December 5, 2001	Wednesday	Ramazan 19, 1422

Please Visit our Sponsor (Ads open in separate window)

PERTH, Dec 4: Australia gratefully held on for a draw to share the series with New Zealand on the controversial final day of the deciding third cricket Test at the WACA Ground here Tuesday.

Umpiring decisions that went against the gallant Black Caps may well have robbed them of only their second series win in Australia.

The unofficial world champions had a huge fright before finishing with 381 for seven wickets, 59 runs short of their winning target, to retain the Trans-Tasman Trophy they have held for seven years.

Umpiring blunders gave reprieves to Australian skipper Steve Waugh, when he was on 13, and Jason Gillespie before he had scored.

Waugh went on to make 67 in a stubborn knock of almost four hours which blocked the Kiwis’ path when they appeared well on track to repeat the series win by Jeremy Coney’s side in 1985-86 when New Zealand won the final Test on the same ground with the great Richard Hadlee taking 11 wickets.

But Waugh and his Kiwi counterpart, Stephen Fleming, refused to criticise the umpiring of Australian Darrell Hair and Ian Robinson from Zimbabwe.

Fleming declined to comment on the umpiring, except to say: “The rub of the green goes your way some days — some days it doesn’t.”

Waugh said only: “I thought the umpires did a pretty good job. You can look back on any dismissals.

“There were probably a couple of guys who thought they were a bit unlucky, but it was not one-way traffic either way.”

The drawn game, following two other draws in rain-marred contests in Brisbane and Hobart, left Australia as the top team in the International Cricket Council championship standings.

They would have surrendered this spot to South Africa if New Zealand had scraped home in the Perth decider.

The Australians will be relieved to retain leadership just before the start of a three-Test series against the Proteas, starting in Adelaide Friday week.

Waugh and Fleming both said they were disappointed they had not won here.

“At the start of the day we gave ourselves a chance of winning,” Waugh said.

“I thought we were in a good position to win when Adam Gilchrist and I were batting together.”

The sixth wicket pair savaged the New Zealand attack, slamming 95 from 104 balls in 73 minutes.

“It was a tough situation, because we were always on the brink if we lost one more wicket, with a new ball coming,” Waugh said.

Fleming said: “We are very disappointed not to win the game. We are having mixed emotions, but the guys are okay.

“We have loved the competition and we have loved the environment.

“We went through the whole emotional rollercoaster and came out the other side — and want to get on another ride.”

Waugh was ruled not out when left-arm spinner Daniel Vettori — named Man-of-the-Match for taking eight wickets — found the edge of Waugh’s bat and had the chance pouched by wicket-keeper Adam Parore.

Gillespie escaped after edging to Parore and being brilliantly caught down the leg side.

TV replays confirmed that both batsmen should have been given their marching orders.

Despite those lucky breaks, Australia still needed wicket-keeper Gilchrist (83) and Gillespie (one) to keep the Kiwis at bay in a tense last few overs.

Australia had been set the huge task of scoring 440 runs from a minimum of 107 overs when Fleming declared the New Zealand second innings at 256 for nine Monday.

If Australia had succeeded, their efforts would have been the best run chase for victory in the 124 years of Test cricket.

The record for a successful run chase is held by India, who smashed 406 for four to beat the West Indies in Port-of-Spain in the 1975-76 series.