Australia vs New Zealand 1st Test Day 3 live: ‘Insane’ Smith catch puts Aussies on top
A young star has given New Zealand a glimmer of hope after Steve Smith’s ridiculous catch rattled the home side.
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Even at the advanced cricket age of 34, Steve Smith’s reflexes are as sharp as ever.
At stumps on day three of the first Test against New Zealand, Australia is in a commanding position, aided by Smith’s ridiculous catch.
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Despite being bowled out for just 164 in its second innings, Australia’s efforts in the first dig meant New Zealand needed a mammoth 369 for victory.
The home side reached 3/113 at the close of play, with a 24-year-old batter holding the key to its hopes.
In just his sixth Test, Rachin Ravindra brought up just the third half-century of this contest, 56 not out at stumps from 94 deliveries.
Daryl Mitchell is with him on 12 for a Kiwi line-up that still needs another 258 runs for victory.
“You’ve got to give credit where it’s due and Rachin and Daryl did well there,” Nathan Lyon, who has two wickets for Australia, said at stumps.
The highlight of the day was Smith’s one-handed screamer to remove Will Young.
New Zealand was 2/59 when Young’s attempted forward defence found the edge and Smith reversed his body movement to snare the sensational left-handed catch at first slip.
Steve you beauty less than a second to react for this stunning catch best catch of 2024 so far WTC
— Shaise hussain Khan (@shaise_kha40067) March 2, 2024
It capped an entertaining day of cricket, with off-spinner Glenn Phillips taking five wickets as the hosts ripped through Australia in some style.
Read on below to see how the whole third day unfolded.
4.34pm – Home side showing some fight
That’s stumps, with New Zealand reaching the close at 3/111, 258 runs away from victory.
From a wobbly 3/59, Rachin Ravindra (56 not out) and Daryl Mitchell (12no) put on 52 for the fourth wicket to steady the ship.
“Great day’s Test cricket. I’m a big fan when the ball spins,” Nathan Lyon told Fox Cricket.
“You’ve got to give credit where it’s due and Rachin and Daryl did well there.
“If we do our job and put pressure on (tomorrow), hopefully we’ll crack them.”
3.57pm – Kiwis digging in
After a steady flow of wickets early in their innings, the hosts are fighting to stay in this first Test.
Struggling at 3/59 chasing the huge victory target, Rachin Ravindra (40 off 71 balls) and Daryl Mitchell (seven from 39) are battling hard to stay at the crease.
New Zealand has moved to 3/90, with spin taking all three wickets, two to Nathan Lyon and one to part-timer Travis Head.
3.04pm – Steve Smith take a bow
The Aussie opener may not quite have contributed with the bat the way he would’ve wanted in Wellington, managing 31 and a duck with the willow, but he is having an impact in other ways.
First he snared a sharp chance off Kane Williamson at slip to remove the key man.
But his second catch had pundits drooling after he pulled off a superb one-handed effort to remove Will Young.
Moving to his right, Smith had to reverse direction and stuck out a left hand to grab a ball that was almost past him.
Hanger 😱
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) March 2, 2024
Steve Smith, what a beauty! #NZvAUSpic.twitter.com/hP89ilVbXQ
It took him to 182 catches in Test matches, overtaking Mark Waugh into second all-time for Australia, behind only Ricky Ponting (196).
2.35pm – Aussies claim huge scalp
If New Zealand was to beat the world’s top-ranked Test side, the expectation was Kane Williamson would be critical.
The 33-year-old is the No. 1 batter in Test cricket.
So far it has not gone to plan, with Williamson run out for a duck in the first innings and then departing for just nine in the second.
Nathan Lyon has taken both Kiwi wickets to fall on Saturday, with the home side 2/49 chasing 369 for victory.
1.42pm – Bizarre scenes before tea
Well that was an unusual finish to the second session.
First of all Australia reviewed a rank effort from Nathan Lyon that Kane Williamson attempted to hit, with the visitors convinced they heard a noise.
That came to nothing before Williamson – the Kiwi great who was run-out for a duck in the first innings – then inadvertently hit another Lyon ball off the back of his bat as he lived incredibly dangerously.
Surely Williamson needs to fire here to give the home side any chance at all of chasing down the big total.
To top it off, an issue with the sight screen held up play for a good while, with just two balls left before the tea break.
After all that, New Zealand made it to tea at 1/15, needing another 354 runs for victory.
1.34pm – Anything Phillips can do
Off-spinner Glenn Phillips’ five wicket haul in Australia’s second innings must have been warmly welcomed by one Aussie, Nathan Lyon.
And it hasn’t taken long for the Australian spinner to have an impact, tempting Tom Latham into a false stroke that he edged behind to Alex Carey as New Zealand’s first wicket falls.
1.05pm – Spinner stars, fielding slammed
The Kiwis have rolled Australia for just 164, taking 6/37 to close the innings as little-known spinner Glenn Phillips proved the star of the show.
In just his sixth Test match, the off-spinner finished with 5/45 in an unexpected cameo to limit Australia to its sixth lowest Test total in New Zealand.
It could have been much better if not for some poor catching in the field and the Kiwis still need a daunting 369 runs for victory.
But South African born Phillips, 27, was the man of the moment, even poking a little fun at his own celebrations.
“It’s an absolute dream come true,” he said on Fox Cricket during the innings break. “I never thought I’d have home conditions to get a five-for.
“It’s a pretty surreal moment
“I’ve got a six-year-old, any celebration a six-year-old girl would do is probably me. The way the crowd went up was just an unbelievable moment.”
Catches win matches. And ultimately, like Pakistan did, New Zealand will lose this match from poor fielding #NZvAUS
— Denno 🔥 (@Denno10_) March 2, 2024
Appalling catching display. Don’t deserve to be in with that shit. #NZvAUS
— WestSide 8345 (@tauhenare) March 2, 2024
The reactions say it all...
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) March 2, 2024
Two drops have denied Glenn Phillips a sixth wicket! #NZvAUSpic.twitter.com/AnvM4UCp5R
12.27pm – Spinner the star of the day
Off-spinner Glenn Phillips may have missed a hat-trick opportunity, but he got over that by adding the scalps of Alex Carey and Cameron Green to his growing collection.
Pat Cummins has just been dropped twice in the deep from Phillips’ bowling, but the 27-year-old still has the outstanding figures of 5/39 from 13 overs in just his sixth Test match.
“He’s brought everyone to life,” a Kiwi commentator gushed on Fox Cricket.
“Glenn Phillips has brought this entire Test to life. You can feel it.”
While the Aussies have slumped to 8/147 in this second innings, they have taken their overall lead past 350 runs with Cummins and Mitch Starc at the crease.
11.59am – Hat-trick chance!
Kiwi spinner Glenn Phillips dismissed Travis Head and Mitch Marsh in successive balls, the latter gone for a golden duck.
With the crowd absolutely buzzing as the hosts tried to battle back into the contest, Phillips’ potential hat-trick ball to Alex Carey was far too wide as the Aussie skipper survived.
10.26am – Khawaja stumped
Usman Khawaja’s stoic knock of 28 off 69 balls is over after he was bamboozled by part-time spinner Glenn Phillips and stumped in a sharp piece of wicketkeeping by Tom Blundell.
Khawaja is suckered out by Phillips and stumped by Blundell. A couple of important contributions but he will be annoyed neither turned into big scores #AUSvNZ
— Daniel Brettig ðŸ (@danbrettig) March 1, 2024
Australia are 4/81 and lead by 285.
9.56am – Khawaja’s protest back in spotlight
Opener Usman Khawaja has been caught up in a number of incidents over the summer over his desire to raise awareness for the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
His intentions were denied by the ICC in Australia and the situation arose again in Wellington when he cracked his bat on Saturday morning and asked for a replacement.
The bat brought out by 12th man Matt Renshaw had a sticker of a dove on it, which Khawaja had to peel off at the crease before resuming his innings.
The dove sticker has been banned by the ICC as it’s deemed a political protest.
9.33am – Lyon’s cameo ends
Nathan Lyon’s excellent knock of 41 off 46 balls has come to an end after he flicked a Matt Henry delivery to mid-wicket. Lyon fell short of his highest Test score of 47.
Most Test runs without a fifty:
— Nic Savage (@nic_savage1) March 1, 2024
1501 - Nathan Lyon 🇦🇺
1174 - Kemar Roach 🌴
1010 - Waqar Younis 🇵🇰
981 - Fred Trueman ðŸ´ó §ó ¢ó ¥ó ®ó §ó ¿
944 - Morne Morkel 🇿🇦#NZvAUS
9.26am – The GOAT tees off
Nathan Lyon is teeing off early, doing all the scoring and taking Australia’s lead beyond 250.
The nightwatchman hit three boundaries in a row off Tim Southee and is on 36 off 41 balls.
8.50am – Aussies hit back at spirit of cricket warriors
Kane Williamson’s shocking run-out summed up the fortunes of New Zealand, who haven’t beaten Australia in a Test series in 30 years.
The Kiwi skipper, in red-hot form coming off three centuries against South Africa, was gone for a duck after he ran himself out attempting an ambitious single.
Williamson’s teammate Will Young was caught ball-watching at the nonstrikers’ end and the pair collided mid pitch, becoming tangled around Aussie bowler Mitchell Starc as Marnus Labuschagne threw down the stumps.
Williamson was stunned by the dismissal and waited outside the boundary rope after trudging off the field.
It was the first time in 12 years Williamson had been run out in Test cricket.
One fan, Farid Khan, tweeted: “Where’s the spirit of cricket from the Australians? Justice for Kane Williamson.”
After an onslaught of criticism, Khan later posted: “Just felt bad looking at Kane Williamson getting run out after 12 years. Thought Mitch Starc got in the way, but he didn’t.”
Any suggestions the Australians should have recalled Williamson were clearly unfounded.
Josh Hazlewood said Williamson wouldn’t have made his ground even if Starc wasn’t in the way.
“Marnus in particular has just been outstanding the last couple of years,” Hazlewood said.
“I know he works super hard at training all the time.
“I think it would have been out even if they didn’t collide to be honest.”
New Zealand’s Glenn Phillips said the incident was a “freak accident”.
“It was just one of those freak moments where everything brought together, a little perfect storm, and unfortunately Marnus hit,” said Phillips.
Originally published as Australia vs New Zealand 1st Test Day 3 live: ‘Insane’ Smith catch puts Aussies on top
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