A third successive ton from Marnus Labuschagne shielded Australia from a relentless bowling display by New Zealand, who showed great skill and heart in the oppressive heat in Perth yesterday.
Australia and New Zealand both played with admirable discipline in what was a fantastic start to this blockbuster three-Test series.
The Kiwis underlined why they’re the world’s second-ranked Test side by pressuring the Australians from first session to last, despite being without star bowler Trent Boult and battling 39°C heat.
When Australia cantered to 0-37 after nine overs, with Warner looking supreme, signs were ominous for the tourists. All too often over the past 25 years, visiting teams have watched Australia’s top order get off to a sprinting start and then prove very difficult to reel back in.
To keep a lid on Australia in such circumstances requires clear strategies, skilful implementation of those tactics and, above all, generous patience.
Slowly asphyxiating Australian batsmen with dry bowling is always a good option. It’s just that few attacks have the skill and temperament to execute that approach.
NZ are one of those attacks. After Australia’s swift start, the Kiwi bowling unit closed down the game. They set tight fields and bowled accordingly.
From overs nine to 40 they conceded just 2.06 runs per over while dislodging both openers. Tim Southee and Colin de Grandhomme bowled out-swinger after out-swinger on a perfect length on a fifth and sixth stump line.
By maintaining this line they denied Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne the leg-side clips on which they thrive.
Smith and Labuschagne leave the ball better than any other batsmen in this Australian line-up and were forced to do this over and over by Southee and De Grandhomme.
At the other end, tireless left-armer Neil Wagner kept them guessing. In-swingers, cutters, slower balls, yorkers, bouncers – Wagner unfurled his full repertoire.
(Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)
He did so with great control, allowing him to maintain the pressure built up by De Grandhomme and Southee.
After more than two hours of such attritional cricket, something had to give. New Zealand were banking on the Aussies losing patience. Smith and Labuschagne were aiming to bat for time and let the searing heat tire their opponents.
The Aussie pair did just that, grinding away and making the New Zealand attack toil in the second session.
While Labuschagne and Smith gained the ascendancy in this period, at no stage did the Kiwis wilt. Smith was well below his imperious best and was lucky to be dropped at second slip after slashing at debutant quick Lockie Ferguson.
That loose stroke was a rare moment of poor discipline from Smith, who otherwise played within himself as he sought to find rhythm. Eventually, after 164 balls, Smith was sucked into an obvious trap, trying to hook a Wagner short ball and hitting it straight to leg slip.
It had taken a long time but New Zealand had finally been rewarded for their persistence. Wagner deserved that wicket after bowling with tremendous heart all day. Yet he and his bowling colleagues were outclassed by Australia’s new Test star, Labuschagne.
Even after his heroics in the Ashes, and his demolition job against Pakistan, I still felt this series against New Zealand would tell us just how good Labuschagne is.
Well, now we know. He’s a freak, a young man who justifies all the hype around him.
Granted, Labuschagne is in only is 12th Test and plenty of Australian batsmen have made blazing starts to their Test careers.
Few, however, have done so facing the same adversity as the Queenslander.
Since being vaulted into the Ashes in the toughest of circumstances when Smith was concussed, Labuschagne has churned out 810 runs at 90 from just ten innings.
His remarkable consistency is underlined by the fact that, in those ten innings, he has passed 50 seven times and made another score of 48.
(Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)
Yesterday, even as Smith laboured and the Kiwi attack excelled, Labuschagne cruised along and achieved something Smith never has – he scored his third Test century in successive innings.
Once more he displayed a watertight defence, great judgment, vast patience, hard running, and a fine range of gears to his batting. Labuschagne was happy for the New Zealand bowlers to be in control for periods, confident he would then have his own passages of dominance.
This capacity to adapt to the ebb and flow of the longest format is in short supply among modern Test batsmen. It is what has set Smith apart from the pack and what is now putting distance between Labuschagne and many of his contemporaries.
Yet New Zealand are still firmly in this match, just one wicket away from exposing Australia’s out-of-form wicketkeeper Tim Paine.
If the Kiwis maintain the high standard they set yesterday over the next month, this is going to be a very tough series for Australia.
Simoc
Guest
Labuschagne has been outstanding. He has improved out of sight and justified his early inclusion by far. He has grabbed the opportunity and grown with it and looks the part (apart from the chewing gum). I thought the opposition would have targeted his chewing gum by now and pinched it. He is definitely a feather in the cap of the Chairman of selectors who wanted him most.
Insult_2_Injury
Roar Rookie
Don't doubt that. But in that particular innings they used the conditions and the discipline which has taken them to number 2. Of course backing bowlers to learn means in the long run they can attempt to adapt to whatever conditions are thrown at them.
Paul
Roar Guru
I'd trade in your crystal ball for a new model!!
I think us easterners prefer civilisation, and you know us under 70s have to work in the morning.....we dont sit around drinking coffee all day doing nothing.
jeznez
Roar Guru
I wouldn’t even say it is restricted to sport. Doesn’t ScoMo use a line? A fair go for those that have a go? And red hot has been a thing ever since they started heating up bits of metal. The old “Av a go yer mug” was one of Yabba’s wasn’t it? I don’t think it’s specifically a sporting term let alone tied to a particular code. I’m not a AFL follower in anyway shape or form and the term ‘red hot go’ is completely familiar to me.
Jeff
Roar Rookie
He scored a mountain of runs in County this season before the Ashes, Paul. I wonder how much that time in the County scene helped him perfect that as that is the place for playing the ball late/with deft touch? A heap I think; I can't recall him playing that shot so much last summer. We have certainly found out through the course of 2019 how hard he works and how smart he is at adapting his game and expanding his technique to suit conditions.
ols
Roar Pro
At the same time! Captaincy material for sure :silly:
ols
Roar Pro
Well......................he's left handed :thumbup:
Paul
Roar Guru
I don't remember ever hearing this used in Rugby, Rugby League or any other sporting context,jeznez. Not saying it hasn't been used, but I've never heard that.
Paul
Roar Guru
I wasn't blaming Warner Pedro,I was saying he was probably in no position to offer any advice,simply because he was standing so wide on the crease
qwetzen
Roar Rookie
Paul, RoPo= Rotation Policy. As recently employed in the inferno that is England.
Don Freo
Roar Rookie
Head has AB's grit and savvy.
Micko
Roar Rookie
It probably wasn't fair on Ferguson to make his debut here. Getting the nerves out of the way by playing in NZ would've been better. Now the extra effort he's put in with probably lack of match practice has cost him with this injury.
Pedro The Fisherman
Roar Rookie
That would also put the non-striker in a position to run straight up the pitch - something the Aussies don't want at this early stage and something the umpires tend to frown upon.
Don Freo
Roar Rookie
No. They are busy reading the play, looking for runs, not considering opinions about replays. That's our business. Just so that you're clear, a batsman is not allowed to stand on the pitch at the bowler's end. Ricky Ponting and Mike Hussey are correct here.
Pedro The Fisherman
Roar Rookie
I am not sure that you can blame Warner for Burn's failure to review a poor umpiring decision (and yes I have seen worse but that is what Dar is paid to do). The batsman himself should know where he is wrt his stumps and what the ball is doing. Warner merely contributes to Burns' decision.
HR
Roar Rookie
I would think that it depends on how long Paine remains captain. If he retires after the Bangladesh tour, it would be a quick elevation. There are three realistic candidates that I can see in the team at the moment - Smith, Head and Labuschagne. I have seen reasonable arguments for and against reinstating Smith as the captain - he's a known quantity and when he was captaining the team it didn't seem to affect his batting much, which is a good sign, but I'm not sure he's a great leader of men, in much the same was that Bradman wasn't. Head has successfully captained South Australia (he lead them to two successive Shield finals), and I think his form is unfairly maligned in the international arena (he has a test average of 41.8 after 23 innings, which is pretty handy - it's marginally higher than Michael Clarke's average of 40.3 at the same stage in his test career). Labuschagne should certainly be in the leadership group. He's a clear pick in the team at the moment, and it doesn't look like that will change too much in the near future, touch wood. His on-field interactions with other players in the group suggest he's a fairly gregarious bloke and would likely be a decent group leader, and he's certainly very driven and seems to have the competitive edge and mental strength to deal with the role. The biggest unknown factor is probably his tactical acumen. I don't think that he has captained any teams at a high level (I know he hasn't captained Queensland or Glamorgan), but as an example, Graeme Smith was younger and less experienced than Labuschagne when he ascended to the South African captaincy, and his tenure was very successful.
MaxP
Roar Rookie
Yes, I did. I put that down to a batsman who is in average form and low on confidence as he tries to cement his spot in the team, as opposed to a deliberate “play your natural game” tactic
jeznez
Roar Guru
How is ‘red hot go’ an AFLism and not just a general Aussie term? ‘Red-hot’ goes back centuries while attaching it to ‘go’ makes it Aussie. Just not sure what makes it AFL as my experience of it is generic and not from that code.
AREH
Roar Guru
He can - but he's also not really the same dynamic player he was when much younger, with nowhere near the same power to his game. The repeated finger injuries probably the main reason.