Thanks to brilliant bowling effort by Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins, Australia defeated New Zealand by 296 runs on the 4th day of 1st Test match played at Optious Stadium, Perth on Sunday.
Starting on the overnight score of 167 for 6, Neil Wagner dismissed Pat Cummins with a tickle from the bat. Mitchell Starc came to the crease and hit a quick fire 23 off 21 balls. Matthew Wade struggled and was dismissed by Neil Wagner. Tim Southee dismissed Mitchell Starc as Australia declared their innings on 217 for 9.
Chasing the target of 468 runs to win, it was a superb start for the Australian team as Mitchell Starc dismissed Jeet Raval for 1. Kane Williamson came to the crease and hit some lovely boundaries. Nathan Lyon was bought into the attack and got big wicket of Kane Williamson for 14. At the end of first session, New Zealand were 31 for 2.
In the 2nd session, Ross Taylor and Tom Latham struggled against the Australian bowlers. Mitchell Starc got breakthrough dismissing Taylor for 22. Taylor and Latham added 36 runs for the 3rd wicket. Nathan Lyon produced a brilliant delivery to dismiss Latham. The umpire gave it not out and Paine decided to review it. Dar had to change its decision to give it out. Henry Nicholls and BJ Watling survived against the Australian bowling attack. At the stroke of tea break, Nathan Lyon got the wicket of Nicholls for 21. Nicholls and Watling added 41 runs for the 5th wicket.
After the tea break, Colin de Grandhomme and BJ Watling looked composed with their defence. De Grandhomme played aggressive strokes. Pat Cummins got the wicket of Colin de Grandhomme for 33. De Grandhomme and Watling added 56 runs for the 6th wicket. After that Starc and Cummins finished off the tail. Australia bowled out New Zealand for 171 in 65.3 overs. Starc and Lyon took 4 wickets each while Pat Cummins took 2 wickets.
Australia 416 in 146.2 overs ( Marnus Labuschagne 143, Travis Head 56, Tim Paine 39, Neil Wagner 4/92, Tim Southee 4/93) and 217 for 9 d in 69.1 overs ( Joe Burns 53, Labuschagne 50, Tim Southee 5/69, Neil Wagner 3/59) beat New Zealand 166 in 55.2 overs (Ross Taylor 80, Kane Williamson 34, Colin de Grandhomme 23, Mitchell Starc 5/52, Nathan Lyon 2/48) and 171 in 65.3 overs ( Watling 40, Colin de Grandhomme 33, Mitchell Starc 4/45, Nathan Lyon 4/63) by 296 runs.
Australia takes a 1-0 lead in the 3 match Test series. The 2nd Test match will be played at MCG on 26th December
