(Cricket News) Cameron Green’s second International ton helped Australia to come out of a difficult situation, on a green top in Wellington. His unbeaten knock helped the Aussies post a total of 279/9 at stumps on Day 1.
Being put into bat, on a green surface, The Aussies got of to decent start. Both their openers Smith and Khwaja started off in a steady manner. Matt Henry the pick of the bowlers for the Kiwis on Day 1, inflicted the first blow for Australia, dismissing a well set Steve Smith for 31. Post Smith’s dismissal the visitors suffered a mini collapse losing Khwaja, Labuschagne and Head cheaply.
Cameron Green was then joined by Mitch Marsh, as both the batters stitched a valuable 67-run stand to revive the innings for the Aussies. Matt Henry again managed to break free, dismissing Marsh, reducing Australia to 156/5. Alex Carey did not manage to stuck around for long being dismissed on 10 off 20 balls, giving the Black Caps their 6th scalp.
Green continued with his gritty knock, while wickets kept falling around him. He kept the scorecard moving and eventually brought up his second International hundred. In the process he bailed Australia out of trouble on the very first day of test. The lower order and the likes of Starc and Cummins assisted him pretty well to ensure that Australia post a good score.
Matt Henry was the pick of the bowlers for the host, dismissing 4 batters, while O’Rourke and Kuggeleijn took 2 wickets each. Rachin Ravidra also managed to get a solitary wicket.
Brief scores: Australia 279/9 (Cameron Green 103*, Mitchell Marsh 40; Matt Henry 4-33) vs New Zealand
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