Australia (383 & 164) defeat New Zealand (179 & 196) by 172 runs in the first Test match to go 1-0 up in the 2-match series

Rachin singlehandedly keeping the Australian attack at bay. This will be a record chase at the Basin Reserve if it happens
 
I expect Aussies to win it today.

It would be a monumental effort if Kiwis pull this off.
 
Williamson goes missing far too often against tough teams, even at home. His entire record is based on bashing weaker and depleted sides, unless he does something extraordinary this year against Aussies and in India, big question mark on his legacy.
 
Boult is enjoying with his wife in the Ambani pre-wedding festivities (actual wedding is in July). His country needed him here against their fierce rivals and reigning WTC champions, sad to see the direction of test cricket. If a big name like Boult is like this, why blame youngsters?
 
Australia maintains its consistent supremacy over New Zealand. Out of the 20 Tests played between the two teams in the last two decades, Australia has emerged victorious in 17, with only one loss. 6-fer for Lyon helped Australia win the 1st game of the series.

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Nathan Lyon puts Black Caps in a spin as Australia win first test

At the Basin Reserve, Wellington: Australia 383 & 164 beat the Black Caps 179 & 196 all out in 64.4 overs (Rachin Ravindra 59; Nathan Lyon 6-65) by 172 runs.

Hope evaporated quickly for the Black Caps on the fourth day of the first test against Australia, as Nathan Lyon spun the tourists to a seventh-straight win over New Zealand.

The 36-year-old off-spinner is now the equal-leading foreign wicket-taker at the Basin Reserve, with his 10-108 in the match taking his tally to 17 from two visits, equal with that of Indian left-arm seamer Zaheer Khan, who played there three times.

The Black Caps had resumed at 111-3 needing 268 runs for an unlikely win, with Rachin Ravindra on 56 and Daryl Mitchell on 12.

After two unsuccessful overs from the RA Vance Stand end, Lyon switched to the Adelaide Rd end, where he had taken two wickets on day three and four on day two.

Ravindra only added three to his overnight score before he cut Lyon to Cameron Green at point, while Tom Blundell only lasted three balls before inside edging to Travis Head at short leg off his thigh pad for a duck – a repeat of his first-innings dismissal.

Lyon then trapped Glenn Phillips LBW for one – after an unsuccessful review by the Black Caps batter – to secure his 24th five-wicket bag in his 128th test.

At 128-6, with 241 still needed and the best part of two days remaining, the damage was done as far as the Black Caps were concerned.

Mitchell made 38 before being the last man out, taking New Zealand’s total to 196 in combination with the four bowlers, with Lyon picking up his sixth wicket, that of Tim Southee, caught by Mitchell Starc at long-on.

Lyon’s star turn for Australia came after Black Caps off-spinner Glenn Phillips took the first five-wicket bag of his career on day three on Sunday, helping to dismiss the visitors for 149 and keep the hosts’ target under 400.

The success of the two off-spinners threw the spotlight on New Zealand’s decision to leave out left-armer Mitchell Santner in favour of Scott Kuggeleijn, who took two first-innings wickets, but was for the most part ineffective as a fourth seamer.

It also made Southee’s failure to call on Phillips in Australia’s first-innings – especially on the morning of day two, where Green and Hazlewood put together a record-breaking 116-run partnership for the 10th wicket while batting for more than two hours – increasing baffling.

Phillips offered up an explanation for that after day two, claiming the unfavourable match-up with right-hander Green was a factor, but that wasn’t an issue on day three, and only made the case to have included Santner – who turns the ball away from right-handers – even stronger.

Lyon said after play on day three that he had been expecting to find favourable conditions, having taken seven wickets in Australia’s last visit to Wellington in 2016.

“I was pretty confident it was going to spin before the game started. It felt a lot drier than what it was eight years ago, from memory, so I thought there would definitely be something there for me.”

For the Black Caps, it was the second misread of conditions in a row, after the second test against South Africa in Hamilton last month, where Santner was left out despite starring in the first test win in Mount Maunganui, with coach Gary Stead hailing his form.

Addressing his axing last month, Santner said: “Looking at the pitch, it looked like it wouldn't do much for a spinner and then it started spinning day one, which was a bit of a shame – for me anyway”.

With seamer Will O’Rourke under an injury cloud after feeling tightness in his left hamstring while bowling on day three, the make-up of the Black Caps’ attack could change for the second test in Christchurch, starting next Friday.

Whether there will be a place for Santner on a pitch that is typically New Zealand’s most seam-friendly surface is another matter, but they will have to get things right if they are to salvage a series draw.

SOURCE: STUFF.CO.NZ
 
Man Aussies just own NZ so bad it's sad to see. I feel the NSW side alone can comfortably beat this NZ international side.. Aus has only had 1 country as their rival and that is India over the last 30 years
 
In 31 years, NZ has won only 1 Test against Australia - Hobart 2011.

Even Pakistan have not been nearly as bad.
 
In 31 years, NZ has won only 1 Test against Australia - Hobart 2011.

Even Pakistan have not been nearly as bad.
Yeah, you are right. I guess Pakistan has 4 wins against Australia at their home till 1995 if I am not wrong.
 
How can a country be this good at cricket? Almost unfair on other teams, and this isn't even that great an Aussie side by historical standards.

If India ever wins a test in NZ, you won't hear the end of it. Here Aussies have brutalized NZ and it's no big deal for them. I don't remember when was the last time NZ drew a test against Australia at home.
 
A fairly easy win for Australia in the end. That second day for New Zealand with conceding a large final wicket partnership and then ending up 42/5 themselves proved impossible to come back from.

You’ve got to say unless it rains in the other Test that Australia will be odds on to win this series 2-0. They’re a better team than New Zealand but the gap is not huge at the moment and in their home conditions could be overcome by the Black Caps, at least for a Test match win and a drawn series.

The difference is mentality. Australia completely have the mental edge in this rivalry and when facing them in Test cricket, New Zealand seem to suddenly disintegrate from their usual professional, doughty, creditable outfit into an amateur village green XI.
 
Other teams keep making excuses about toss, pitch, umpiring. Here Aus lost the toss, got the worst of conditions, still found a way to win. Elite champion mentality.
 
Other teams keep making excuses about toss, pitch, umpiring. Here Aus lost the toss, got the worst of conditions, still found a way to win. Elite champion mentality.
Oh please... They had their own share of moans during the visit to India last time.
 
New Zealand has shot itself in the foot in recent times. The team has been poorly coached for a long time, and selections have also been fairly poor for several years.

Almost the entire team is old, and it essentially takes retirement or years upon years of poor form to lose your spot in the team.

Southee should not be captain. He barely deserves a spot in the team. He should probably not be in the team against a team like Australia that he constantly struggles against.

Kuggeleijn should not be in the team for a number of reasons, chiefly his history with woman which people can google if they please. But also because he isn't very good

NZ does not read the conditions as well as they did several years ago. Ajaz Patel fell out of favor because he can't bat well and NZ doesn't typically spin. Except in the home tests that NZ has played since he lost his spot for these series, NZ pitches have regularly spun.

Ravindra who has been a domestic opener and an obvious talent, was late to be selected and then when he was, his role was to bat in the lower order as a spin bowling allrounder in both Tests and short form cricket. It took blind luck of injuries for him to get chances higher up which he thankfully took with both hands.

NZ have had an embarrassing home loss to Bangladesh in tests. Finished near the bottom of the table in the last WTC cycle. Excuses are made, and failures are spoken of in diminished terms, and now NZ is looking at a wave of retirements over the next 2-3 years that will leave a spine of Ravindra, Phillips and O'Rourke as the only clear cut selections in the test team. And that is banking hugely on O'Rourke actually being good and not riddled with injuries. Even Jamieson is already 29, and he is viewed as a younger player.

Essentially NZ had a golden generation of players turn up. Then Hesson made them an excellent team. McCullum gave them belief. And since Hesson left, the team has slowly trickled backwards, relying on the raw talents of the best generation of cricketers the country has ever had.

There is more than this, but it is what comes to mind off the top of my head.
 
Man Aussies just own NZ so bad it's sad to see. I feel the NSW side alone can comfortably beat this NZ international side.. Aus has only had 1 country as their rival and that is India over the last 30 years
They had their battles with South Africa for a while. They lost three home series in a row in 08, 12 and 16, and lost the infamous Sandpaper series.

However South Africa were awful on their last tour down under.

New Zealand haven't even come close to challenging them let alone winning. Their issues are well summarised above.
 
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