Australia 562 (Voges 239, Khawaja 140, Smith 71) beat New Zealand 183 (Hazlewood 4-42, Lyon 3-32) and 327 (Latham 63, Nicholls 59, Lyon 4-91, Marsh 3-73) by an innings and 52 runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Mitchell Marsh continued from where he left off last evening and made the old ball talk © AFP
Emphatic doesn’t quite do it justice. Unrelenting throughout, Australia put on another exhibition of high quality bowling to seal a vast victory over New Zealand and place one hand on the ICC Mace awarded to the world’s No. 1 Test team. A deflating result for the visitors in Brendon McCullum’s 100th Test was only a tail-end flurry short of New Zealand’s heaviest ever loss at home to Australia.
Having set up the match with expert use of seaming early conditions on the first morning, Australia’s bowlers asked quite different questions on the fourth morning. Mitchell Marsh, Josh Hazlewood and Jackson Bird all used reverse swing to good effect, while Nathan Lyon homed in on a footmark outside the right-handers’ off stump to gain sharp spin. The absence of Peter Siddle, resting a back complaint, was well compensated for.
Steven Smith will be a most contented captain, having overseen a performance in which many questions about this team have been answered. They chose the right XI for the conditions, they bowled impressively, and most importantly batted with command even after Joe Burns and David Warner were out cheaply with the ball still new on day one. New Zealand will be left to wonder over the significance of the “no-ball” that reprieved Adam Voges early.
More to follow
Daniel Brettig is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo. @danbrettig
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Source: ESPN Crickinfo