Voges 239 hoists Australia's lead to 379

New Zealand 183 and 1 for 0 (Latham 1*) trail Australia 562 (Voges 239, Khawaja 140, Smith 71) by 378 runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

Adam Voges struck his first six in Test cricket since June as he took charge of Australia’s late push © Getty Images

Adam Voges soared to his second double century of the summer as Australia built an imposing lead over New Zealand on the third morning of the first Test at the Basin Reserve in Wellington.

Australia’s last five wickets added 263 in total, leaving New Zealand with an enormous task to stave off defeat in Brendon McCullum’s 100th Test. Tom Latham and Martin Guptill survived one over before lunch.

They had at least managed to round up the tail before the break but could find no way past Voges, who sailed on through to a score that left his Test batting average at an eye-popping 97.46 after 19 completed innings.

One point of interest about the morning’s play was that all four wickets fell to catches in front of the wicket, including Corey Anderson’s stunning return catch to dismiss Nathan Lyon. This suggested the arrival of some variable pace in the pitch. Four caught and bowled dismissals for the innings equalled the Test record.

Peter Siddle and Voges had started the day in a positive vein, working the ball around with the occasional boundary as their stand took on impressive proportions, notwithstanding one blow on the helmet for Siddle when he ducked into a Trent Boult bouncer. The partnership was worth 99 and Siddle 49 when he pushed Doug Bracewell to mid-on.

Josh Hazlewood played one handsome cover drive before trying to repeat the shot and spooning a catch, but Lyon hung around long enough to watch Voges reach 200, courtesy of an obliging full toss from Mark Craig. Lyon’s exit via Anderson’s acrobatics left time for an entertaining last-wicket pairing before Voges finally succumbed, 614 runs after his last dismissal.

Daniel Brettig is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo. @danbrettig

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.


Source: ESPN Crickinfo

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