Hazlewood & Co Bowl Superbly
Australia won the toss in Christchurch and elected to send the Black Caps to bat first.
The decision proved to be a good one as the Aussies came out with power and precision, immediately sending the New Zealand batters to their back foot.
As per usual it was a steady diet of Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood early as the pair went back and forth for three overs each giving up just 21 total runs.
Captain Pat Cummins then tagged himself in for the seventh over, earlier than we have grown accustomed to. However, as have so many lately, the decision paid off for the skipper.
Cummins had a maiden start, giving up nothing to the Black Caps batsmen. Hazlewood then returned for the eighth over and he as well didn’t give up any runs. Cummins came back and capped off the perfect three over stretch with another maiden.
New Zealand got back into the swing of things in over number ten with Tom Latham smacking a four. Still, the Black Caps sat at just 25 after ten overs.
Australia had a chance at their first wicket in the next over but a diving catch effort from Travis head saw the ball bounce in and out of his grasp in what was a difficult play.
Things were beginning to look a little less comfortable for Australia after the next several overs as New Zealand was beginning to swing the bats better while Australia still hadn’t found a wicket.
That is until the 20th over when a Mitch Marsh catch got them on the board.
Then came the Josh Hazlewood blitz. It began in over 21 when Alex Carey caught the edge of Tom Latham off Hazelwood’s bowl.
He then took wickets in the 26th, 30th, and 32nd overs to swing the momentum of the match. His bowling buddy Mitchell Starc also got in on the action with back-to-back wickets in the 37th over.
Cameron Green, Cummins, and Hazlewood would eventually be the bowlers for the last three wickets as they saw New Zealand all out at 162.
Labuschagne Leading the charge for Australia’s Bats
With the 162 that New Zealand batters put up, the Aussie’s knew they had a good chance to have the lead at the end of the opening innings.
It was Steve Smith and Usman Khawaja taking to the centre of the oval first for Australia and the duo disappointed. After a start of just 18 runs in the first nine overs, Smith lost his wickets to Ben Sears in over 10.
Khawaja didn’t fare much better as he too was bowled only five overs later.
On 2-32, Australia looked to be in trouble. The duo of Marnus Labuschagne and Cameron Green however steadied the ship.
The pair got Australia to 81 runs before Green was bowled as Australia was once again in a solid position.
Travis Head then joined Labuschagne and did some quick damage to the tune of 21 runs in six overs before being caught out.
That would prove to be the last wicket of the day for the host New Zealanders as Labuschagne and Nathan Lyon preserved wickets till stumps at days end.
Australia is on 4-124 with Labuschagne doing much of the damage sitting on 45 while Lyon has just one run in his limited overs.
