Australia are seven wickets away from retaining the Trans-Tasman Trophy and winning the first Test against New Zealand, with Nathan Lyon at the centre of their toil.
Spinner Lyon made an innings-high 41 as the tourists slumped to 164 in their second dig; setting the Black Caps an improbable target of 369 for victory.
A session into their chase, New Zealand were 3-111 at stumps on day three, still 258 runs from a first home victory over their arch-rivals in 31 years.
While a huge task remains, the Kiwis enjoyed their best day of the Basin Reserve Test on Saturday.
The man behind their best bowling effort was also their best performer with the bat, Glenn Phillips.
Phillips (5-45) ripped through the Australian middle order, removing Travis Head (29) and Mitch Marsh (golden duck) in consecutive balls.
Alex Carey survived the hat-trick attempt, but Phillips soon claimed the wicketkeeper’s scalp, adding him to Usman Khawaja (28) and Cam Green (34) on his list of victims.
Not bad for someone who started his international career as a T20 wicketkeeper, and who captain Tim Southee had overlooked for a spell while Australia tallied 383 in their first innings.
Usman Khawaja is stumped by Tom Blundell. (Photo by Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images)
“Credit to Glenn, I thought he bowled really well,” Lyon said. “Stuck to his pretty simple game plan … he was too good.”
Matt Henry followed up his first-innings 5-70 with another solid 3-36.
Australia’s limp second-innings effort didn’t even match Cam Green’s unbeaten first-innings 174.
Only Lyon, given his batting average of 12, could stand tall, though he fell short of a career ambition.
The 36-year-old struck three consecutive boundaries off Southee on the way to his second-highest score in 162 innings, but not the Test half-century he has long craved.
“That’s the second time in my career I’ve top-scored, and let’s hope it’s the last,” Lyon said.
It would have been an even better day for New Zealand if they had held their catches.
As it did in the T20 series, poor fielding hurt the Black Caps, with Scott Kuggeleijn, Southee (twice) and Henry Nicholls all dropping regulation chances.
When New Zealand took to the crease just before tea on Saturday, Aussie captain Pat Cummins wasted little time bringing Lyon into the attack.
Lyon (2-27) had Tom Latham caught behind cutting off just his second ball, and followed up with the prize wicket of Kane Williamson after the break.
The former captain glanced a Lyon delivery down the leg side straight to Steve Smith at an unorthodox leg slip for nine.
Smith then pulled off a one-handed stunner at slip to dismiss Will Young off Head’s spin.
From that point, New Zealand stood strong, Rachin Ravindra (56) and Daryl Mitchell (11) putting together a half-century stand to keep Kiwi dreams alive heading into day four.
It remains to be seen whether paceman Will O’Rourke is able to bat, given the 22-year-old hobbled off the field with a tight hamstring in his eighth over.
Success for New Zealand would break multiple records.
Reaching 369 would be their highest successful fourth-innings chase in their 94-year Test history, and be the best fourth-innings chase at the Basin Reserve by almost 100 runs.
It would also end the Black Caps’ 31-year run without a home win against Australia, and keep alive their Trans-Tasman Trophy hopes.
Jeff
Roar Rookie
No. I'm putting it into context re playing a game of cricket. They are a group of batsmen who are at the highest FC level of their peers, who come together as a batting unit in the Test side. But they're not gods who should be expected to boss the universe without any hint of faltering when presented with difficult conditions. Give them a break. I'd back Australia's top 6, pound for pound, against any other top 6 Test line up going around.
13th Man
Roar Rookie
You are giving batsmen excuses instead of simply admitting they played poor shots. Regardless of whether Phillips was turning the ball a bit (spoiler alert: he’s a spin bowler, that’s what they do), the shot execution from all the batsmen was poor and they were at fault for their dismissals.
Don Freo
Roar Rookie
Flying, full length finger-tipper. That would be held once in forty by fluke.
Jeff
Roar Rookie
Khawaja was being strangled. And at the end of the day, Australia wasn't there in the 2nd innings to bat time. They had a Test match to win, where they were already well up in the game, so Usman tried to take Phillips on, but got done by the turn. Granted Head and Carey got themselves out. But for Head at least, his role is to go hard quickly - Phillips' turn got him (as it inevitably was going to), but if Phillips wasn't turning it, Head would have got away with it. Head will play match-turning innings with his new approach, but they'll probably only come every 6 innings or so. Otherwise there will always be a good chance he gets out early. But he's been assigned a role and that's what he is executing. Carey - well Carey isn't in great batting form either way. He could have tried defending but would have probably still got done, like Green and Marsh.
The Knightwatchmen who say Nii
Roar Rookie
The second innings is superfluous here: all out 164 or 3 for 165 decl, makes not a scrap of difference starting out at 0 for +204.
Micko
Roar Rookie
Did get dropped at some stage well short of a hundred though I think Pete?? :cricket:
aerial lizard
Roar Rookie
Next up on Interesting People, a man with three buttocks.
aerial lizard
Roar Rookie
Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government.
The Knightwatchmen who say Nii
Roar Rookie
Not against Australia in the test version. And you need not mention his two tons, as one was in a mammoth scoring draw, the other in a doomed irretrievable 3rd innings lost cause, when he had not performed in his team's pivotal first innings.
Rowdy
Roar Rookie
".... not because some moistened bint threw a scimitar at me"
Nathan Absalom
Roar Guru
Predictably some lawn bowls rolled across the room during his speech.
Andrew
Roar Rookie
And then they woke up!
aerial lizard
Roar Rookie
Did he get the jack?
aerial lizard
Roar Rookie
"I didn't know we 'ad a king, I thought we lived in an autonomous collective."
Wrecked 'em
Roar Rookie
Dream on …..
BigGordon
Roar Rookie
Looked decidedly brittle in that second innings, Don - and that's with Green.
Don Freo
Roar Rookie
But we have Green so it's not.
13th Man
Roar Rookie
I have - there was no need for Carey, Khawaja or Head to play the shots they did. They were all batsmen error not unplayable bowling.
Jeff
Roar Rookie
He was getting exceptional turn. Rewatch it.
Don Freo
Roar Rookie
Bowling strike rate isn't bad either.