the first New Zealand player to score a Test century at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. He is the 3rd NZ player with an International hundred at the MCG after Bruce Edgar (102 in 1981) and Stephen Fleming (116 in 1998) who scored ODI hundreds here.

1997 – The last visiting player before Blundell to score a 4th innings Test century in Melbourne was South Africa’s Jacques Kallis in 1997. Blundell’s 121 is also the 2nd highest 4th innings score at the MCG in the last 90 years. Derek Randall scored 174 for England in the 1977 Test match against the hosts.

Cummins falls one short of 100:

99 – Pat Cummins finishes this year with 99 wickets across all formats in International Cricket. These are the most International wickets in a calendar year by a fast bowler since Mitchell Johnson’s 113 wickets in 2009. Among spin bowlers, Graeme Swann and Saeed Ajmal picked up 111 wickets in 2010 and 2013 respectively.