The Trans-Tasman series continued its practice of record-setting asAustralia rammed home the advantage on the third day of the third test inHamilton
Chris Rosie02-Apr-2000The Trans-Tasman series continued its practice of record-setting asAustralia rammed home the advantage on the third day of the third test inHamilton.Adam Gilchrist finished with 10 catches, breaking the Australian record fora wicket-keeper’s dismissals in a test, and Justin Langer’s 50 off 42 ballsbroke by one ball the previous Australian test speed record.Around the individual Australian highlights, New Zealand were left rueing aninability to develop substantial partnerships, the best being the 55 for theeighth wicket between Chris Cairns and Paul Wiseman. The result was a targetfor Australia of 210, which Langer’s contribution threatened to see writtenoff in one session.After a 20-minute delay in the morning, New Zealand resumed at 58 for 3.Showers had arrived in Hamilton earlier than forecast and Glenn McGrath andBrett Lee took up the attack under heavy overcast skies with furtherinterruptions expected.The interruption to Spearman’s innings came even earlier. In Lee’s secondover of the morning after both batsmen had produced confident drives in theV, the opener played defensively down one line, the ball went down another,taking the edge in the process, and Adam Gilchrist did the rest.Spearman went for 35 at 71, making way for Craig McMillan, the majorcontributor to the first innings.Astle brought his early-innings waft out of the closet, missing with one,picking up a four over gully with another. But he also unleashed a punishingdrive to the mid-on boundary off McGrath.It was Shane Warne who broke what was developing into a productivepartnership. Astle failed to take sufficient account of the turn andGilchrist had his second catch of the morning. Astle had contributed 26, thewicket falling at 111.Chris Cairns replaced one Canterbury team-mate to join another. He surviveda hopeful appeal for a catch off Warne from the pad to Mark Waugh at firstslip. But, on the last ball before lunch, Warne had more success, the ballgoing from bat to pad to Waugh for McMillan to depart for30, with the score at 130 and Cairns on 10.Adam Parore came out after lunch with Cairns, New Zealand holding a slenderadvantage of 110 with four wickets in hand. The pair brought up the NZ 150in the 31st over of the day, taking 252 minutes.Cairns survived a confident Warne appeal for a first-slip catch, the rulingpresumably that the ball had not carried to a tumbling Mark Waugh. However,a change at the grandstand end brought a quick halt to yet anotherdeveloping partnership. With the third ball of his new spell, McGrathextracted a slash from Parore and Gilchrist did the rest, in the processtaking his ninth catch of the test.Parore had contributed 16, his departure bringing Paul Wiseman to the wicketwith New Zealand holding an advantage of 145 and just three wickets to fall.Wiseman was given an early going over by McGrath while at the other endSteve Waugh brought himself on to replace Warne. Wiseman was getting theshort-pitched treatment from both ends as Waugh bounced him, albeit at amore leisurely pace.Wiseman, who was ending up with much of the strike, gained sympatheticapplause for a couple of singles; the applause was considerably moregenerous when he pulled Waugh for four behind square.Miller returned for McGrath at the grandstand end after the drinks break andwas greeted by Cairns in two minds – the silky one with a fine touch pastbackward point for four and the belligerent one with a lofted drive bouncingover the mid-wicket boundary.Warne was given the treatment as well, Cairns turning square and virtuallystraight driving it off the back foot for six over square leg. The shotbrought up NZ’s 200 in 310 minutes.However, it was new ball time. Brett Lee took up the attack from thegrandstand end and immediately found the edge of Wiseman’s bat – twice.Frustratingly for Lee, the edges brought eight runs courtesy of two fours,the first through slips, the second past the stumps and Gilchrist.McGrath and Lee were resorting to their quota of bouncers; the New Zealandpair were evading them with disdainful aplomb until Lee got one to rise onWiseman, it took the glove and ballooned away for Gilchrist to take thecatch, his 10th in the match. Wiseman had contributed 16.Daryl Tuffey joined Cairns but their partnership was short. In the very nextover, Cairns, after sending McGrath through mid-wicket, played across theline and was clean bowled for 71, compiled in 136 minutes and including 10fours and two sixes.The last pair came together with the score at 228. They did not last long,Shayne O’Connor going lbw to Lee in the next over without scoring. Theinnings closed at 229, the last three wickets falling for nine runs.Brett Lee finished the innings with three for 46, McGrath two for 50, Millertwo for 58 and Warne two for 61.Australia came out after tea requiring 210 to win with two days and a 36-over session in which to complete a three-nil series whitewash. MatthewHayden survived a confident early leg-before appeal from O’Connor courtesyUmpire Dunne.O’Connor found favour with the umpire when he beat Slater, taking the padand removing the Ausrtralian opener for 9. It was Slater’s second demise ofthe test lbw to O’Connor for the grand total of 11.Justin Langer joined Hayden and immediately set about Cairns in a mannerthat suggested he wanted to end it all before stumps. He took 16 off Cairns’third over, particularly severe on anything short. The Australian 50 cameup in the tenth over.Wiseman was introduced from the city end in the 12th over, the spinnerhaving been to hospital for an x-ray to confirm that the damage to his thumbwhen he was dismissed in the New Zealand innings was nothing worse thanbruising. A Hayden leave gave him hope, shaving the stumps; a Hayden drive,bringing up the 50 partnership in 37 minutes, reminded him of the finemargin for error.Chris Cairns was taken out of the attack after his seven overs had cost 41runs, many of them gifted with short balls.Langer brought up his 50 off 42 balls in 59 minutes and including eightfours. The speed was a record for Australia since ball statistics were kept,beating the 43 balls set by Jack Gregoryin 1920/21. However, a few minutes of sunshine spread across the ground andsmiled on New Zealand, Wiseman inducing Hayden to dabble for Spearman totake the catch at first slip. Hayden had contributed 37 to an 83-runpartnership that had taken just 64 minutes.Mark Waugh joined Langer with the score at 96. The pair brought up the 100in the 19th over. But Wiseman and Tuffey tightened their line, putting abrake on the scoring rate, Tuffey even thinking he had his first testwicket, a leg-side caught-behind appeal against Waugh failing to get apositive response from umpire Jayaprakash. In his fifth over, Tuffey evenproduced that rarity, a maiden.However, Wiseman and the close-in field did find favour in the next overwith Umpire Dunne in a bat-pad appeal against Waugh that replays suggestedhad little to do with the bat.Waugh had contributed 18, the score was 124 and the evening light was takingon a distinctly gloomy hue.Steve Waugh joined Langer with 10 overs remaining. However, the umpires wereregularly consulting their light meters and a halt was eventually called forbad light with eight overs left to bowl. Langer remained not out 71, Waughwas on 1, and the total of 137 for 3 left Australia with just 73 runs forvictory and two days, Hamilton weather obliging, in which to extend theirTest sequence record.