That is the last action cricket wise this year!
Thank you for continuing to enjoy this blog, SA V ENG tests continue, NZ V SL ODI's, and plenty more
See u in 2016! Bye bye
Thursday 31 December 2015
Big Bash 2015/16 Match 14
Sydney Sixers 176/5 (20/20 ov)
Adelaide Strikers 182/5 (19.3/20 ov)
Adelaide Strikers won by 5 wickets (with 3 balls remaining)
Pantomime season's arrived in Adelaide. It's the final day of the year, so let the good times roll. Or the mad times, in this case. A bumper crowd of 46,389 watched on, rabid, riotous and ever so partisan, baying for Sydney blood, and creating a quite magnificent and utterly unique cricketing atmosphere. Travis Head gave them plenty of reason for additional cheer with a blitz so grand that Adelaide Strikers romped to a win after needing 51 off the last three overs.
There was niggle, needle, plenty of booing and a premature fireworks display, too. It was certainly secondary to the party, but a mighty game of cricket even broke out too, although it also contained its moments of high farce; funky overthrows, dodgy drops, attempted mankads, mystery injuries and plenty of bickering. But after all that - as far as the crowd was concerned at least - the good guys prevailed, with a young hometown hero steering the ship through troubled waters in a thrilling finish to a veritable short-form classic.
A night of such oddities, surely, was made for Brad Haddin. An injury-enforced reshuffle meant he swapped opener for finisher, coming in at No 4 and seeing an efficient Sydney Sixers' innings home, after Michael Lumb and Ed Cowan - making his first appearance of the campaign - got them off to a flyer. Lumb's 31 was his usual mix of legside hoicks, lusty hooks and bunted inside-out drives, and it took a moment of inspiration to remove him, as Alex Ross sprinted 30 yards round the offside fence to dive and intercept an uppish, well-struck drive. A ball later - Adil Rashid's first - Nic Maddinson was gone too, trapped plumb in front playing a rather odd reverse sweep.
Haddin joined Cowan, who ditched his usual orthodoxy with a couple of violent swipes to leg. It was that stroke that brought about his downfall, however, as he was caught at cow corner, and soon enough Rashid - now the competition's joint highest wicket-taker - had snared Jordan Silk and Ryan Carters too as they tried to accelerate the scoring rate.
Former Strikers captain Johan Botha - who was roundly booed and spent the night donning the near permanent scowl of a man wronged - and Haddin saw the innings through, sharing 71. Haddin twice slog-swept Rashid for six, and got after Kane Richardson too, while Botha ran hard before finding the boundary four times in the last two overs, including a magnificent swipe over point in the final over, a fractious affair bowled by Ben Laughlin. Laughlin and Haddin clashed when the batsman appeared to edge behind but stayed put, and the umpire doubled the home side's fury by adjudging it a wide.
Craig Simmons and Tim Ludeman got the Strikers' chase off to a brisk start. Simmons belted Jackson Bird's opening over for three fours, once through point, then either side of square leg. Next over, he sent Ben Dwarshuis high into the stands with a pull. Ludeman was quickly in on the act, taking a pair of boundaries from each of Doug Bollinger and Botha's opening overs. Simmons fell at the start of the fifth over, skying an attempted slog off Bird.
An over later, Mahela Jayawardene had feathered behind, and Ludeman soon followed, top-edging. Brad Hodge wriggled to 17 off 18, including one mighty six, but when the New Year's fireworks prematurely began, he and Alex Ross fell in quick succession to the impressive Dwarshuis, and the game looked up.
Enter Travis Head.
Head had taken 19 balls to find the fence, but was a man on the move, having recently biffed both Bird and Botha for sixes. Sean Abbott was set to bowl the 18th over, with Strikers still requiring 51 off 18 balls, with Head 45 off 38. Head sent Abbott for four to long-on, six to deep midwicket, four behind point, then for two enormous legside sixes. A single off the last ball kept the strike for Doug Bollinger's impressive over - the 19th of the innings - from which Head managed just one monstrous six over extra cover, to go with five other scampered runs. Adil Rashid, at the other end, was left to sprint his little legs off.
Abbott, amazingly, was left to bowl the last with Strikers needing 13 to win. No Adelaide Strikers batsman had ever made a BBL century and Head was 17 short of a maiden T20 ton. The first was a half-volley on leg stump. Six. Slower-ball bouncer. Six. Short again. Slapped. Six. Century. Pandemonium.
If 2016 is half as fun as all this, we are in for a treat.
Adelaide Strikers 182/5 (19.3/20 ov)
Adelaide Strikers won by 5 wickets (with 3 balls remaining)
Pantomime season's arrived in Adelaide. It's the final day of the year, so let the good times roll. Or the mad times, in this case. A bumper crowd of 46,389 watched on, rabid, riotous and ever so partisan, baying for Sydney blood, and creating a quite magnificent and utterly unique cricketing atmosphere. Travis Head gave them plenty of reason for additional cheer with a blitz so grand that Adelaide Strikers romped to a win after needing 51 off the last three overs.
There was niggle, needle, plenty of booing and a premature fireworks display, too. It was certainly secondary to the party, but a mighty game of cricket even broke out too, although it also contained its moments of high farce; funky overthrows, dodgy drops, attempted mankads, mystery injuries and plenty of bickering. But after all that - as far as the crowd was concerned at least - the good guys prevailed, with a young hometown hero steering the ship through troubled waters in a thrilling finish to a veritable short-form classic.
A night of such oddities, surely, was made for Brad Haddin. An injury-enforced reshuffle meant he swapped opener for finisher, coming in at No 4 and seeing an efficient Sydney Sixers' innings home, after Michael Lumb and Ed Cowan - making his first appearance of the campaign - got them off to a flyer. Lumb's 31 was his usual mix of legside hoicks, lusty hooks and bunted inside-out drives, and it took a moment of inspiration to remove him, as Alex Ross sprinted 30 yards round the offside fence to dive and intercept an uppish, well-struck drive. A ball later - Adil Rashid's first - Nic Maddinson was gone too, trapped plumb in front playing a rather odd reverse sweep.
Haddin joined Cowan, who ditched his usual orthodoxy with a couple of violent swipes to leg. It was that stroke that brought about his downfall, however, as he was caught at cow corner, and soon enough Rashid - now the competition's joint highest wicket-taker - had snared Jordan Silk and Ryan Carters too as they tried to accelerate the scoring rate.
Former Strikers captain Johan Botha - who was roundly booed and spent the night donning the near permanent scowl of a man wronged - and Haddin saw the innings through, sharing 71. Haddin twice slog-swept Rashid for six, and got after Kane Richardson too, while Botha ran hard before finding the boundary four times in the last two overs, including a magnificent swipe over point in the final over, a fractious affair bowled by Ben Laughlin. Laughlin and Haddin clashed when the batsman appeared to edge behind but stayed put, and the umpire doubled the home side's fury by adjudging it a wide.
Craig Simmons and Tim Ludeman got the Strikers' chase off to a brisk start. Simmons belted Jackson Bird's opening over for three fours, once through point, then either side of square leg. Next over, he sent Ben Dwarshuis high into the stands with a pull. Ludeman was quickly in on the act, taking a pair of boundaries from each of Doug Bollinger and Botha's opening overs. Simmons fell at the start of the fifth over, skying an attempted slog off Bird.
An over later, Mahela Jayawardene had feathered behind, and Ludeman soon followed, top-edging. Brad Hodge wriggled to 17 off 18, including one mighty six, but when the New Year's fireworks prematurely began, he and Alex Ross fell in quick succession to the impressive Dwarshuis, and the game looked up.
Enter Travis Head.
Head had taken 19 balls to find the fence, but was a man on the move, having recently biffed both Bird and Botha for sixes. Sean Abbott was set to bowl the 18th over, with Strikers still requiring 51 off 18 balls, with Head 45 off 38. Head sent Abbott for four to long-on, six to deep midwicket, four behind point, then for two enormous legside sixes. A single off the last ball kept the strike for Doug Bollinger's impressive over - the 19th of the innings - from which Head managed just one monstrous six over extra cover, to go with five other scampered runs. Adil Rashid, at the other end, was left to sprint his little legs off.
Abbott, amazingly, was left to bowl the last with Strikers needing 13 to win. No Adelaide Strikers batsman had ever made a BBL century and Head was 17 short of a maiden T20 ton. The first was a half-volley on leg stump. Six. Slower-ball bouncer. Six. Short again. Slapped. Six. Century. Pandemonium.
If 2016 is half as fun as all this, we are in for a treat.
Wednesday 30 December 2015
Big Bash 2015/16 Match 13
Melbourne Renegades 170/4 (20/20 ov)
Perth Scorchers 171/0 (18.4/20 ov)
Perth Scorchers won by 10 wickets (with 8 balls remaining)
Australia, once again, is voting with its feet. Melbourne Renegades attracted their largest ever non-derby crowd and what the 26,787 at Docklands saw was a tale of two opening partnerships. First, Aaron Finch shared 98 in 68 balls with Chris Gayle, but the hosts stalled to 170 for 4 and were well and truly trumped by Perth Scorchers' Michael Klinger and Shaun Marsh, to the tune of the BBL's first ever ten-wicket win.
The BBL has been playing to packed crowds throughout the country. The Adelaide Strikers confirmed they had sold all 52,000 tickets for their New Year's Eve clash at Adelaide Oval, and early estimates suggest that 50,000 will head to the MCG for Saturday's Melbourne derby, another record. For context, a combined 33,164 watched days three and four of the second Test against West Indies.
Of course, bums on seats are a given when Finch does as Finch does playing for the Renegades. After his 72 off 48 balls here, he has 1111 runs for the franchise; their second top-scorer has just 498. He was brutal off his pads and on the drive, taking a particular liking to left-arm quick Joel Paris, whose first three deliveries were deposited for a pair of fours and a six. Gayle was slow off the mark, but freed his arms at the arrival of Brad Hogg, slogging a three sixes into the second tier of stands beyond the short midwicket boundary. When Gayle fell, skying a top edge off the excellent Jason Behrendorff, the Renegades stumbled; Cameron White followed next ball, to an outrageous one-handed caught and bowled.
Matthew Wade joined Finch with the score on 98 for 2 and put on a further 47 runs, but the openers' platform was never truly built on. Finch was starved of the strike as Andrew Tye and David Willey joined Behrendorff in turning the screws. Willey had Finch caught at deep midwicket and then Tye found the perfect yorker to castle Wade. After 200 had looked possible, 170 felt light, even on a slightly tacky pitch.
Finch had topped the Big Bash League's all-time run-scorers list, but by the end of the night, he had been usurped by Klinger, and Marsh had closed the gap in second place. After Chris Lynn, who sits fourth on the list, bludgeoned a century in a losing cause for Brisbane Heat on Tuesday, it has been a week of the BBL's batting cream rising.
You will see bigger, more exciting chases in Twenty20 cricket. But you will seldom see one more calm, calculated and organised. Renegades' bowling looked light and green. Klinger (90*) and Marsh (76*) capitalised, getting up with the rate early and never relenting and the game was won with eight balls to spare. Nathan Hauritz, making his first appearance for the Renegades, was treated with utter contempt, his two overs costing 29, including two sixes for Marsh and one to Klinger, all down the ground. The seamers weren't particularly threatening either and Finch eventually showed his frustration by simply bowling himself.
Klinger and Marsh came within a run of Luke Wright and Rob Quiney's record opening stand of 172 in the BBL, and only failed to break it because they had nothing more to chase. Both were watchful early on, getting the measure of the surface, before pushing on. Marsh favoured the legside and Klinger - who really can do little more to assert his international claims and would be forgiven for wondering if the selectors have ever actually watched him bat - was excellent on the drive. There was a boundary scored off the last ball of four of the first six overs and there was no looking back.
After losing their opening game, the Scorchers are on the charge, and with chases like these, and bowling like Behrendorff's (2-14 in four overs), it's little wonder that they have won the last two BBLs. There was another hint, too, at the close of play, as the ground emptied and Klinger and Marsh conducted their triumphant post-match interviews. Over in the corner was Justin Langer, binning empty bottles and clearing up kit in the players' viewing area. The coach, like his captain and senior pro, was just leading by example.
Perth Scorchers 171/0 (18.4/20 ov)
Perth Scorchers won by 10 wickets (with 8 balls remaining)
Australia, once again, is voting with its feet. Melbourne Renegades attracted their largest ever non-derby crowd and what the 26,787 at Docklands saw was a tale of two opening partnerships. First, Aaron Finch shared 98 in 68 balls with Chris Gayle, but the hosts stalled to 170 for 4 and were well and truly trumped by Perth Scorchers' Michael Klinger and Shaun Marsh, to the tune of the BBL's first ever ten-wicket win.
The BBL has been playing to packed crowds throughout the country. The Adelaide Strikers confirmed they had sold all 52,000 tickets for their New Year's Eve clash at Adelaide Oval, and early estimates suggest that 50,000 will head to the MCG for Saturday's Melbourne derby, another record. For context, a combined 33,164 watched days three and four of the second Test against West Indies.
Of course, bums on seats are a given when Finch does as Finch does playing for the Renegades. After his 72 off 48 balls here, he has 1111 runs for the franchise; their second top-scorer has just 498. He was brutal off his pads and on the drive, taking a particular liking to left-arm quick Joel Paris, whose first three deliveries were deposited for a pair of fours and a six. Gayle was slow off the mark, but freed his arms at the arrival of Brad Hogg, slogging a three sixes into the second tier of stands beyond the short midwicket boundary. When Gayle fell, skying a top edge off the excellent Jason Behrendorff, the Renegades stumbled; Cameron White followed next ball, to an outrageous one-handed caught and bowled.
Matthew Wade joined Finch with the score on 98 for 2 and put on a further 47 runs, but the openers' platform was never truly built on. Finch was starved of the strike as Andrew Tye and David Willey joined Behrendorff in turning the screws. Willey had Finch caught at deep midwicket and then Tye found the perfect yorker to castle Wade. After 200 had looked possible, 170 felt light, even on a slightly tacky pitch.
Finch had topped the Big Bash League's all-time run-scorers list, but by the end of the night, he had been usurped by Klinger, and Marsh had closed the gap in second place. After Chris Lynn, who sits fourth on the list, bludgeoned a century in a losing cause for Brisbane Heat on Tuesday, it has been a week of the BBL's batting cream rising.
You will see bigger, more exciting chases in Twenty20 cricket. But you will seldom see one more calm, calculated and organised. Renegades' bowling looked light and green. Klinger (90*) and Marsh (76*) capitalised, getting up with the rate early and never relenting and the game was won with eight balls to spare. Nathan Hauritz, making his first appearance for the Renegades, was treated with utter contempt, his two overs costing 29, including two sixes for Marsh and one to Klinger, all down the ground. The seamers weren't particularly threatening either and Finch eventually showed his frustration by simply bowling himself.
Klinger and Marsh came within a run of Luke Wright and Rob Quiney's record opening stand of 172 in the BBL, and only failed to break it because they had nothing more to chase. Both were watchful early on, getting the measure of the surface, before pushing on. Marsh favoured the legside and Klinger - who really can do little more to assert his international claims and would be forgiven for wondering if the selectors have ever actually watched him bat - was excellent on the drive. There was a boundary scored off the last ball of four of the first six overs and there was no looking back.
After losing their opening game, the Scorchers are on the charge, and with chases like these, and bowling like Behrendorff's (2-14 in four overs), it's little wonder that they have won the last two BBLs. There was another hint, too, at the close of play, as the ground emptied and Klinger and Marsh conducted their triumphant post-match interviews. Over in the corner was Justin Langer, binning empty bottles and clearing up kit in the players' viewing area. The coach, like his captain and senior pro, was just leading by example.
Big Bash 2015/16 Match 12
Hobart Hurricanes 4 for 194 (Christian 56*, Sangakkara 32) beat Brisbane Heat 9 for 179 (Lynn 101, Reed 3-31) by 15 runs
In May this year, Dan Christian traded the Brisbane Heat for the Hobart Hurricanes. One week ago, as the Heat batted against the Hurricanes, he made a nuisance of himself, taking two vital wickets and four catches, one a spectacular effort to dismiss Chris Lynn. This time, he played a key role again, but with the bat, providing his old side (and their 30,000 partisan and noisy fans) with a third uncomfortable reminder of what they are missing. Christian's 56 not out helped the Hurricanes to 4 for 194, setting up a 15-run win that propelled them to fourth place on the points table.
The Heat, with the exception of their outstanding captain Lynn, who scored a brilliant 101 to take his tournament tally to 212 runs from 132 balls, looked callow and raw in losing their fourth consecutive game. The loss cemented their place at the bottom of the BBL ladder. No team in the competition is as inexperienced (Hurricanes had a combined total of 969 T20 appearances to the Heat's 512) and no team is more reliant on one player. Unsurprisingly, their tournament is all but over.
Even after losing their openers in the first eight balls for a combined total of 1, the Heat never looked out of it when Lynn was at the crease. Chasing 194, Lendl Simmons was bowled by a hooping full toss, before Jimmy Peirson sent Jake Reed straight to square leg.
Lynn beat a diving mid-on with a perfectly timed, checked drive first ball and struck it stunningly until he fell in the 18th over. Twice he sent Shaun Tait - who he took for 46 runs in 14 balls - for consecutive sixes, as he peppered the boundary from long-off to deep square-leg. Lynn, the first player to score a BBL century in a losing cause, did his international prospects no harm ahead of the World T20. National selector Mark Waugh said on Channel Ten later that "he's got to be in the top six [Australian T20 batsmen]".
He was joined for a productive partnership of 79 by the composed 20-year-old debutant Sam Heazlett, who got off the mark with a stylish six over long-on and followed it with a sliced slog for four. When Heazlett faintly edged Darren Sammy behind and walked, Lynn continued the Heat's charge, but was short on fluent partners. Nathan Reardon became the superb Cameron Boyce's first victim, pulling a short ball to Clive Rose in the deep, and when Lynn charged the same bowler and feathered through to Tim Paine, the game was up. The Heat unravelled, losing four wickets in the final eight balls, including a pair of run-outs.
Earlier, coming in to bat in the 14th over, after a series of fast top-order starts for the Hurricanes were curtailed, Christian bludgeoned three fours and four sixes in his 24-ball 56. Mark Steketee was bunted over point for six, then ramped for four. Christian sent the second ball of the penultimate over of the innings, bowled by Luke Feldman, 117 metres over cow corner and onto the Gabba roof. Christian's partner Sammy, who suffered a bad night with the bat (7 off 14 balls), could only laugh, offer a high-five and inspect his partner's bat. Christian's mouth was momentarily agape, but he recovered his composure to take two more sixes - one over backward square-leg (this one travelling 112 metres) and the other straight down the ground - from Feldman's torrid 25-run over. In large part due to Christian, both Feldman and Steketee conceded more than 50 from their four overs.
After Tim Paine and Ben Dunk, who appeared to re-find his touch after a sluggish start to the competition, made fine starts to the match, the introduction of Samuel Badree's leg-breaks for the final over of the Powerplay slowed the Hurricanes. Badree had Dunk caught at deep midwicket in his first over, then Paine stumped with the last ball of his second.
Kumar Sangakkara and George Bailey came together with the score on 58 and doubled it, the former flat-batting Steketee and tracking Badree for sixes before a Feldman yorker bowled him. Bailey ran hard and manipulated the field for 31, but miscued a pull off Feldman just as he looked set to motor. Never mind, Christian would take care of that.
In May this year, Dan Christian traded the Brisbane Heat for the Hobart Hurricanes. One week ago, as the Heat batted against the Hurricanes, he made a nuisance of himself, taking two vital wickets and four catches, one a spectacular effort to dismiss Chris Lynn. This time, he played a key role again, but with the bat, providing his old side (and their 30,000 partisan and noisy fans) with a third uncomfortable reminder of what they are missing. Christian's 56 not out helped the Hurricanes to 4 for 194, setting up a 15-run win that propelled them to fourth place on the points table.
The Heat, with the exception of their outstanding captain Lynn, who scored a brilliant 101 to take his tournament tally to 212 runs from 132 balls, looked callow and raw in losing their fourth consecutive game. The loss cemented their place at the bottom of the BBL ladder. No team in the competition is as inexperienced (Hurricanes had a combined total of 969 T20 appearances to the Heat's 512) and no team is more reliant on one player. Unsurprisingly, their tournament is all but over.
Even after losing their openers in the first eight balls for a combined total of 1, the Heat never looked out of it when Lynn was at the crease. Chasing 194, Lendl Simmons was bowled by a hooping full toss, before Jimmy Peirson sent Jake Reed straight to square leg.
Lynn beat a diving mid-on with a perfectly timed, checked drive first ball and struck it stunningly until he fell in the 18th over. Twice he sent Shaun Tait - who he took for 46 runs in 14 balls - for consecutive sixes, as he peppered the boundary from long-off to deep square-leg. Lynn, the first player to score a BBL century in a losing cause, did his international prospects no harm ahead of the World T20. National selector Mark Waugh said on Channel Ten later that "he's got to be in the top six [Australian T20 batsmen]".
He was joined for a productive partnership of 79 by the composed 20-year-old debutant Sam Heazlett, who got off the mark with a stylish six over long-on and followed it with a sliced slog for four. When Heazlett faintly edged Darren Sammy behind and walked, Lynn continued the Heat's charge, but was short on fluent partners. Nathan Reardon became the superb Cameron Boyce's first victim, pulling a short ball to Clive Rose in the deep, and when Lynn charged the same bowler and feathered through to Tim Paine, the game was up. The Heat unravelled, losing four wickets in the final eight balls, including a pair of run-outs.
Earlier, coming in to bat in the 14th over, after a series of fast top-order starts for the Hurricanes were curtailed, Christian bludgeoned three fours and four sixes in his 24-ball 56. Mark Steketee was bunted over point for six, then ramped for four. Christian sent the second ball of the penultimate over of the innings, bowled by Luke Feldman, 117 metres over cow corner and onto the Gabba roof. Christian's partner Sammy, who suffered a bad night with the bat (7 off 14 balls), could only laugh, offer a high-five and inspect his partner's bat. Christian's mouth was momentarily agape, but he recovered his composure to take two more sixes - one over backward square-leg (this one travelling 112 metres) and the other straight down the ground - from Feldman's torrid 25-run over. In large part due to Christian, both Feldman and Steketee conceded more than 50 from their four overs.
After Tim Paine and Ben Dunk, who appeared to re-find his touch after a sluggish start to the competition, made fine starts to the match, the introduction of Samuel Badree's leg-breaks for the final over of the Powerplay slowed the Hurricanes. Badree had Dunk caught at deep midwicket in his first over, then Paine stumped with the last ball of his second.
Kumar Sangakkara and George Bailey came together with the score on 58 and doubled it, the former flat-batting Steketee and tracking Badree for sixes before a Feldman yorker bowled him. Bailey ran hard and manipulated the field for 31, but miscued a pull off Feldman just as he looked set to motor. Never mind, Christian would take care of that.
Monday 28 December 2015
Big Bash 2015 Match 11
Adelaide Strikers 117/9 (20/20 ov)
Sydney Thunder 121/3 (16.3/20 ov)
Sydney Thunder won by 7 wickets (with 21 balls remaining)
Sydney Thunder surged to the top of the BBL standings with a comprehensive defeat of the Adelaide Strikers, built upon a clinical display on the field.
The Strikers never recovered from the loss of their big hitters Tim Ludeman and Craig Simmons in the first two overs of the innings, a target of 118 always well within range of the hosts, who are intent upon overturning four years of underachievement this season.
Andre Russell had set the Thunder on their way by procuring an edge from Ludeman off first ball of the match, delighting another sold out crowd at the Sydney Showground. When Gurinder Sandhu accounted for Simmons next over, the Strikers were left totally off balance, and never quite recovered.
Ben Rohrer was everywhere in the field for the hosts, taking two catches while also bring instrumental in a pair of run outs. None was more important than his athletic effort to account for Mahela Jayawardene.
All members of the Thunder bowling attack contributed, but Russell, Clint McKay and Fawad Ahmed each had most reason to be happy with returns both stingy and also effective in hunting for wickets.
Only a rush of early dismissals would have allowed the Strikers to wriggle free, and these were averted by Aiden Blizzard and Jacques Kallis. They added 66 in good time, leaving the rest of the batsmen to canter to victory.
For once, the captain Michael Hussey was left with little to do. His brief appearance to aid Kallis collect the winning runs did not include facing a ball, but it was fitting for him to be in the middle for the completion of a win that mirrored his own professionalism to a tee.
Sydney Thunder 121/3 (16.3/20 ov)
Sydney Thunder won by 7 wickets (with 21 balls remaining)
Sydney Thunder surged to the top of the BBL standings with a comprehensive defeat of the Adelaide Strikers, built upon a clinical display on the field.
The Strikers never recovered from the loss of their big hitters Tim Ludeman and Craig Simmons in the first two overs of the innings, a target of 118 always well within range of the hosts, who are intent upon overturning four years of underachievement this season.
Andre Russell had set the Thunder on their way by procuring an edge from Ludeman off first ball of the match, delighting another sold out crowd at the Sydney Showground. When Gurinder Sandhu accounted for Simmons next over, the Strikers were left totally off balance, and never quite recovered.
Ben Rohrer was everywhere in the field for the hosts, taking two catches while also bring instrumental in a pair of run outs. None was more important than his athletic effort to account for Mahela Jayawardene.
All members of the Thunder bowling attack contributed, but Russell, Clint McKay and Fawad Ahmed each had most reason to be happy with returns both stingy and also effective in hunting for wickets.
Only a rush of early dismissals would have allowed the Strikers to wriggle free, and these were averted by Aiden Blizzard and Jacques Kallis. They added 66 in good time, leaving the rest of the batsmen to canter to victory.
For once, the captain Michael Hussey was left with little to do. His brief appearance to aid Kallis collect the winning runs did not include facing a ball, but it was fitting for him to be in the middle for the completion of a win that mirrored his own professionalism to a tee.
Sunday 27 December 2015
Big Bash 2015 Match 10
Sydney Sixers 139/6 (20/20 ov)
Melbourne Stars 143/5 (18.4/20 ov)
Melbourne Stars won by 5 wickets (with 8 balls remaining)
Glenn Maxwell was at the forefront as the Melbourne Stars brushed aside the Sydney Sixers at the SCG to demonstrate how the balance of BBL power appears to be shifting.
The Stars had been vanquished at the MCG by the Sydney Thunder, for so long the tournament underachievers. But they proved far too powerful for the Sixers who, without a major innings from either Brad Haddin or Nic Maddinson, were unable to set a challenging target for the visitors.
There was irony as the Sixers were tied in knots by the spin triangle of Michael Beer, Adam Zampa and Maxwell, exactly the strategy they favoured themselves against at the SCG. But without Nathan Lyon's wiles due to his Test match duties in Melbourne, the Sydney spin collective was second best, though Steve O'Keefe did not bowl badly upfront for the hosts.
Any chances of the Sixers defending their mediocre 139 was snuffed out by Maxwell, who played with invention and power but also a degree of restraint while partnering Peter Handscomb. Their stand of c was exactly what the situation required.
Having lost twice against Adelaide Strikers and the Thunder to commence the competition, the Stars needed a win, and Maxwell's all-round contribution played large part in achieving it. He has ambitions to play Tests for Australia, but of more pressing responsibility is to play a dominant role in the national team's tilt at a first World Twenty20 title in India early next year.
In addition to defeat, the Sixers also had to cope with injury to Moises Henriques, who was forced to retire hurt with a calf injury just when his side were hoping to lift off. The apparent recurrence of a problem that Henriques battled in November had the Sixers captain holding his hand to his head as he was conveyed from the ground on a motorised stretcher.
That injury may yet keep Henriques out of the remainder of the BBL. As importantly it is another blow to the formerly dominant Sydney T20 team - the Thunder are giving them a run for the domestic dollar this summer.
Melbourne Stars 143/5 (18.4/20 ov)
Melbourne Stars won by 5 wickets (with 8 balls remaining)
Glenn Maxwell was at the forefront as the Melbourne Stars brushed aside the Sydney Sixers at the SCG to demonstrate how the balance of BBL power appears to be shifting.
The Stars had been vanquished at the MCG by the Sydney Thunder, for so long the tournament underachievers. But they proved far too powerful for the Sixers who, without a major innings from either Brad Haddin or Nic Maddinson, were unable to set a challenging target for the visitors.
There was irony as the Sixers were tied in knots by the spin triangle of Michael Beer, Adam Zampa and Maxwell, exactly the strategy they favoured themselves against at the SCG. But without Nathan Lyon's wiles due to his Test match duties in Melbourne, the Sydney spin collective was second best, though Steve O'Keefe did not bowl badly upfront for the hosts.
Any chances of the Sixers defending their mediocre 139 was snuffed out by Maxwell, who played with invention and power but also a degree of restraint while partnering Peter Handscomb. Their stand of c was exactly what the situation required.
Having lost twice against Adelaide Strikers and the Thunder to commence the competition, the Stars needed a win, and Maxwell's all-round contribution played large part in achieving it. He has ambitions to play Tests for Australia, but of more pressing responsibility is to play a dominant role in the national team's tilt at a first World Twenty20 title in India early next year.
In addition to defeat, the Sixers also had to cope with injury to Moises Henriques, who was forced to retire hurt with a calf injury just when his side were hoping to lift off. The apparent recurrence of a problem that Henriques battled in November had the Sixers captain holding his hand to his head as he was conveyed from the ground on a motorised stretcher.
That injury may yet keep Henriques out of the remainder of the BBL. As importantly it is another blow to the formerly dominant Sydney T20 team - the Thunder are giving them a run for the domestic dollar this summer.
Saturday 26 December 2015
Big Bash 2015 Match 9
Brisbane Heat 117/7 (20/20 ov)
Perth Scorchers 118/1 (15.1/20 ov)
Perth Scorchers won by 9 wickets (with 29 balls remaining)
Perth Scorchers strangled the life out of Brisbane Heat to register a nine-wicket victory at the WACA Ground in the Boxing Day BBL match.
The visitors never established any momentum after losing Lendl Simmons in the first over of the game, maintaining a grim day for Caribbean cricketers after the travails of the West Indies at the MCG.
Perth's reputation as one of the BBL's most parsimonious bowling attacks was enhanced by their collective display in front of a crowd of 19,225 sun-kissed spectators.
Englishman David Willey led the line for the Scorchers, claiming 1 for 15 from four tight overs, including a maiden that featured the wicket of Jimmy Peirson. Willey won Man of the Match for his efforts.
Others also prospered - Jason Behrendorff claimed two victims on his return from injury, Brad Hogg was confusing as ever in claiming figures of 4-0-15-1, and Andrew Tye rounded off the attack with 3 for 23, the best analysis of all. Even Joel Paris, the only man not to take a wicket, produced plenty of quality in four overs that conceded a mere 25.
Chris Lynn was left to build the total more or less on his own, finishing with an unbeaten 58-ball 75, an innings that featured three fours and four sixes. Finding the boundary regularly but also working the ball around, Lynn was ultimately responsible for almost two thirds of the Heat's total, a burden to put others to shame.
Defending such a meagre tally, the Heat needed early wickets, but were thwarted by Marcus Harris and Michael Klinger. One Harris six was almost taken by Simmons, but otherwise the hosts careered towards the target.
When Lynn popped up again to catch Harris, Ashton Agar played soundly at No. 3, helping the vastly experienced Klinger to take the Scorchers home. Having suffered a chastening loss to the Strikers in game one and also after losing the services of the injured Nathan Coulter-Nile, the defending champions are now on the board.
Perth Scorchers 118/1 (15.1/20 ov)
Perth Scorchers won by 9 wickets (with 29 balls remaining)
Perth Scorchers strangled the life out of Brisbane Heat to register a nine-wicket victory at the WACA Ground in the Boxing Day BBL match.
The visitors never established any momentum after losing Lendl Simmons in the first over of the game, maintaining a grim day for Caribbean cricketers after the travails of the West Indies at the MCG.
Perth's reputation as one of the BBL's most parsimonious bowling attacks was enhanced by their collective display in front of a crowd of 19,225 sun-kissed spectators.
Englishman David Willey led the line for the Scorchers, claiming 1 for 15 from four tight overs, including a maiden that featured the wicket of Jimmy Peirson. Willey won Man of the Match for his efforts.
Others also prospered - Jason Behrendorff claimed two victims on his return from injury, Brad Hogg was confusing as ever in claiming figures of 4-0-15-1, and Andrew Tye rounded off the attack with 3 for 23, the best analysis of all. Even Joel Paris, the only man not to take a wicket, produced plenty of quality in four overs that conceded a mere 25.
Chris Lynn was left to build the total more or less on his own, finishing with an unbeaten 58-ball 75, an innings that featured three fours and four sixes. Finding the boundary regularly but also working the ball around, Lynn was ultimately responsible for almost two thirds of the Heat's total, a burden to put others to shame.
Defending such a meagre tally, the Heat needed early wickets, but were thwarted by Marcus Harris and Michael Klinger. One Harris six was almost taken by Simmons, but otherwise the hosts careered towards the target.
When Lynn popped up again to catch Harris, Ashton Agar played soundly at No. 3, helping the vastly experienced Klinger to take the Scorchers home. Having suffered a chastening loss to the Strikers in game one and also after losing the services of the injured Nathan Coulter-Nile, the defending champions are now on the board.
Wednesday 23 December 2015
Big Bash 2015 Match 8
Sydney Sixers 7 for 174 (Lumb 63, Henriques 62, Rimmington 4-26) beat Melbourne Renegades 4 for 172 (Gayle 46, Bravo 45*, Beaton 41*) by three wickets
A record century partnership between Moises Henriques and Michael Lumb engineered Sydney Sixers' successful run chase to inflict Melbourne Renegades' first loss of the BBL at Etihad Stadium in Melbourne.
Chasing a daunting total of 173 on a two-paced pitch conjuring inconsistent bounce, Sixers' chances of victory looked forlorn when they lost dangerous duo of Brad Haddin (caught behind for a golden duck) and Nic Maddison (17) early to slump to 2 for 21 in the 4th over. But Sixers captain Henriques (62 off 38 balls) and English import Lumb (63 from 35 balls) combined for a 101-run partnership off 57 balls to drastically alter the match's complexion. It was the highest third-wicket partnership in Sixers history.
Henriques' dismissal with just 20 runs needed triggered a Sixers collapse, as they lost 4 for 12 in a dramatic 12 balls to be delicately positioned at 7 for 165 with two overs remaining. But Trent Lawford and Sean Abbott calmly guided the Sixers to victory with seven balls to spare in the team's highest ever successful run chase.
Renegades paceman Nathan Rimmington tried valiantly and finished with 4 for 26. But the match-winners proved to be Lumb and Henriques, who scored a staggering 50 runs from three overs in the middle overs to turn the game on its head. Lumb looked especially menacing throughout, hitting five sixes in his innings, including three off one Xavier Doherty over.
Henriques played the anchor role during the partnership but shifted gears when Lumb was dismissed. He struck the ball cleanly and seemed likely to guide his team to victory before throwing his wicket away with a heave.
The successful chase was what Henriques envisioned when he won the toss and elected to bowl. No Renegades batsman made a half-century but an even spread ensured they mustered an imposing 4 for 172 amid somewhat favourable bowling conditions. Tom Beaton and Dwayne Bravo provided the late fireworks in a devastating 40-ball 78 run partnership, blasting 68 runs off the final five overs to regain the initiative after Sixers dominated the middle overs through tight and disciplined bowling.
Beaton was particularly impressive in his late cameo of 41 from 23 balls, which included two sixes. Bravo started slowly and struggled with his timing before finding his rhythm towards the end, punctuated by a huge six over midwicket off Sixers paceman Doug Bollinger in the last over of the innings.
It was a highly impressive comeback after the Renegades had earlier slumped to 4 for 94 in the 14th over when Matthew Wade was bowled playing on to a Sean Abbott delivery. Renegades lost 3 for 20 in the middle overs after starting briskly as dynamic West Indian opener Chris Gayle threatened to produce a trademark assault. Looking uncertain against hostile bowling from Bollinger, Gayle started slowly scoring just six from 11 balls and was lucky to survive a skied miscued pull shot that somehow landed between two fielders.
Renowned for his brutish batting, Gayle was content nudging the ball around for singles early in his innings before bludgeoning pacemen Sean Abbott for consecutive towering sixes in the eighth over, with the latter smashing into the second tier over long-on.
Gayle dominated a 56-run second-wicket partnership with Cameron White (15), and seemed intent on a big score that alluded him in the Renegades' opening match against the Heat. Despite teasing, Gayle could not produce a substantial score falling for a 33-ball 46 in Johan Botha's first over, the 11th of the innings.
Left-armer Steve O'Keefe, who has played Test cricket for Australia, was not used, while Botha only bowled two overs. The Sixers missed Nathan Lyon, who returned to the Test squad fresh from his five-wicket haul against Hurricanes in the last game, but were still able to produce a thrilling victory.
A record century partnership between Moises Henriques and Michael Lumb engineered Sydney Sixers' successful run chase to inflict Melbourne Renegades' first loss of the BBL at Etihad Stadium in Melbourne.
Chasing a daunting total of 173 on a two-paced pitch conjuring inconsistent bounce, Sixers' chances of victory looked forlorn when they lost dangerous duo of Brad Haddin (caught behind for a golden duck) and Nic Maddison (17) early to slump to 2 for 21 in the 4th over. But Sixers captain Henriques (62 off 38 balls) and English import Lumb (63 from 35 balls) combined for a 101-run partnership off 57 balls to drastically alter the match's complexion. It was the highest third-wicket partnership in Sixers history.
Henriques' dismissal with just 20 runs needed triggered a Sixers collapse, as they lost 4 for 12 in a dramatic 12 balls to be delicately positioned at 7 for 165 with two overs remaining. But Trent Lawford and Sean Abbott calmly guided the Sixers to victory with seven balls to spare in the team's highest ever successful run chase.
Renegades paceman Nathan Rimmington tried valiantly and finished with 4 for 26. But the match-winners proved to be Lumb and Henriques, who scored a staggering 50 runs from three overs in the middle overs to turn the game on its head. Lumb looked especially menacing throughout, hitting five sixes in his innings, including three off one Xavier Doherty over.
Henriques played the anchor role during the partnership but shifted gears when Lumb was dismissed. He struck the ball cleanly and seemed likely to guide his team to victory before throwing his wicket away with a heave.
The successful chase was what Henriques envisioned when he won the toss and elected to bowl. No Renegades batsman made a half-century but an even spread ensured they mustered an imposing 4 for 172 amid somewhat favourable bowling conditions. Tom Beaton and Dwayne Bravo provided the late fireworks in a devastating 40-ball 78 run partnership, blasting 68 runs off the final five overs to regain the initiative after Sixers dominated the middle overs through tight and disciplined bowling.
Beaton was particularly impressive in his late cameo of 41 from 23 balls, which included two sixes. Bravo started slowly and struggled with his timing before finding his rhythm towards the end, punctuated by a huge six over midwicket off Sixers paceman Doug Bollinger in the last over of the innings.
It was a highly impressive comeback after the Renegades had earlier slumped to 4 for 94 in the 14th over when Matthew Wade was bowled playing on to a Sean Abbott delivery. Renegades lost 3 for 20 in the middle overs after starting briskly as dynamic West Indian opener Chris Gayle threatened to produce a trademark assault. Looking uncertain against hostile bowling from Bollinger, Gayle started slowly scoring just six from 11 balls and was lucky to survive a skied miscued pull shot that somehow landed between two fielders.
Renowned for his brutish batting, Gayle was content nudging the ball around for singles early in his innings before bludgeoning pacemen Sean Abbott for consecutive towering sixes in the eighth over, with the latter smashing into the second tier over long-on.
Gayle dominated a 56-run second-wicket partnership with Cameron White (15), and seemed intent on a big score that alluded him in the Renegades' opening match against the Heat. Despite teasing, Gayle could not produce a substantial score falling for a 33-ball 46 in Johan Botha's first over, the 11th of the innings.
Left-armer Steve O'Keefe, who has played Test cricket for Australia, was not used, while Botha only bowled two overs. The Sixers missed Nathan Lyon, who returned to the Test squad fresh from his five-wicket haul against Hurricanes in the last game, but were still able to produce a thrilling victory.
Tuesday 22 December 2015
Big Bash 2015 Match 7
Hobart Hurricanes 184/3 (20/20 ov)
Brisbane Heat 164/8 (20/20 ov)
Hobart Hurricanes won by 20 runs
Hobart Hurricanes made amends for an embarrassing BBL opener with a 20-run victory over Brisbane Heat at Blundstone Arena in Hobart. After losing by 95 runs and being steamrolled humiliatingly for 91 against Sydney Sixers just two days earlier, the Hurricanes rebounded with a fine all-round performance against Heat.
After captain Tim Paine won the toss and elected to bat on a flat pitch, there was no batting calamity on this occasion with the Hurricanes batting aggressively, yet smartly to notch an imposing 3 for 184. They batted with intent but valued their wickets, with Paine exemplifying this approach by being the mainstay for the Hurricanes throughout. Paine scored an unbeaten 87 from 58 balls, and combined in consecutive half-century partnerships with Kumar Sangakkara and George Bailey.
In their chase, the Heat lost wickets at regular intervals despite the best efforts of allrounder Jason Floros who was promoted to No.3 to counterattack Hurricanes' spin duo of Cameron Boyce and Clive Rose. Floros scored an enterprising 42 from 23 but it was not nearly enough despite some late hitting from Nathan Reardon (41 from 32 balls). Despite teasing on occasions, the Heat fell short at 8 for 164.
Dan Christian thwarted his former side with the key wickets of Lendl Simmons and Peter Forrest, but perhaps most importantly, he spectacularly caught danger man Chris Lynn (1) after the ball lingered high in the air. The juggled catch was one of four catches for Christian in the game.
The Hurricanes bowlers and fielders backed up a disciplined performance by their top order. Openers Paine and Ben Dunk made a circumspect start in a determined bid to ensure a repeat of the calamity in Sydney was not replicated. They played respectfully, and in a fashion that was notably different to the explosive template of T20 cricket with only nine runs scored in the opening two overs. But Paine soon launched and smashed a couple of brutal pull shots that rocketed out of the small ground.
After Dunk was run out by a direct throw side-on from Forrest, Paine combined with Sangakkara to give the Hurricanes the initiative. After his first ball flop in his BBL debut against the Sixers, Sangakkara started cautiously. But it wasn't long before Sangakkara's glorious off-side game flourished, ensuring runs were ticking along briskly without doing anything rash.
Paine and Sangakkara complemented each other perfectly, with the Hurricanes captain's brashness a nice juxtaposition to the stylish Sri Lankan. Just when it seemed he was about to shift gears, Sangakkara fell for a 31-ball 43 holing out off a Ben Cutting length delivery, ending the 77-run partnership off 51 balls.
While his teammates were getting thrashed around, Cutting was the pick of the bowlers with 1 for 32 from his four overs, but his figures were blighted by a 13-run final over.
Bailey, who scored 62 against the Sixers in a lone hand, continued his fine form bashing the Heat attack to all parts. He treated renowned disciplined spinner Samuel Badree with disdain, punctuated by a massive six over long-on after skipping down the track.
Bailey (40 off 21 balls) holed out in the penultimate over but the damage had been done. The defeat ensured the Heat, last year's bottom-placed team, are winless after two matches.
Brisbane Heat 164/8 (20/20 ov)
Hobart Hurricanes won by 20 runs
Hobart Hurricanes made amends for an embarrassing BBL opener with a 20-run victory over Brisbane Heat at Blundstone Arena in Hobart. After losing by 95 runs and being steamrolled humiliatingly for 91 against Sydney Sixers just two days earlier, the Hurricanes rebounded with a fine all-round performance against Heat.
After captain Tim Paine won the toss and elected to bat on a flat pitch, there was no batting calamity on this occasion with the Hurricanes batting aggressively, yet smartly to notch an imposing 3 for 184. They batted with intent but valued their wickets, with Paine exemplifying this approach by being the mainstay for the Hurricanes throughout. Paine scored an unbeaten 87 from 58 balls, and combined in consecutive half-century partnerships with Kumar Sangakkara and George Bailey.
In their chase, the Heat lost wickets at regular intervals despite the best efforts of allrounder Jason Floros who was promoted to No.3 to counterattack Hurricanes' spin duo of Cameron Boyce and Clive Rose. Floros scored an enterprising 42 from 23 but it was not nearly enough despite some late hitting from Nathan Reardon (41 from 32 balls). Despite teasing on occasions, the Heat fell short at 8 for 164.
Dan Christian thwarted his former side with the key wickets of Lendl Simmons and Peter Forrest, but perhaps most importantly, he spectacularly caught danger man Chris Lynn (1) after the ball lingered high in the air. The juggled catch was one of four catches for Christian in the game.
The Hurricanes bowlers and fielders backed up a disciplined performance by their top order. Openers Paine and Ben Dunk made a circumspect start in a determined bid to ensure a repeat of the calamity in Sydney was not replicated. They played respectfully, and in a fashion that was notably different to the explosive template of T20 cricket with only nine runs scored in the opening two overs. But Paine soon launched and smashed a couple of brutal pull shots that rocketed out of the small ground.
After Dunk was run out by a direct throw side-on from Forrest, Paine combined with Sangakkara to give the Hurricanes the initiative. After his first ball flop in his BBL debut against the Sixers, Sangakkara started cautiously. But it wasn't long before Sangakkara's glorious off-side game flourished, ensuring runs were ticking along briskly without doing anything rash.
Paine and Sangakkara complemented each other perfectly, with the Hurricanes captain's brashness a nice juxtaposition to the stylish Sri Lankan. Just when it seemed he was about to shift gears, Sangakkara fell for a 31-ball 43 holing out off a Ben Cutting length delivery, ending the 77-run partnership off 51 balls.
While his teammates were getting thrashed around, Cutting was the pick of the bowlers with 1 for 32 from his four overs, but his figures were blighted by a 13-run final over.
Bailey, who scored 62 against the Sixers in a lone hand, continued his fine form bashing the Heat attack to all parts. He treated renowned disciplined spinner Samuel Badree with disdain, punctuated by a massive six over long-on after skipping down the track.
Bailey (40 off 21 balls) holed out in the penultimate over but the damage had been done. The defeat ensured the Heat, last year's bottom-placed team, are winless after two matches.
Monday 21 December 2015
NZ V SL 2 Test Series December 2015 (NZ 2-0 SL)
1st Test
Day 1 (NZ 409/8)
The two batsmen who struggled most during New Zealand's recent tour of Australia rediscovered their form on the first day of the home summer in Dunedin: Martin Guptill made his third Test hundred, his first in 40 innings since November 2011, and then Brendon McCullum raced to a bruising half-century.
The bridge between those innings was Kane Williamson, who made his 88 look effortless against wayward bowling. Guptill added 173 runs for the second wicket with Williamson, to build on his half-century opening stand with Tom Latham, and then he watched McCullum blitz 75 off 57 balls in a partnership of 89 for the fourth wicket. New Zealand's run rate of 4.54 ensured they held the edge at stumps, though Sri Lanka took six wickets after tea to significantly redress the imbalance.
Angelo Mathews had chosen to bowl on a sunny morning at University Oval, to give his seamers first use of any assistance in the pitch, and perhaps to protect his inexperienced batsmen from the potent swing of Tim Southee and Trent Boult, the leaders of New Zealand's four-pronged pace attack in this Test. Having lost Dhammika Prasad to an injury and Kusal Perera to a banned substance, Sri Lanka had three raw batsmen in their XI - opener Udara Jayasundera was making a debut, 20-year old batsman Kusal Mendis was playing his second Test, and allrounder Milinda Siriwardana his third.
In their futile search for seam and swing, the new-ball bowlers pitched too full, and after a maiden over to begin from Suranga Lakmal, there were a flurry of straight drives, both openers using the vertical bat to guard against any lateral movement. Guptill was strong off the pads too, flicking through square leg for boundaries, and New Zealand racked up 51 in the first hour. Latham fell soon after - caught and bowled on the second attempt by Lakmal - but that made barely a dent in the home team's progress.
Williamson's first ball was on the pads from Nuwan Pradeep and he glanced for four, before pouncing on width offered by Lakmal to punch and cut either side of point. He had three fours in his first 15 deliveries. He punished width from Mathews and Dushmantha Chameera too, cutting with confidence to collect three more fours in his next 15 balls. When the delivery demanded it though, Williamson left outside off and was solid in defence.
Guptill also attacked Chameera when the 23-year old quick offered width, slapping a short one through point and flaying a fuller one through cover in the same over. He got to his half-century off 74 balls. New Zealand went to lunch on 114 for 1 in 27 overs, and the pace did not abate after the break. They scored 61 in the next hour. Mathews brought on his experienced fast bowlers again but Lakmal and Pradeep were loose. The pitch had a tinge of green on it but offered no lateral movement. Guptill passed 2000 Test runs in his 38th match - the sixth slowest for New Zealand - with a cut off Pradeep, and Williamson steered him between two gullies twice to get to his half-century off 53 balls.
When Mathews turned to spin, Guptill stepped out and lofted Rangana Herath to the long-on boundary to not let him settle, and later slapped two short and wide offerings fiercely through cover. The only uncertain moments Guptill faced were during a brief surge of pace from Chameera, when he survived two lbw appeals in the 39th over. The second not-out decision would have been overturned had Mathews chosen to use the DRS. Guptill shrugged that off and was soon celebrating a hundred off 147 balls.
Williamson was also purring towards a hundred before he fell in the last over before tea, edging a short and wide ball from Pradeep to slip, entirely against the run of play. Sri Lanka had their foot in the door when Ross Taylor was lbw cheaply to Pradeep after tea, but McCullum slammed the door on it.
Playing his 98th consecutive Test since his debut - a record he shares with AB de Villiers - McCullum scored three off his first 11 balls before treating the small crowd to unrestrained use of his scything blade. No matter who bowled at him, McCullum attacked: he slashed, charged, slogged, hooked, upper-cut and drove to a half-century off 39 balls. Often the boundaries came in clusters of two and three, and Sri Lanka were in danger on conceding close to 500.
McCullum fell top-edging a slog off the spinner Siriwardana, and his dismissal led to a spate of wickets. Chameera struck in his last over with the old ball and in his first with the new: bowling above 140kph, he drew edges from Mitchell Santner and BJ Watling during a spell that was more hostile that any of his previous ones.
Guptill did not survive the day either, edging a Mathews delivery that seamed away, but New Zealand had Doug Bracewell, who had batted impressively in the day-night Test in Adelaide, counterattacking once again. His unbeaten 32 off 39 balls took New Zealand past 400, a total their seamers will be thrilled with on a surface that was beginning to exhibit more bounce late in the day.
Day 2
New Zealand 431
Sri Lanka 197/4 (81 ov)
Sri Lanka trail by 234 runs with 6 wickets remaining in the 1st innings
Where runs had flowed and wickets tumbled as a result of New Zealand's assertive batting approach on the first day, the cricket was played at a slower pace on the second at University Oval, but was no less intense. The change in tempo was brought about by a battle of patience between New Zealand's attack, which moved the ball in both directions from accurate lines and lengths, and two Sri Lankan top-order batsmen determined to cut out risk. At stumps, Brendom McCullum's team had edged ahead on the day, consolidating their advantage in the match.
Sri Lanka lost Kusal Mendis, playing his second Test, and the debutant Udara Jayasundera early to inexperience in alien conditions, but their relatively older hands Dimuth Karunaratne and Dinesh Chandimal - both playing their 24th Tests - had kept New Zealand wicketless in the second session. Their partnership spanned 48.5 overs but produced only 122 runs, because for large swathes of time they were given extremely few hittable balls. Sri Lanka had only 17 fours in the day - New Zealand had that many in their first 23 overs - and though Chandimal finished unbeaten on 83, the fall of Karunaratne and Angelo Mathews in the final session left the lower order with a lot to do.
That Karunaratne got as far as 84 was because of a little luck and a lot of skill in the morning. In the first over of the innings, he left his bat raised while ducking a bouncer from Trent Boult, the ball pinging off the periscope over the wicketkeeper's head. In the third, he edged consecutive outswingers but crucially played with soft hands so the catches did not carry to first slip.
Mendis, however, did not use soft hands and a delivery from Boult slanted away from the right-hander and took the edge through to BJ Watling, who collected his 100th dismissal and the first of four catches in the innings.
Tim Southee tested Karunaratne with two consecutive yorkers that hooped into the left-hander and homed in on his boot. Karunaratne inside-edged the first on to his pad, and blocked out the second confidently. Jayasundera also got a similar delivery as his first ball in Test cricket and survived.
Jayasundera scored his first run by tucking Boult off his pads, but did not make another. He had watched Karunaratne slash a wide ball from Neil Wagner over the slips for four, but when he reached out to cut, he only managed a toe end to Watling. Boult's first spell read 6-2-16-1 and Southee's 5-1-6-0. That pressure was maintained by Doug Bracewell, who conceded only five runs in four overs before lunch.
The scoring stayed slow after the break, the difference being the growing assuredness of Sri Lanka's batsmen. Runs came via compact punches, dabs and crisp flicks off the pads - nothing extravagant. Karunaratne played the pull confidently, getting on top of the bounce and rolling his wrists to keep the ball down. With the ball not doing much for the seamers, McCullum brought on Mitchell Santner in the 30th over and the left-arm spinner was economical as well, conceding only 12 runs in his first ten overs. Sri Lanka made only 24 runs in the first hour after lunch.
After 80 deliveries of restraint, Chandimal attacked, charging Santner and aiming a heave down the ground. The outside edge flew over slip. Two balls later he cut Santner for his first boundary. Karunaratne began to score more freely towards tea, thumping consecutive half-volleys from Wagner to the long-on and straight boundaries, and glancing a rare poor ball from Bracewell off his pads as well. The slight loosening of New Zealand's purse strings was reward for diligent batting.
Wagner was the weak link in the New Zealand attack, and in the first hour of the final session his economy was touching five an over while the innings run rate was around two. He bowled too full and was driven often by Karunaratne and Chandimal through the off side and down the ground. With his seamers ineffective despite the ball showing a tendency to reverse - Boult's pace was down between 125-130kph - McCullum gave it to Santner.
The wicket came against the run of play, when Karunaratne went back to cut a rather cut-able ball but edged it to Watling. Sri Lanka were still trailing by 280 but their captain took only two runs off that deficit: Angelo Mathews was caught down the leg side off Southee, the not-out decision on the field overturned by the faintest of Hot-Spots.
Chandimal had got to his 50 off 143 deliveries with three boundaries, but he was less conservative in the final session, striking six more fours after raising his half-century. For company, he had the last specialist batsman Kithuruwan Vithanage, whose hard but airborne drive had been put down by Kane Williamson at short cover.
Sri Lanka were 234 runs behind with six wickets in hand at the end of the day, and they will have to face the danger of a ball that is only an over old on the third morning.
Day 3
New Zealand 431 & 171/1
Sri Lanka 294
New Zealand lead by 308 runs with 9 wickets remaining
In stark contrast to the previous two days in Dunedin, the third was overcast, cold and windy - conditions that were as familiar to New Zealand as they were foreign to Sri Lanka. The visitors struggled to cope: their batsmen succumbed to the moving ball, their bowlers toiled in the strong breeze, and their fielders put down catches in the chilly weather. The upshot was an ever-widening distance between the two teams, exemplified by New Zealand's 308-run lead with nine wickets in hand and two days remaining.
Sri Lanka's troubles began in the first over, when Tim Southee dismissed Dinesh Chandimal with his second ball. The delivery swerved into the right-hander from over the wicket, landed on a good length around middle and off stump, and seamed away. Chandimal was squared up in his crease as he tried to defend, and Martin Guptill dived across first slip from second to catch the edge.
In his second over, Southee swung two consecutive balls on to Kithuruwan Vithanage's pads and the batsman glanced both to the fine-leg boundary. The next delivery slanted away from the left-hander with a scrambled seam, and Vithanage chased it with a cover drive, giving BJ Watling his fifth catch. Sri Lanka had lost both overnight batsmen in the first 15 minutes.
From 209 for 6, Sri Lanka were lifted briefly by a plucky stand of 43. Milinda Siriwardana, playing in only his third Test, attacked the fast bowlers - driving through cover and down the ground, pulling and cutting too. Herath batted cautiously after successfully reviewing a catch down the leg side that had gone off his boot, and took 22 balls to get off the mark.
With around 30 minutes to lunch, New Zealand began bowling short, aiming at the batsman's ribs with catchers on the leg side. Herath was the primary target, and was hit on the gloves by Wagner and on the helmet by Southee. When New Zealand came at Siriwardana with short balls, he pulled. He was caught on the long-leg boundary by Doug Bracewell, who fell over the rope because he had been back-pedalling and could not control his momentum. But three balls later, Wagner sent down another short delivery and Siriwardana fended it to Ross Taylor at slip.
Brendon McCullum continued the short-ball attack after lunch, often placing no fielders in front of the wicket on the offside. Wagner began the 100th over with a bouncer, Herath ducked. The second ball was also short, Herath was beaten on the pull. The third was short too, and Herath top-edged towards long leg, where Trent Boult ran in at speed to take the catch. He had made 15 off 74 balls, and was the only batsman to not be caught by the wicketkeeper or the slip cordon.
Sri Lanka were eventually dismissed for 294 in 117.1 overs - a commendable period of time for such a raw batting line-up - having added 97 for 6 on the third day, conceding a first-innings lead of 137.
Like they had done while batting, Sri Lanka sought to take time out of the Test in the field too, by slowing New Zealand down with more accurate bowling and defensive fields - Angelo Mathews had men out at deep point and square leg early on. It worked for the hour before tea, when Guptill and Tom Latham minimised risk against the new ball.
They lifted the tempo in the final session, though, with Guptill taking charge. He could have been caught on 19 and 42, but Kusal Mendis put down a fierce cut at cover, and Suranga Lakmal failed to catch a drive on his follow-through. It was the first time New Zealand had two half-century opening partnerships in a Test since December 2009.
New Zealand targeted Herath once again, Guptill charging down the pitch to hit powerfully to and over the long-on boundary in the same over. He looked good for a second 50-plus score in the Test until he was bowled by a delivery that shot through at ankle height, an aberration on this surface. It was scant consolation for Herath, who conceded 39 runs in eight overs.
Williamson and Lathan built on the opening stand of 79, by raising their half-century stand in 61 balls, rapidly building the lead. Williamson passed 1000 runs at an average of more than 90 for the year by stepping out and lofting Herath to the wide long-on boundary, while Latham finally looked to be shaking his tendency to give away a start.
He ended the day unbeaten on 72, Williamson on 48, their partnership of 92 coming at 4.27 an over. New Zealand will aim to continue at similar pace on the fourth morning, to give themselves five sessions to dismiss Sri Lanka to take a lead in the series.
Day 4
New Zealand 431 & 267/3d
Sri Lanka 294 & 109/3 (50.1 ov)
Sri Lanka require another 296 runs with 7 wickets remaining
For the second time in the Test, Sri Lanka's inexperienced batting line-up offered more resistance than expected, but New Zealand's persistent fast bowlers supported by the safe gloves of BJ Watling ensured the home side made strides towards victory despite a bad-weather day in Dunedin. Rain and hail halted play three times at University Oval, and at stumps Sri Lanka had seven wickets left and 296 runs to get, with a better forecast for the final day.
Brendon McCullum had given his attack 405 to defend and a little more than five sessions to dismiss Sri Lanka by declaring New Zealand's second innings on 267 for 3 half an hour before lunch on the fourth day. The highlights of their quick run accumulation - 96 in 17.4 overs- was Tom Latham's third Test hundred and McCullum's record-equalling 100th six.
New Zealand's bowlers had to toil harder for wickets than their batsmen had done for runs. Play was halted either side of lunch soon after Sri Lanka began their chase but the openers' approach was not affected. Dimuth Karunaratne and Kusal Mendis batted with more confidence than they had done at the start of the first innings.
Their partnership could have ended on 28, though, but Martin Guptill dropped a straightforward chance off Mendis at first slip, leaving the bowler Doug Bracewell in anguish. In Bracewell's last over, Mendis had played a perfect straight drive and then was beaten on an expansive cover drive. Having been dropped on 13, Mendis had another reprieve on 25, when Watling could not catch a tough chance down the leg side off a gloved sweep against Mitchell Santner. Mendis collected two fours off the left-arm spinner, punishing long-hops to the leg-side boundary.
Like in his first innings, Karunaratne was dismissed against the run of play, when he tried to upper-cut Southee but edged to Watling. McCullum had held Neil Wagner back until the 29th over, and the left-arm quick broke through in his third. Udara Jayasundera ended a poor debut by fending a short ball off his ribs to Watling. Sri Lanka had gone from 54 for 0 to 64 for 2.
Dinesh Chandimal took his chances against Wagner after tea, slashing and driving outside the off stump. He middle some balls, was beaten on others, and edged a couple over the cordon. Wagner countered by targeting the body with a short-pitched attack from around the wicket, forcing defence from Chandimal.
Mendis took fewer risks, his attacking drives through cover and past Bracewell involving straight bats, as he approached his maiden half-century. He did not get there, though. Three balls after surviving a run-out chance, Mendis pushed at an outswinger from Southee that pitched on a perfect length and moved just enough to draw the edge. Watling took his ninth catch, and moved within two of the record for most dismissals in a Test. It began to rain and hail immediately after the wicket, bringing an early end to the day.
Play had begun under sunny skies on the fourth day, with New Zealand ahead by 308 and two batsmen approaching milestones. Kane Williamson got to his half-century off the second ball of the day, dabbing to square leg and sprinting the second, an indication of the urgency with which New Zealand would bat against little pressure from Sri Lanka.
Latham was playing at balls wide outside off, looking to score swiftly, and on 73 he edged Nunwan Pradeep between the wicketkeeper and first slip. It was Chandimal's catch but he did not move. Latham drove frequently through cover but a lot of his shots found fielders. Then he found the gap at extra cover off Suranga Lakmal to move into the 90s and pulled Pradeep to the long-leg boundary.
Williamson fell before Latham got to his hundred. He had lofted Pradeep to the midwicket boundary, and charged and hit Jayasundera in the same direction, but when he attempted the shot off Dushmantha Chameera, the ball nipped in, hit his pad and bowled him. Williamson's partnership of 141 with Latham had come at 4.36 an over.
Ross Taylor glanced his second ball, from Chameera, for four and hit two more boundaries in his next eight deliveries as New Zealand sped ahead. Latham drove Rangana Herath through midwicket and celebrated a Test hundred for the first time since November 2014, ending a run of seven double-figure scores without making more than 50.
After Taylor was bowled, aiming to hit Herath to deep midwicket, McCullum charged at his first ball and smashed it over the straight boundary. Five balls later, he swiped Herath over deep midwicket to equal Adam Gilchrist's record for most sixes in Test cricket, but decided he did not have to break it in this innings and declared.
Day 5
New Zealand 431 and 267 for 3 dec beat Sri Lanka 294 and 282 by 122 runs
In conditions where the old ball did nothing and New Zealand's three first-choice quicks produced innocuous medium-pace, Neil Wagner ran in relentlessly with tremendous stamina, sending down a barrage of short deliveries, harrying the batsmen at around 140 kph and broke Sri Lanka's resistance. Until Wagner came on, Dinesh Chandimal and Angelo Mathews had been untroubled and scored freely, but once he broke through his one wicket quickly led to many, and New Zealand completed a 122-run victory after lunch on the final day in Dunedin.
Before Brendon McCullum turned to Wagner, Sri Lanka made 45 runs in 15.5 overs, and Mitchell Santner and Doug Bracewell had just begun to control a previously brisk run rate. Wagner immediately resorted to a short-pitched attack from over the wicket - like he had done on the third day - targeting the right-hand batsman's ribs with men catching close on the leg side.
Chandimal had been cover-driving and cutting Trent Boult and Tim Southee, his fierce punishment of anything loose taking him swiftly to a half-century. Mathews had played with softer hands and a straighter bat, batting with calm. Wagner gave them no width, no opportunity to get on the front foot, hustling them with pace, forcing hurried evasive actions and awkward fends off the body.
Wagner's method of attack had become so ingrained in the batsman's psyche that they expected little else from him. And so Mathews, after moving hurriedly towards the off side to let two consecutive short balls whizz past his ribs, began to play the third delivery in a similar manner. Except that this time Wagner bowled a full length. The ball crashed into the inside of his front pad, shot between his legs and flattened middle stump. Mathews had not even played a shot, and was the first Sri Lankan batsman to not be caught in this Test.
Chandimal had to shelve his cavalier approach against Wagner. He had got to 50 off 90 balls - scoring 19 off 26 this morning - but made only eight off his next 41 deliveries. Subdued into a defensive mind-set, he padded up to a ball from the left-arm spinner Santner that went on with the arm, and was adjudged lbw not offering a shot. After a partnership of 56, Mathews and Chandimal had fallen with the score on 165.
Wagner now went around the wicket to aim at the ribs of the two left-handers - Kithuruwan Vithanage and Milinda Siriwardana. He pinned them to the crease with his length, and then bowled a fast full-toss at Siriwardana, who was hit on the back pad as he squared up in his crease. The umpire Nigel Llong gave him lbw but Siriwardana successfully reviewed the decision, replays surprisingly suggesting the ball would have missed off stump, perhaps because Wagner had delivered from extremely wide of the crease.
Wagner was given the second new ball for the last delivery of his first spell, which comprised eight overs at speeds that did not ebb.
Southee took two deliveries to strike with the new ball, swinging it back into Vithanage from over the wicket, hitting the left-hander's pads. Vithanage had played an enterprising innings, a run-a-ball 38 full of shots.
The slide was swift after lunch. Boult struck in the third and fifth over of the second session - drawing an edge from Rangana Herath and having Siriwardana caught at short cover, both batsmen not bothering with defence.
Sri Lanka went down swinging, and were bowled out for 282. However, the fact that an inexperienced batting line-up had lasted 95.2 overs after playing 117.1 in the first innings will be some consolation for a team rebuilding from the retirements of Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene.
Day 1 (NZ 409/8)
The two batsmen who struggled most during New Zealand's recent tour of Australia rediscovered their form on the first day of the home summer in Dunedin: Martin Guptill made his third Test hundred, his first in 40 innings since November 2011, and then Brendon McCullum raced to a bruising half-century.
The bridge between those innings was Kane Williamson, who made his 88 look effortless against wayward bowling. Guptill added 173 runs for the second wicket with Williamson, to build on his half-century opening stand with Tom Latham, and then he watched McCullum blitz 75 off 57 balls in a partnership of 89 for the fourth wicket. New Zealand's run rate of 4.54 ensured they held the edge at stumps, though Sri Lanka took six wickets after tea to significantly redress the imbalance.
Angelo Mathews had chosen to bowl on a sunny morning at University Oval, to give his seamers first use of any assistance in the pitch, and perhaps to protect his inexperienced batsmen from the potent swing of Tim Southee and Trent Boult, the leaders of New Zealand's four-pronged pace attack in this Test. Having lost Dhammika Prasad to an injury and Kusal Perera to a banned substance, Sri Lanka had three raw batsmen in their XI - opener Udara Jayasundera was making a debut, 20-year old batsman Kusal Mendis was playing his second Test, and allrounder Milinda Siriwardana his third.
In their futile search for seam and swing, the new-ball bowlers pitched too full, and after a maiden over to begin from Suranga Lakmal, there were a flurry of straight drives, both openers using the vertical bat to guard against any lateral movement. Guptill was strong off the pads too, flicking through square leg for boundaries, and New Zealand racked up 51 in the first hour. Latham fell soon after - caught and bowled on the second attempt by Lakmal - but that made barely a dent in the home team's progress.
Williamson's first ball was on the pads from Nuwan Pradeep and he glanced for four, before pouncing on width offered by Lakmal to punch and cut either side of point. He had three fours in his first 15 deliveries. He punished width from Mathews and Dushmantha Chameera too, cutting with confidence to collect three more fours in his next 15 balls. When the delivery demanded it though, Williamson left outside off and was solid in defence.
Guptill also attacked Chameera when the 23-year old quick offered width, slapping a short one through point and flaying a fuller one through cover in the same over. He got to his half-century off 74 balls. New Zealand went to lunch on 114 for 1 in 27 overs, and the pace did not abate after the break. They scored 61 in the next hour. Mathews brought on his experienced fast bowlers again but Lakmal and Pradeep were loose. The pitch had a tinge of green on it but offered no lateral movement. Guptill passed 2000 Test runs in his 38th match - the sixth slowest for New Zealand - with a cut off Pradeep, and Williamson steered him between two gullies twice to get to his half-century off 53 balls.
When Mathews turned to spin, Guptill stepped out and lofted Rangana Herath to the long-on boundary to not let him settle, and later slapped two short and wide offerings fiercely through cover. The only uncertain moments Guptill faced were during a brief surge of pace from Chameera, when he survived two lbw appeals in the 39th over. The second not-out decision would have been overturned had Mathews chosen to use the DRS. Guptill shrugged that off and was soon celebrating a hundred off 147 balls.
Williamson was also purring towards a hundred before he fell in the last over before tea, edging a short and wide ball from Pradeep to slip, entirely against the run of play. Sri Lanka had their foot in the door when Ross Taylor was lbw cheaply to Pradeep after tea, but McCullum slammed the door on it.
Playing his 98th consecutive Test since his debut - a record he shares with AB de Villiers - McCullum scored three off his first 11 balls before treating the small crowd to unrestrained use of his scything blade. No matter who bowled at him, McCullum attacked: he slashed, charged, slogged, hooked, upper-cut and drove to a half-century off 39 balls. Often the boundaries came in clusters of two and three, and Sri Lanka were in danger on conceding close to 500.
McCullum fell top-edging a slog off the spinner Siriwardana, and his dismissal led to a spate of wickets. Chameera struck in his last over with the old ball and in his first with the new: bowling above 140kph, he drew edges from Mitchell Santner and BJ Watling during a spell that was more hostile that any of his previous ones.
Guptill did not survive the day either, edging a Mathews delivery that seamed away, but New Zealand had Doug Bracewell, who had batted impressively in the day-night Test in Adelaide, counterattacking once again. His unbeaten 32 off 39 balls took New Zealand past 400, a total their seamers will be thrilled with on a surface that was beginning to exhibit more bounce late in the day.
Day 2
New Zealand 431
Sri Lanka 197/4 (81 ov)
Sri Lanka trail by 234 runs with 6 wickets remaining in the 1st innings
Where runs had flowed and wickets tumbled as a result of New Zealand's assertive batting approach on the first day, the cricket was played at a slower pace on the second at University Oval, but was no less intense. The change in tempo was brought about by a battle of patience between New Zealand's attack, which moved the ball in both directions from accurate lines and lengths, and two Sri Lankan top-order batsmen determined to cut out risk. At stumps, Brendom McCullum's team had edged ahead on the day, consolidating their advantage in the match.
Sri Lanka lost Kusal Mendis, playing his second Test, and the debutant Udara Jayasundera early to inexperience in alien conditions, but their relatively older hands Dimuth Karunaratne and Dinesh Chandimal - both playing their 24th Tests - had kept New Zealand wicketless in the second session. Their partnership spanned 48.5 overs but produced only 122 runs, because for large swathes of time they were given extremely few hittable balls. Sri Lanka had only 17 fours in the day - New Zealand had that many in their first 23 overs - and though Chandimal finished unbeaten on 83, the fall of Karunaratne and Angelo Mathews in the final session left the lower order with a lot to do.
That Karunaratne got as far as 84 was because of a little luck and a lot of skill in the morning. In the first over of the innings, he left his bat raised while ducking a bouncer from Trent Boult, the ball pinging off the periscope over the wicketkeeper's head. In the third, he edged consecutive outswingers but crucially played with soft hands so the catches did not carry to first slip.
Mendis, however, did not use soft hands and a delivery from Boult slanted away from the right-hander and took the edge through to BJ Watling, who collected his 100th dismissal and the first of four catches in the innings.
Tim Southee tested Karunaratne with two consecutive yorkers that hooped into the left-hander and homed in on his boot. Karunaratne inside-edged the first on to his pad, and blocked out the second confidently. Jayasundera also got a similar delivery as his first ball in Test cricket and survived.
Jayasundera scored his first run by tucking Boult off his pads, but did not make another. He had watched Karunaratne slash a wide ball from Neil Wagner over the slips for four, but when he reached out to cut, he only managed a toe end to Watling. Boult's first spell read 6-2-16-1 and Southee's 5-1-6-0. That pressure was maintained by Doug Bracewell, who conceded only five runs in four overs before lunch.
The scoring stayed slow after the break, the difference being the growing assuredness of Sri Lanka's batsmen. Runs came via compact punches, dabs and crisp flicks off the pads - nothing extravagant. Karunaratne played the pull confidently, getting on top of the bounce and rolling his wrists to keep the ball down. With the ball not doing much for the seamers, McCullum brought on Mitchell Santner in the 30th over and the left-arm spinner was economical as well, conceding only 12 runs in his first ten overs. Sri Lanka made only 24 runs in the first hour after lunch.
After 80 deliveries of restraint, Chandimal attacked, charging Santner and aiming a heave down the ground. The outside edge flew over slip. Two balls later he cut Santner for his first boundary. Karunaratne began to score more freely towards tea, thumping consecutive half-volleys from Wagner to the long-on and straight boundaries, and glancing a rare poor ball from Bracewell off his pads as well. The slight loosening of New Zealand's purse strings was reward for diligent batting.
Wagner was the weak link in the New Zealand attack, and in the first hour of the final session his economy was touching five an over while the innings run rate was around two. He bowled too full and was driven often by Karunaratne and Chandimal through the off side and down the ground. With his seamers ineffective despite the ball showing a tendency to reverse - Boult's pace was down between 125-130kph - McCullum gave it to Santner.
The wicket came against the run of play, when Karunaratne went back to cut a rather cut-able ball but edged it to Watling. Sri Lanka were still trailing by 280 but their captain took only two runs off that deficit: Angelo Mathews was caught down the leg side off Southee, the not-out decision on the field overturned by the faintest of Hot-Spots.
Chandimal had got to his 50 off 143 deliveries with three boundaries, but he was less conservative in the final session, striking six more fours after raising his half-century. For company, he had the last specialist batsman Kithuruwan Vithanage, whose hard but airborne drive had been put down by Kane Williamson at short cover.
Sri Lanka were 234 runs behind with six wickets in hand at the end of the day, and they will have to face the danger of a ball that is only an over old on the third morning.
Day 3
New Zealand 431 & 171/1
Sri Lanka 294
New Zealand lead by 308 runs with 9 wickets remaining
In stark contrast to the previous two days in Dunedin, the third was overcast, cold and windy - conditions that were as familiar to New Zealand as they were foreign to Sri Lanka. The visitors struggled to cope: their batsmen succumbed to the moving ball, their bowlers toiled in the strong breeze, and their fielders put down catches in the chilly weather. The upshot was an ever-widening distance between the two teams, exemplified by New Zealand's 308-run lead with nine wickets in hand and two days remaining.
Sri Lanka's troubles began in the first over, when Tim Southee dismissed Dinesh Chandimal with his second ball. The delivery swerved into the right-hander from over the wicket, landed on a good length around middle and off stump, and seamed away. Chandimal was squared up in his crease as he tried to defend, and Martin Guptill dived across first slip from second to catch the edge.
In his second over, Southee swung two consecutive balls on to Kithuruwan Vithanage's pads and the batsman glanced both to the fine-leg boundary. The next delivery slanted away from the left-hander with a scrambled seam, and Vithanage chased it with a cover drive, giving BJ Watling his fifth catch. Sri Lanka had lost both overnight batsmen in the first 15 minutes.
From 209 for 6, Sri Lanka were lifted briefly by a plucky stand of 43. Milinda Siriwardana, playing in only his third Test, attacked the fast bowlers - driving through cover and down the ground, pulling and cutting too. Herath batted cautiously after successfully reviewing a catch down the leg side that had gone off his boot, and took 22 balls to get off the mark.
With around 30 minutes to lunch, New Zealand began bowling short, aiming at the batsman's ribs with catchers on the leg side. Herath was the primary target, and was hit on the gloves by Wagner and on the helmet by Southee. When New Zealand came at Siriwardana with short balls, he pulled. He was caught on the long-leg boundary by Doug Bracewell, who fell over the rope because he had been back-pedalling and could not control his momentum. But three balls later, Wagner sent down another short delivery and Siriwardana fended it to Ross Taylor at slip.
Brendon McCullum continued the short-ball attack after lunch, often placing no fielders in front of the wicket on the offside. Wagner began the 100th over with a bouncer, Herath ducked. The second ball was also short, Herath was beaten on the pull. The third was short too, and Herath top-edged towards long leg, where Trent Boult ran in at speed to take the catch. He had made 15 off 74 balls, and was the only batsman to not be caught by the wicketkeeper or the slip cordon.
Sri Lanka were eventually dismissed for 294 in 117.1 overs - a commendable period of time for such a raw batting line-up - having added 97 for 6 on the third day, conceding a first-innings lead of 137.
Like they had done while batting, Sri Lanka sought to take time out of the Test in the field too, by slowing New Zealand down with more accurate bowling and defensive fields - Angelo Mathews had men out at deep point and square leg early on. It worked for the hour before tea, when Guptill and Tom Latham minimised risk against the new ball.
They lifted the tempo in the final session, though, with Guptill taking charge. He could have been caught on 19 and 42, but Kusal Mendis put down a fierce cut at cover, and Suranga Lakmal failed to catch a drive on his follow-through. It was the first time New Zealand had two half-century opening partnerships in a Test since December 2009.
New Zealand targeted Herath once again, Guptill charging down the pitch to hit powerfully to and over the long-on boundary in the same over. He looked good for a second 50-plus score in the Test until he was bowled by a delivery that shot through at ankle height, an aberration on this surface. It was scant consolation for Herath, who conceded 39 runs in eight overs.
Williamson and Lathan built on the opening stand of 79, by raising their half-century stand in 61 balls, rapidly building the lead. Williamson passed 1000 runs at an average of more than 90 for the year by stepping out and lofting Herath to the wide long-on boundary, while Latham finally looked to be shaking his tendency to give away a start.
He ended the day unbeaten on 72, Williamson on 48, their partnership of 92 coming at 4.27 an over. New Zealand will aim to continue at similar pace on the fourth morning, to give themselves five sessions to dismiss Sri Lanka to take a lead in the series.
Day 4
New Zealand 431 & 267/3d
Sri Lanka 294 & 109/3 (50.1 ov)
Sri Lanka require another 296 runs with 7 wickets remaining
For the second time in the Test, Sri Lanka's inexperienced batting line-up offered more resistance than expected, but New Zealand's persistent fast bowlers supported by the safe gloves of BJ Watling ensured the home side made strides towards victory despite a bad-weather day in Dunedin. Rain and hail halted play three times at University Oval, and at stumps Sri Lanka had seven wickets left and 296 runs to get, with a better forecast for the final day.
Brendon McCullum had given his attack 405 to defend and a little more than five sessions to dismiss Sri Lanka by declaring New Zealand's second innings on 267 for 3 half an hour before lunch on the fourth day. The highlights of their quick run accumulation - 96 in 17.4 overs- was Tom Latham's third Test hundred and McCullum's record-equalling 100th six.
New Zealand's bowlers had to toil harder for wickets than their batsmen had done for runs. Play was halted either side of lunch soon after Sri Lanka began their chase but the openers' approach was not affected. Dimuth Karunaratne and Kusal Mendis batted with more confidence than they had done at the start of the first innings.
Their partnership could have ended on 28, though, but Martin Guptill dropped a straightforward chance off Mendis at first slip, leaving the bowler Doug Bracewell in anguish. In Bracewell's last over, Mendis had played a perfect straight drive and then was beaten on an expansive cover drive. Having been dropped on 13, Mendis had another reprieve on 25, when Watling could not catch a tough chance down the leg side off a gloved sweep against Mitchell Santner. Mendis collected two fours off the left-arm spinner, punishing long-hops to the leg-side boundary.
Like in his first innings, Karunaratne was dismissed against the run of play, when he tried to upper-cut Southee but edged to Watling. McCullum had held Neil Wagner back until the 29th over, and the left-arm quick broke through in his third. Udara Jayasundera ended a poor debut by fending a short ball off his ribs to Watling. Sri Lanka had gone from 54 for 0 to 64 for 2.
Dinesh Chandimal took his chances against Wagner after tea, slashing and driving outside the off stump. He middle some balls, was beaten on others, and edged a couple over the cordon. Wagner countered by targeting the body with a short-pitched attack from around the wicket, forcing defence from Chandimal.
Mendis took fewer risks, his attacking drives through cover and past Bracewell involving straight bats, as he approached his maiden half-century. He did not get there, though. Three balls after surviving a run-out chance, Mendis pushed at an outswinger from Southee that pitched on a perfect length and moved just enough to draw the edge. Watling took his ninth catch, and moved within two of the record for most dismissals in a Test. It began to rain and hail immediately after the wicket, bringing an early end to the day.
Play had begun under sunny skies on the fourth day, with New Zealand ahead by 308 and two batsmen approaching milestones. Kane Williamson got to his half-century off the second ball of the day, dabbing to square leg and sprinting the second, an indication of the urgency with which New Zealand would bat against little pressure from Sri Lanka.
Latham was playing at balls wide outside off, looking to score swiftly, and on 73 he edged Nunwan Pradeep between the wicketkeeper and first slip. It was Chandimal's catch but he did not move. Latham drove frequently through cover but a lot of his shots found fielders. Then he found the gap at extra cover off Suranga Lakmal to move into the 90s and pulled Pradeep to the long-leg boundary.
Williamson fell before Latham got to his hundred. He had lofted Pradeep to the midwicket boundary, and charged and hit Jayasundera in the same direction, but when he attempted the shot off Dushmantha Chameera, the ball nipped in, hit his pad and bowled him. Williamson's partnership of 141 with Latham had come at 4.36 an over.
Ross Taylor glanced his second ball, from Chameera, for four and hit two more boundaries in his next eight deliveries as New Zealand sped ahead. Latham drove Rangana Herath through midwicket and celebrated a Test hundred for the first time since November 2014, ending a run of seven double-figure scores without making more than 50.
After Taylor was bowled, aiming to hit Herath to deep midwicket, McCullum charged at his first ball and smashed it over the straight boundary. Five balls later, he swiped Herath over deep midwicket to equal Adam Gilchrist's record for most sixes in Test cricket, but decided he did not have to break it in this innings and declared.
Day 5
New Zealand 431 and 267 for 3 dec beat Sri Lanka 294 and 282 by 122 runs
In conditions where the old ball did nothing and New Zealand's three first-choice quicks produced innocuous medium-pace, Neil Wagner ran in relentlessly with tremendous stamina, sending down a barrage of short deliveries, harrying the batsmen at around 140 kph and broke Sri Lanka's resistance. Until Wagner came on, Dinesh Chandimal and Angelo Mathews had been untroubled and scored freely, but once he broke through his one wicket quickly led to many, and New Zealand completed a 122-run victory after lunch on the final day in Dunedin.
Before Brendon McCullum turned to Wagner, Sri Lanka made 45 runs in 15.5 overs, and Mitchell Santner and Doug Bracewell had just begun to control a previously brisk run rate. Wagner immediately resorted to a short-pitched attack from over the wicket - like he had done on the third day - targeting the right-hand batsman's ribs with men catching close on the leg side.
Chandimal had been cover-driving and cutting Trent Boult and Tim Southee, his fierce punishment of anything loose taking him swiftly to a half-century. Mathews had played with softer hands and a straighter bat, batting with calm. Wagner gave them no width, no opportunity to get on the front foot, hustling them with pace, forcing hurried evasive actions and awkward fends off the body.
Wagner's method of attack had become so ingrained in the batsman's psyche that they expected little else from him. And so Mathews, after moving hurriedly towards the off side to let two consecutive short balls whizz past his ribs, began to play the third delivery in a similar manner. Except that this time Wagner bowled a full length. The ball crashed into the inside of his front pad, shot between his legs and flattened middle stump. Mathews had not even played a shot, and was the first Sri Lankan batsman to not be caught in this Test.
Chandimal had to shelve his cavalier approach against Wagner. He had got to 50 off 90 balls - scoring 19 off 26 this morning - but made only eight off his next 41 deliveries. Subdued into a defensive mind-set, he padded up to a ball from the left-arm spinner Santner that went on with the arm, and was adjudged lbw not offering a shot. After a partnership of 56, Mathews and Chandimal had fallen with the score on 165.
Wagner now went around the wicket to aim at the ribs of the two left-handers - Kithuruwan Vithanage and Milinda Siriwardana. He pinned them to the crease with his length, and then bowled a fast full-toss at Siriwardana, who was hit on the back pad as he squared up in his crease. The umpire Nigel Llong gave him lbw but Siriwardana successfully reviewed the decision, replays surprisingly suggesting the ball would have missed off stump, perhaps because Wagner had delivered from extremely wide of the crease.
Wagner was given the second new ball for the last delivery of his first spell, which comprised eight overs at speeds that did not ebb.
Southee took two deliveries to strike with the new ball, swinging it back into Vithanage from over the wicket, hitting the left-hander's pads. Vithanage had played an enterprising innings, a run-a-ball 38 full of shots.
The slide was swift after lunch. Boult struck in the third and fifth over of the second session - drawing an edge from Rangana Herath and having Siriwardana caught at short cover, both batsmen not bothering with defence.
Sri Lanka went down swinging, and were bowled out for 282. However, the fact that an inexperienced batting line-up had lasted 95.2 overs after playing 117.1 in the first innings will be some consolation for a team rebuilding from the retirements of Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene.
Big Bash 2015 Match 6
Adelaide Strikers 6 for 152 (Jayawardene 42, Ross 38) beat Perth Scorchers 6 for 151 (Shaun Marsh 47, Voges 45*, Rashid 2-21) by four wickets
Defending champions Perth Scorchers began their BBL 2015-16 campaign with a loss, going down by four wickets against the Adelaide Strikers in Perth. It was a bad day for the Scorchers who have now bizarrely lost every one of their BBL openers. The Scorchers could only muster 6 for 151, which the Strikers reeled in with four wickets in hand and five balls to spare.
Incumbent Australia Test batsman Shaun Marsh's innings promised to make a resounding case for selection but, despite a brief tease, failed to land a decisive punch for Scorchers. One day after Usman Khawaja seemingly won a recall for the Boxing Day Test, Marsh looked set to replicate Khawaja's centurion deeds. However, just when he seemed set for an imposing score, Marsh miscued a short delivery from Michael Neser and was caught on the boundary. Marsh underlined his abundance of talent during a belligerent 47 from 35 deliveries, but it wasn't quite the score he would have been hoping for.
Compounding the Scorchers' woes, Test hopeful Nathan Coulter-Nile, the only fast bowler in Australia's squad cleared to play in the BBL ahead of the MCG Test, left the field in the 12th over with a shoulder injury. Coulter-Nile slipped after a misfield and landed awkwardly. Coulter-Nile, who was in the frame for the Boxing Day Test, had impressed with an all-round performance that included a belligerent 8-ball 18 and impressive returns of 1 for 18 from 3 overs.
The Strikers started their chase briskly with Tim Ludeman hitting emerging pacer Joel Paris for three consecutive boundaries to open the innings. The Scorchers, however, clawed their way back into the contest with probing bowling and brilliant fielding.
The game was in the balance with the Strikers at 3 for 67 in the ninth over but veteran Mahela Jayawardene calmly restored the initiative with a 40-ball 42 before Alex Ross - labeled as "probably the most improved player in Australia" by national selector Mark Waugh - sealed the deal with a hard-hitting 38.
After the Scorchers captain Adam Voges won the toss and elected to bat on a flat pitch baking under sweltering Perth conditions, Marsh continued on from his rich Test form, plundering a hapless Strikers attack.
He drove superbly against the quicks, and used his feet perfectly to smash the Strikers spinner Jon Holland for two sixes in three deliveries in the eighth over, much to the delight of a near-capacity WACA crowd, many of whom were draped in partisan orange.
Marsh's opening partner Michael Klinger started swiftly with consecutive cover drives in the opening over and, despite eventually falling for 19, became the second player after Aaron Finch to score more than 1000 BBL runs.
While the pitch was flat, WACA traditionalists would have had a lump in the throat watching the ball rear from the surface, a characteristic that was notably lacking during last month's Test match against New Zealand. Paris and the Strikers pacer Kane Richardson notably produced several searing deliveries that evoked images of the WACA's golden era.
The pick of the Strikers' bowling, however, was import spinner Adil Rashid, who finished with 2 for 21 and snared the key wickets of a scratchy Michael Carberry (5) and an impatient Mitchell Marsh (1 from 2 balls). The Scorchers lost 4 for 28 between overs 10 and 16 to stifle their early momentum.
Voges' white-hot form continued as he made an unbeaten 45 from 32 balls, and looked unruffled while wickets regularly fell at the other end.
Defending champions Perth Scorchers began their BBL 2015-16 campaign with a loss, going down by four wickets against the Adelaide Strikers in Perth. It was a bad day for the Scorchers who have now bizarrely lost every one of their BBL openers. The Scorchers could only muster 6 for 151, which the Strikers reeled in with four wickets in hand and five balls to spare.
Incumbent Australia Test batsman Shaun Marsh's innings promised to make a resounding case for selection but, despite a brief tease, failed to land a decisive punch for Scorchers. One day after Usman Khawaja seemingly won a recall for the Boxing Day Test, Marsh looked set to replicate Khawaja's centurion deeds. However, just when he seemed set for an imposing score, Marsh miscued a short delivery from Michael Neser and was caught on the boundary. Marsh underlined his abundance of talent during a belligerent 47 from 35 deliveries, but it wasn't quite the score he would have been hoping for.
Compounding the Scorchers' woes, Test hopeful Nathan Coulter-Nile, the only fast bowler in Australia's squad cleared to play in the BBL ahead of the MCG Test, left the field in the 12th over with a shoulder injury. Coulter-Nile slipped after a misfield and landed awkwardly. Coulter-Nile, who was in the frame for the Boxing Day Test, had impressed with an all-round performance that included a belligerent 8-ball 18 and impressive returns of 1 for 18 from 3 overs.
The Strikers started their chase briskly with Tim Ludeman hitting emerging pacer Joel Paris for three consecutive boundaries to open the innings. The Scorchers, however, clawed their way back into the contest with probing bowling and brilliant fielding.
The game was in the balance with the Strikers at 3 for 67 in the ninth over but veteran Mahela Jayawardene calmly restored the initiative with a 40-ball 42 before Alex Ross - labeled as "probably the most improved player in Australia" by national selector Mark Waugh - sealed the deal with a hard-hitting 38.
After the Scorchers captain Adam Voges won the toss and elected to bat on a flat pitch baking under sweltering Perth conditions, Marsh continued on from his rich Test form, plundering a hapless Strikers attack.
He drove superbly against the quicks, and used his feet perfectly to smash the Strikers spinner Jon Holland for two sixes in three deliveries in the eighth over, much to the delight of a near-capacity WACA crowd, many of whom were draped in partisan orange.
Marsh's opening partner Michael Klinger started swiftly with consecutive cover drives in the opening over and, despite eventually falling for 19, became the second player after Aaron Finch to score more than 1000 BBL runs.
While the pitch was flat, WACA traditionalists would have had a lump in the throat watching the ball rear from the surface, a characteristic that was notably lacking during last month's Test match against New Zealand. Paris and the Strikers pacer Kane Richardson notably produced several searing deliveries that evoked images of the WACA's golden era.
The pick of the Strikers' bowling, however, was import spinner Adil Rashid, who finished with 2 for 21 and snared the key wickets of a scratchy Michael Carberry (5) and an impatient Mitchell Marsh (1 from 2 balls). The Scorchers lost 4 for 28 between overs 10 and 16 to stifle their early momentum.
Voges' white-hot form continued as he made an unbeaten 45 from 32 balls, and looked unruffled while wickets regularly fell at the other end.
Sunday 20 December 2015
Big Bash 2015 Matches 4 and 5
Sydney Sixers 186/7 (20/20 ov)
Hobart Hurricanes 91 (15.5/20 ov)
Sydney Sixers won by 95 runs
Nathan Lyon obliterated the Hobart Hurricanes at the SCG, as part of the Sydney Sixers' fierce response to suffering a first loss to the Sydney Thunder in five years of the Big Bash League.
Two wickets for Lyon in as many balls in the first over of the Hurricanes' chase was followed up by three more when he returned for a second spell, making an overwhelming case for his consideration as part of Australia's World Twenty20 squad to India next year. Kumar Sangakkara's BBL debut was marked by a golden duck at Lyon's hands, much as the spinner had claimed his wicket with his very first ball in Test cricket, in Galle four years ago.
Shaun Tait's first-over dismissal of Michael Lumb was just about the only moment of ascendancy the Hurricanes enjoyed all afternoon. Brad Haddin flayed a carefree 72 and was helped by contributions from Nic Maddinson and Jordan Silk, before the Hurricanes' reply disintegrated in the face of neat and tidy bowling by Lyon, Doug Bollinger, Steve O'Keefe and Sean Abbott.
The Sixers' largely homegrown combination contrasts with Hurricanes' collection of players hailing from across Australia and the world. It is possible they will settle with the benefit of time, but it is certain that Darren Sammy (0 for 32 in two overs, 2 runs) and Sangakkara in particular will expect better of themselves in future.
Sangakkara's unceremonious exit on BBL debut arrived courtesy of a presumptuous attempt to loft Lyon down the ground, the ball after Tim Paine had flicked the same bowler to midwicket. Lyon had also deceived and dismissed Sangakkara with his first delivery in Test matches - the Sri Lankan champion would not be alone in wondering why Lyon is still considered a Test match only proposition by Australia's selectors.
"He was outstanding, no secret I think he's the premier spinner in Australia no matter what ball he's got in his hand and over the last 48 months he's just getting better and better every time he bowls," Haddin said of Lyon. "That wicket was perfect for him tonight, it had a bit of bounce and turn, so it was good to watch.
"He's a clever bowler now, you only have to look at the results he's produced in Test cricket. I think he's got to just keep improving like he is. Selections are the easy part, they'll take care of themselves, he's just got to keep performing every time he gets the opportunity, and with Test cricket you don't often get the opportunity to play white-ball cricket, but every time he has he's done really well.
"I think you just pick your best bowlers. He can't do anything more Nathan at the moment, he's doing all the right things when he gets the opportunity to play white ball cricket, so it's up to them [the selectors]."
Lyon's web grew more enveloping when he resumed later in the innings, the Hurricanes having been curtailed from building any sort of momentum by regular wickets. These included Doug Bollinger summoning a screeching yorker to splay the stumps of Ben Dunk, and Sammy failing to ride the bounce on a dry surface that nevertheless offered something for the pacemen.
Lyon's loop was to account for Joe Mennie, Sam Rainbird and Tait, leaving him with the handsome figures of 5 for 23. Only the Hurricanes' senior batsman George Bailey was able to put an innings together, his 62 serving mainly to ensure his side avoided the ignominy of posting the most meagre tally in all BBL matches - a record still held by the Melbourne Renegades' 57 all out last season.
Haddin's earlier free-swinging display had allowed the Sixers to set a steep target, while also demonstrating the benefits of retirement from international cricket. Haddin's intentions were brazen but his head was clear, and eight fours scorched from his blade in addition to a pair of sweetly struck sixes.
Maddinson and Silk each offered sturdy support, the former skating to 21 in a matter of minutes, the latter working the ball around intelligently but also clearing the ropes twice. Cameron Boyce and Dan Christian each bowled tightly for the Hurricanes, but their efforts were to be totally overshadowed by Lyon, much to the delight of the 20,072 in attendance.
The Sixers' only minor concern was an apparent leg twinge for Haddin when batting. He was able to keep wicket without too much trouble, but will need to see how the injury cools down ahead of the next match against the Melbourne Renegades on Wednesday. "I went to turn and I was just a bit short, my spikes caught and I went to go again and something just caught at the back of my leg," he said. "It felt all right keeping ... just getting old probably."
Sydney Thunder 178/6 (20/20 ov)
Melbourne Stars 177/5 (20/20 ov)
Sydney Thunder won by 1 run
Has Usman Khawaja really just missed a month of cricket? The apparent ease with which he compiled a match-winning BBL century for the Sydney Thunder suggested a man who was in rare form, which Khawaja had been in early November when he scored hundreds in back-to-back Tests against New Zealand. Australia's selectors will be thrilled that his time on the sidelines with a hamstring injury has not affected his touch.
Khawaja is expected to walk back into Australia's team for the Boxing Day Test against West Indies after his unbeaten 109 from 70 deliveries for the Thunder, an innings in which he showed no fitness concerns after a month out of the game. He batted through the Thunder innings for his first Twenty20 century as they posted 6 for 178, and in the end it proved enough for the team's second consecutive win at the start of the BBL - though only just.
Kevin Pietersen nearly led the Melbourne Stars to a remarkable heist at the MCG, where he struck a highly entertaining 76 from 42 deliveries that pushed the Stars close to their target. They needed 51 from the final four overs but Pietersen drastically reduced the required rate by plundering three sixes off a Gurinder Sandhu over that brought 27 in total, and left the Stars needing just 27 off the final three overs.
However, in the penultimate over Pietersen skied a pull off Clint McKay and was well caught at fine leg by Fawad Ahmed, which gave the Thunder a sniff once again after Pietersen seemed to take the match out of their hands. But the renowned finisher James Faulkner remained at the crease and with 10 needed off the last over, Thunder captain Michael Hussey entrusted the responsibility to his most experienced bowler, Jacques Kallis.
Kallis dug the ball in rather than giving Faulkner length, and two runs came from each of the first three deliveries of the over. But a pair of dot balls followed, including one that Faulkner missed as he tried to scoop Kallis over the wicktekeeper's head, and he could manage only two runs from the last ball as the Stars finished one run short of the Thunder, on 5 for 177, with Faulkner on 45.
Andre Russell had given the Thunder a good start to their bowling innings by removing both openers, Luke Wright and Marcus Stoinis, in the sixth over, and he finished with 2 for 28 from his four overs. But the key to the Thunder's win was unquestionably Khawaja, who was playing his first match in any format since the second Test against New Zealand at the WACA in mid-November, when he suffered his hamstring injury.
He scored runs all around the wicket and his placement was exquisite. He struck 12 fours and three sixes, mostly from regulation cricket shots but also with the occasional touch of T20 flair, such as when he scooped John Hastings for a boundary over the head of the wicketkeeper. Khawaja brought up his hundred - the first of this BBL summer - from his 62nd delivery, and he was pleased with how his hamstring fared.
"I'm really happy with the way it felt," Khawaja said. "The test was how it would feel when I went back into the field, backing up, and it felt really good. The longer I was out there the more I started trusting my body. I was a little bit anxious at the start but the further on I got through the more happy I felt. I'll keep trying to tick all the boxes and … fingers crossed I'll be right for the rest of the summer."
Hobart Hurricanes 91 (15.5/20 ov)
Sydney Sixers won by 95 runs
Nathan Lyon obliterated the Hobart Hurricanes at the SCG, as part of the Sydney Sixers' fierce response to suffering a first loss to the Sydney Thunder in five years of the Big Bash League.
Two wickets for Lyon in as many balls in the first over of the Hurricanes' chase was followed up by three more when he returned for a second spell, making an overwhelming case for his consideration as part of Australia's World Twenty20 squad to India next year. Kumar Sangakkara's BBL debut was marked by a golden duck at Lyon's hands, much as the spinner had claimed his wicket with his very first ball in Test cricket, in Galle four years ago.
Shaun Tait's first-over dismissal of Michael Lumb was just about the only moment of ascendancy the Hurricanes enjoyed all afternoon. Brad Haddin flayed a carefree 72 and was helped by contributions from Nic Maddinson and Jordan Silk, before the Hurricanes' reply disintegrated in the face of neat and tidy bowling by Lyon, Doug Bollinger, Steve O'Keefe and Sean Abbott.
The Sixers' largely homegrown combination contrasts with Hurricanes' collection of players hailing from across Australia and the world. It is possible they will settle with the benefit of time, but it is certain that Darren Sammy (0 for 32 in two overs, 2 runs) and Sangakkara in particular will expect better of themselves in future.
Sangakkara's unceremonious exit on BBL debut arrived courtesy of a presumptuous attempt to loft Lyon down the ground, the ball after Tim Paine had flicked the same bowler to midwicket. Lyon had also deceived and dismissed Sangakkara with his first delivery in Test matches - the Sri Lankan champion would not be alone in wondering why Lyon is still considered a Test match only proposition by Australia's selectors.
"He was outstanding, no secret I think he's the premier spinner in Australia no matter what ball he's got in his hand and over the last 48 months he's just getting better and better every time he bowls," Haddin said of Lyon. "That wicket was perfect for him tonight, it had a bit of bounce and turn, so it was good to watch.
"He's a clever bowler now, you only have to look at the results he's produced in Test cricket. I think he's got to just keep improving like he is. Selections are the easy part, they'll take care of themselves, he's just got to keep performing every time he gets the opportunity, and with Test cricket you don't often get the opportunity to play white-ball cricket, but every time he has he's done really well.
"I think you just pick your best bowlers. He can't do anything more Nathan at the moment, he's doing all the right things when he gets the opportunity to play white ball cricket, so it's up to them [the selectors]."
Lyon's web grew more enveloping when he resumed later in the innings, the Hurricanes having been curtailed from building any sort of momentum by regular wickets. These included Doug Bollinger summoning a screeching yorker to splay the stumps of Ben Dunk, and Sammy failing to ride the bounce on a dry surface that nevertheless offered something for the pacemen.
Lyon's loop was to account for Joe Mennie, Sam Rainbird and Tait, leaving him with the handsome figures of 5 for 23. Only the Hurricanes' senior batsman George Bailey was able to put an innings together, his 62 serving mainly to ensure his side avoided the ignominy of posting the most meagre tally in all BBL matches - a record still held by the Melbourne Renegades' 57 all out last season.
Haddin's earlier free-swinging display had allowed the Sixers to set a steep target, while also demonstrating the benefits of retirement from international cricket. Haddin's intentions were brazen but his head was clear, and eight fours scorched from his blade in addition to a pair of sweetly struck sixes.
Maddinson and Silk each offered sturdy support, the former skating to 21 in a matter of minutes, the latter working the ball around intelligently but also clearing the ropes twice. Cameron Boyce and Dan Christian each bowled tightly for the Hurricanes, but their efforts were to be totally overshadowed by Lyon, much to the delight of the 20,072 in attendance.
The Sixers' only minor concern was an apparent leg twinge for Haddin when batting. He was able to keep wicket without too much trouble, but will need to see how the injury cools down ahead of the next match against the Melbourne Renegades on Wednesday. "I went to turn and I was just a bit short, my spikes caught and I went to go again and something just caught at the back of my leg," he said. "It felt all right keeping ... just getting old probably."
Sydney Thunder 178/6 (20/20 ov)
Melbourne Stars 177/5 (20/20 ov)
Sydney Thunder won by 1 run
Has Usman Khawaja really just missed a month of cricket? The apparent ease with which he compiled a match-winning BBL century for the Sydney Thunder suggested a man who was in rare form, which Khawaja had been in early November when he scored hundreds in back-to-back Tests against New Zealand. Australia's selectors will be thrilled that his time on the sidelines with a hamstring injury has not affected his touch.
Khawaja is expected to walk back into Australia's team for the Boxing Day Test against West Indies after his unbeaten 109 from 70 deliveries for the Thunder, an innings in which he showed no fitness concerns after a month out of the game. He batted through the Thunder innings for his first Twenty20 century as they posted 6 for 178, and in the end it proved enough for the team's second consecutive win at the start of the BBL - though only just.
Kevin Pietersen nearly led the Melbourne Stars to a remarkable heist at the MCG, where he struck a highly entertaining 76 from 42 deliveries that pushed the Stars close to their target. They needed 51 from the final four overs but Pietersen drastically reduced the required rate by plundering three sixes off a Gurinder Sandhu over that brought 27 in total, and left the Stars needing just 27 off the final three overs.
However, in the penultimate over Pietersen skied a pull off Clint McKay and was well caught at fine leg by Fawad Ahmed, which gave the Thunder a sniff once again after Pietersen seemed to take the match out of their hands. But the renowned finisher James Faulkner remained at the crease and with 10 needed off the last over, Thunder captain Michael Hussey entrusted the responsibility to his most experienced bowler, Jacques Kallis.
Kallis dug the ball in rather than giving Faulkner length, and two runs came from each of the first three deliveries of the over. But a pair of dot balls followed, including one that Faulkner missed as he tried to scoop Kallis over the wicktekeeper's head, and he could manage only two runs from the last ball as the Stars finished one run short of the Thunder, on 5 for 177, with Faulkner on 45.
Andre Russell had given the Thunder a good start to their bowling innings by removing both openers, Luke Wright and Marcus Stoinis, in the sixth over, and he finished with 2 for 28 from his four overs. But the key to the Thunder's win was unquestionably Khawaja, who was playing his first match in any format since the second Test against New Zealand at the WACA in mid-November, when he suffered his hamstring injury.
He scored runs all around the wicket and his placement was exquisite. He struck 12 fours and three sixes, mostly from regulation cricket shots but also with the occasional touch of T20 flair, such as when he scooped John Hastings for a boundary over the head of the wicketkeeper. Khawaja brought up his hundred - the first of this BBL summer - from his 62nd delivery, and he was pleased with how his hamstring fared.
"I'm really happy with the way it felt," Khawaja said. "The test was how it would feel when I went back into the field, backing up, and it felt really good. The longer I was out there the more I started trusting my body. I was a little bit anxious at the start but the further on I got through the more happy I felt. I'll keep trying to tick all the boxes and … fingers crossed I'll be right for the rest of the summer."
Saturday 19 December 2015
Big Bash 2015 Match 3
Brisbane Heat 180/5 (20/20 ov)
Melbourne Renegades 184/3 (19.3/20 ov)
Melbourne Renegades won by 7 wickets (with 3 balls remaining)
A powerful union between Aaron Finch and Cameron White was augmented by some late fireworks from Dwayne Bravo to push the Melbourne Renegades to a valuable away victory over the Brisbane Heat at the Gabba.
Bravo's bat went flying as he lost grip of the blade in the penultimate over, but the Renegades never looked likely to do the same with the match, achieving both the first win for a team on the road and the first successful chase of BBL-05, after the Thunder and the Strikers each prospered defending a score.
For that the Renegades had to be grateful to Chris Tremain, Nathan Rimmington, Xavier Doherty and Bravo, who all bowled exemplary spells on a Brisbane surface offering typical bounce and pace to keep batsmen and bowlers alike in the contest. Tremain's early swing contributed to a cautious start by the Heat, who tallied only 33 from the Powerplay.
Even so, some strong late hitting by James Hopes and Ben Cutting meant the visitors still required 181 to win, the sort of task seldom achieved without a major partnership. It was to arrive via the bats of Finch and White after Chris Gayle's brief, and exciting, appearance at the top of the order with his gold bat.
Finch was in fluent touch, piercing the field frequently. White took more time to get going after a scratchy start, but found his range as the innings went on, and passed fifty with a towering six down the ground.
Their departures granted the Heat a narrow window, but Bravo's combination of a free bat swing and deft placement backward of square left Hopes with only five to defend from the final over, too few even for a bowler of his precision.
The Heat had begun shakily, as Jimmy Person struggled to lay a bat on the well-directed outswingers of Tremain, who was rightly rewarded with the opener's wicket and bowled tidily throughout.
Doherty, discarded from the national team earlier this year, followed up with a similarly parsimonious spell, and accounted for Lendl Simmons just as the West Indian was starting to look dangerous.
Joe Burns, walking out to bat under an arguably unfair level of pressure due to Usman Khawaja's impending return to the Test team for Boxing Day, was also to fall to Doherty's wiles, trying to power the left-arm spinner over the rope - as he had done to reach three figures in the Gabba Test - but taken at long-off.
From that uncertain beginning a mediocre score seemed likely, but Chris Lynn and Nathan Reardon were able to steady proceedings though neither quite gave full bent to their hitting power. Reardon was annoyed to sky a catch behind square leg after Lynn had arrowed a Bravo full toss to deep square leg.
However the Lynn-Reardon stand had set something of a platform, allowing Hopes and Cutting to tee off successfully in the closing overs. Together they added 51 from the last 22 balls of the innings, setting a steep target the Renegades would prove more than equal to.
Melbourne Renegades 184/3 (19.3/20 ov)
Melbourne Renegades won by 7 wickets (with 3 balls remaining)
A powerful union between Aaron Finch and Cameron White was augmented by some late fireworks from Dwayne Bravo to push the Melbourne Renegades to a valuable away victory over the Brisbane Heat at the Gabba.
Bravo's bat went flying as he lost grip of the blade in the penultimate over, but the Renegades never looked likely to do the same with the match, achieving both the first win for a team on the road and the first successful chase of BBL-05, after the Thunder and the Strikers each prospered defending a score.
For that the Renegades had to be grateful to Chris Tremain, Nathan Rimmington, Xavier Doherty and Bravo, who all bowled exemplary spells on a Brisbane surface offering typical bounce and pace to keep batsmen and bowlers alike in the contest. Tremain's early swing contributed to a cautious start by the Heat, who tallied only 33 from the Powerplay.
Even so, some strong late hitting by James Hopes and Ben Cutting meant the visitors still required 181 to win, the sort of task seldom achieved without a major partnership. It was to arrive via the bats of Finch and White after Chris Gayle's brief, and exciting, appearance at the top of the order with his gold bat.
Finch was in fluent touch, piercing the field frequently. White took more time to get going after a scratchy start, but found his range as the innings went on, and passed fifty with a towering six down the ground.
Their departures granted the Heat a narrow window, but Bravo's combination of a free bat swing and deft placement backward of square left Hopes with only five to defend from the final over, too few even for a bowler of his precision.
The Heat had begun shakily, as Jimmy Person struggled to lay a bat on the well-directed outswingers of Tremain, who was rightly rewarded with the opener's wicket and bowled tidily throughout.
Doherty, discarded from the national team earlier this year, followed up with a similarly parsimonious spell, and accounted for Lendl Simmons just as the West Indian was starting to look dangerous.
Joe Burns, walking out to bat under an arguably unfair level of pressure due to Usman Khawaja's impending return to the Test team for Boxing Day, was also to fall to Doherty's wiles, trying to power the left-arm spinner over the rope - as he had done to reach three figures in the Gabba Test - but taken at long-off.
From that uncertain beginning a mediocre score seemed likely, but Chris Lynn and Nathan Reardon were able to steady proceedings though neither quite gave full bent to their hitting power. Reardon was annoyed to sky a catch behind square leg after Lynn had arrowed a Bravo full toss to deep square leg.
However the Lynn-Reardon stand had set something of a platform, allowing Hopes and Cutting to tee off successfully in the closing overs. Together they added 51 from the last 22 balls of the innings, setting a steep target the Renegades would prove more than equal to.
Friday 18 December 2015
Big Bash 2015 Matches 1 and 2
Match 1: Sydney Thunder 4 for 158 (Hussey 80*) beat Sydney Sixers 122 (Lumb 34, Russell 3-13, Watson 3-13) by 36 runs
Michael Hussey will be a coaching consultant with Australia at the World Twenty20 in India next year, but the first night of the 2015-16 Big Bash League showed that he still has plenty to offer as a T20 batsman as well. Hussey scored an unbeaten 80 from 59 balls to lead Sydney Thunder to their first win over their cross-town rivals Sydney Sixers in the eight meetings between the teams, a convincing 36-run victory at Sydney's Showground Stadium.
Hussey ensured that the Thunder posted a competitive 4 for 158 after he won the toss and chose to bat, and regular wickets throughout the Sixers innings, including three each to Andre Russell and Shane Watson, kept the Thunder on top throughout. The innings petered out and the Sixers were dismissed for 122 in the 20th over, opener Michael Lumb (34) the only batsman who made it past the teens.
In his first match for the Thunder, having played with Melbourne Renegades last summer, Russell was especially key with the ball. He delivered two quick, accurate yorkers that lit up the bails and bowled Brad Haddin and Nic Maddinson to leave the Thunder at 2 for 37, and from there they never really recovered. His economy was also outstanding, his four overs earning him 3 for 13.
Watson also chipped in with 3 for 13 from two overs; having had Jordan Silk caught in the deep he added Sean Abbott, who was caught and bowled, and Trent Lawford, who was bowled. While Russell and Watson picked up three wickets each, Jacques Kallis had also made an important breakthrough by trapping Lumb lbw, although the ball appeared to have pitched outside leg stump.
That ended Lumb's chances of helping the Sixers to victory after he earlier dropped one of the easiest chances imaginable on a cricket field. Watson was on 8 when he chipped a sitter off the bowling of Abbott; Lumb, at mid-off, had only to watch the ball into his hands, but somehow allowed the ball to bounce off his abdomen and could not grasp it. He was lucky the drop cost only eight runs as Watson was bowled by Nathan Lyon for 16.
But there was enough batting in the Thunder line-up to post a strong total. Batting at No.3 and having walked to the crease in the second over, Hussey seemed to set himself the task of batting through the innings, and he did so with class. He lofted Jackson Bird over wide long-off for the first six of the tournament and added three more through his innings.
Twenty runs came off the 17th over of the innings as Hussey and Ben Rohrer (30 off 20) lifted the tempo towards the end. Hussey's efforts proved more than adequate to end a run of seven straight victories for the Sixers over his side and ensured a perfect start for the Thunder, who have yet to finish above the bottom two in any BBL tournament.
Match 2: Adelaide Strikers 5 for 187 (Ross 65, Hodge 56*, Boland 2-55) beat Melbourne Stars 7 for 168 (Stoinis 50, Richardson 3-22) by 19 runs
A record partnership between Brad Hodge and Alex Ross ensured Adelaide Strikers' coach Jason Gillespie enjoyed a fairy-tale homecoming. The pair complemented each other perfectly during a record BBL fifth-wicket stand of 115 to punctuate Striker's 19-run win over the fancied Melbourne Stars at the Adelaide Oval.
Defending 187, Strikers overcame a nervous start in the field to restrict the power-packed Stars batting line-up to 7 for 168. Assisted by a pitch offering turn, English import Adil Rashid menaced with figures of 2 for 27, including the prized scalp of Glenn Maxwell who threatened to seal the deal for the Stars.
Strikers fluffed as many as five chances early in the chase, most notably Craig Simmons' dropped sitter at first slip when Marcus Stoinis was on 2, but they recovered to grasp the initiative. The bowling attack stepped up to curb Stars' batting line-up with discipline highlighted by the visitor's inability to hit a six until the 14th over.
Stars seemed on track to overhaul the target when they reached 1 for 90 after 11 overs, but Ben Laughlin changed the complexion of the match, taking the key wickets of Stoinis and Kevin Pietersen in the next over. Apart from a brief whirlwind partnership between Maxwell and captain David Hussey, the total appeared beyond Stars.
Amid sweltering conditions where temperatures hovered at 38 degrees when the match started, Hodge and Ross starred and rescued Strikers from early trouble, after being sent in by Hussey.
When Travis Head (16) fell to a questionable caught-behind decision, despite replays showing the ball appearing to land in front of wicketkeeper Peter Handscomb, Strikers slumped to 4 for 64 in the 10th over, and were in serious peril of posting a competitive total on a flat pitch.
Hodge, the Strikers' new captain, showcased his experience and composure during a stabilising period of batting where he was content in rotating the strike with clever singles. Juxtaposing this was Ross' audacious batting complete with a plethora of bold sweep shots, which accounted for two of his three sixes in the innings.
Fittingly, Ross notched his maiden BBL half century, off just 25 balls, when he swept pacer Scott Boland for a massive six. Boland then got his revenge by trapping Ross lbw in the last over of the innings, but the damage had been done.
Showcasing his class, Hodge timed his innings to perfection scoring 29 off as many balls before accelerating towards the end to finish unbeaten on 56 from 41 deliveries. The Strikers plundered 67 runs in the final four overs.
The Hodge and Ross brilliance came after Strikers' top order had failed to fire, despite a tease from openers Craig Simmons and Tim Ludeman, who hit two sixes each. However, they were unable to produce scores of substance. Mahela Jayawardene, a replacement into the Strikers' squad for the injured Kieron Pollard, seemed likely to try to bat throughout the innings but looked out of touch. Jayawardene was dropped by Handscomb before he had scored, but soon perished attempting a rash slash off James Faulkner, who was the pick of the Stars' bowlers finishing with 1 for 21.
It eventually turned out to be a satisfying start for the Strikers' new leadership combination of Gillespie and Hodge.
Michael Hussey will be a coaching consultant with Australia at the World Twenty20 in India next year, but the first night of the 2015-16 Big Bash League showed that he still has plenty to offer as a T20 batsman as well. Hussey scored an unbeaten 80 from 59 balls to lead Sydney Thunder to their first win over their cross-town rivals Sydney Sixers in the eight meetings between the teams, a convincing 36-run victory at Sydney's Showground Stadium.
Hussey ensured that the Thunder posted a competitive 4 for 158 after he won the toss and chose to bat, and regular wickets throughout the Sixers innings, including three each to Andre Russell and Shane Watson, kept the Thunder on top throughout. The innings petered out and the Sixers were dismissed for 122 in the 20th over, opener Michael Lumb (34) the only batsman who made it past the teens.
In his first match for the Thunder, having played with Melbourne Renegades last summer, Russell was especially key with the ball. He delivered two quick, accurate yorkers that lit up the bails and bowled Brad Haddin and Nic Maddinson to leave the Thunder at 2 for 37, and from there they never really recovered. His economy was also outstanding, his four overs earning him 3 for 13.
Watson also chipped in with 3 for 13 from two overs; having had Jordan Silk caught in the deep he added Sean Abbott, who was caught and bowled, and Trent Lawford, who was bowled. While Russell and Watson picked up three wickets each, Jacques Kallis had also made an important breakthrough by trapping Lumb lbw, although the ball appeared to have pitched outside leg stump.
That ended Lumb's chances of helping the Sixers to victory after he earlier dropped one of the easiest chances imaginable on a cricket field. Watson was on 8 when he chipped a sitter off the bowling of Abbott; Lumb, at mid-off, had only to watch the ball into his hands, but somehow allowed the ball to bounce off his abdomen and could not grasp it. He was lucky the drop cost only eight runs as Watson was bowled by Nathan Lyon for 16.
But there was enough batting in the Thunder line-up to post a strong total. Batting at No.3 and having walked to the crease in the second over, Hussey seemed to set himself the task of batting through the innings, and he did so with class. He lofted Jackson Bird over wide long-off for the first six of the tournament and added three more through his innings.
Twenty runs came off the 17th over of the innings as Hussey and Ben Rohrer (30 off 20) lifted the tempo towards the end. Hussey's efforts proved more than adequate to end a run of seven straight victories for the Sixers over his side and ensured a perfect start for the Thunder, who have yet to finish above the bottom two in any BBL tournament.
Match 2: Adelaide Strikers 5 for 187 (Ross 65, Hodge 56*, Boland 2-55) beat Melbourne Stars 7 for 168 (Stoinis 50, Richardson 3-22) by 19 runs
A record partnership between Brad Hodge and Alex Ross ensured Adelaide Strikers' coach Jason Gillespie enjoyed a fairy-tale homecoming. The pair complemented each other perfectly during a record BBL fifth-wicket stand of 115 to punctuate Striker's 19-run win over the fancied Melbourne Stars at the Adelaide Oval.
Defending 187, Strikers overcame a nervous start in the field to restrict the power-packed Stars batting line-up to 7 for 168. Assisted by a pitch offering turn, English import Adil Rashid menaced with figures of 2 for 27, including the prized scalp of Glenn Maxwell who threatened to seal the deal for the Stars.
Strikers fluffed as many as five chances early in the chase, most notably Craig Simmons' dropped sitter at first slip when Marcus Stoinis was on 2, but they recovered to grasp the initiative. The bowling attack stepped up to curb Stars' batting line-up with discipline highlighted by the visitor's inability to hit a six until the 14th over.
Stars seemed on track to overhaul the target when they reached 1 for 90 after 11 overs, but Ben Laughlin changed the complexion of the match, taking the key wickets of Stoinis and Kevin Pietersen in the next over. Apart from a brief whirlwind partnership between Maxwell and captain David Hussey, the total appeared beyond Stars.
Amid sweltering conditions where temperatures hovered at 38 degrees when the match started, Hodge and Ross starred and rescued Strikers from early trouble, after being sent in by Hussey.
When Travis Head (16) fell to a questionable caught-behind decision, despite replays showing the ball appearing to land in front of wicketkeeper Peter Handscomb, Strikers slumped to 4 for 64 in the 10th over, and were in serious peril of posting a competitive total on a flat pitch.
Hodge, the Strikers' new captain, showcased his experience and composure during a stabilising period of batting where he was content in rotating the strike with clever singles. Juxtaposing this was Ross' audacious batting complete with a plethora of bold sweep shots, which accounted for two of his three sixes in the innings.
Fittingly, Ross notched his maiden BBL half century, off just 25 balls, when he swept pacer Scott Boland for a massive six. Boland then got his revenge by trapping Ross lbw in the last over of the innings, but the damage had been done.
Showcasing his class, Hodge timed his innings to perfection scoring 29 off as many balls before accelerating towards the end to finish unbeaten on 56 from 41 deliveries. The Strikers plundered 67 runs in the final four overs.
The Hodge and Ross brilliance came after Strikers' top order had failed to fire, despite a tease from openers Craig Simmons and Tim Ludeman, who hit two sixes each. However, they were unable to produce scores of substance. Mahela Jayawardene, a replacement into the Strikers' squad for the injured Kieron Pollard, seemed likely to try to bat throughout the innings but looked out of touch. Jayawardene was dropped by Handscomb before he had scored, but soon perished attempting a rash slash off James Faulkner, who was the pick of the Stars' bowlers finishing with 1 for 21.
It eventually turned out to be a satisfying start for the Strikers' new leadership combination of Gillespie and Hodge.
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