BRISBANE, Nov 22: Showing their true colours after a while, Australia came back strongly to put themselves on the brink of a well-deserved victory as Simon Katich carried his bat for an unbeaten century against New Zealand on the third day of the first Test at the Gabba here on Saturday.
After being set a stiff target of 327 in a low-scoring game, New Zealand lost their way in their second innings to close at 143 for six with Ross Taylor the only stumbling block standing in Australia’s victory path.
Wickets kept falling around Taylor and the loss of Grant Elliott, who was bowled by Stuart Clark on the last ball of the day, meant New Zealand’s slim chances would largely rest with Taylor and the next man in, Daniel Vettori.
Clark ruined New Zealand’s outside chances of an unlikely win with three wickets. Mitchell Johnson lent excellent support after spearhead Brett Lee dismissed Jamie How for a first-duck to join Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath and Dennis Lee as the only members of the 300-Test wicket club.
The match could have been over already but for an 84-run stand between Taylor and Daniel Flynn, who picked the gaps with sensible shots.
Flynn was bowled by Johnson for 29 and his departure encouraged Taylor to go for a few more shots in his unbeaten 67, which ended a drought of seven Test innings in which he had failed to pass fifty.
Earlier in the day, Australia had tightened their grip on the match thanks to Katich’s tenacity. The left-handed opener became the first Australian to carry his bat in a Test for more than a decade when he remained undefeated on 131 as Australia’s final four wickets added 153 invaluable runs.
Had the last two wickets not added a total of 82 runs for Australia, the Kiwis could have required a relatively gettable target of around 250.
Katich combined with Johnson for an invaluable 53-run stand for the ninth wicket featuring some clean hitting from Johnson, who struck three fours and a powerful six off Vettori. When Johnson miscued an attempted pull off Elliott and slapped the ball to mid-off for 31 the problems did not end for New Zealand. Clark kept the boundaries coming, smashing four fours in 12-ball 18 in a 29-run partnership.
When Clark holed out to mid-off Katich became the first Australian to remain unbeaten through a completed Test innings since Mark Taylor in Adelaide in 1997-98. It continued a terrific career renaissance for Katich, who now has four Test centuries since his recall in the Caribbean earlier this year.
He was bogged down early in the morning but grew in confidence and raced through the 90s within seven balls. A well-timed drive off Southee went so straight that the umpire Billy Doctrove had to practise his hurdling skills to allow it to run away to the boundary and the next ball Katich rolled his wrists perfectly in a textbook hook that smashed into the turf and flew away for four more.
The century came up with another boundary from his 179th delivery when he guided another hook fine off Iain O’Brien. He punched through gaps with confidence and struck 16 fours, making it difficult to understand how none of his top-order mates could pass 20.
Scoreboard
AUSTRALIA (1st Innings) 214 (M.J. Clarke 98; T.G. Southee 4-63).
NEW ZEALAND (1st Innings) 156 (M.G. Johnson 4-30).
AUSTRALIA (2nd Innings, overnight 131-6):
M.L. Hayden c McCullum b Martin 0
S.M. Katich not out 131
R.T. Ponting c Redmond b O’Brien 17
M.E.K. Hussey c McCullum b O’Brien 0
M.J. Clarke run out 9
A. Symonds c McCullum b Martin 20
S.R. Watson lbw b Martin 5
B.J. Haddin b Vettori 19
B. Lee b Vettori 7
M.G. Johnson c Vettori b Elliott 31
S.R. Clark c Vettori b Southee 18
EXTRAS (LB-10, NB-1) 11
TOTAL (all out, 81.2 overs) 268
FALL OF WKTS: 1-0, 2-40, 3-40, 4-53, 5-109, 6-115, 7-156, 8-186, 9-239.
BOWLING: Martin 21-5-69-3; Southee 16.2-5-62-1; O’Brien 17-1-58-2 (1nb); Elliott 6-1-15-1; Vettori 19-4-46-2; Ryder 2-0-8-0.
NEW ZEALAND (1st Innings):
A.J. Redmond c and b Clark 10
J.M. How c Ponting b Lee 0
J.D. Ryder lbw b Johnson 24
L.R.P.L. Taylor not out 67
B.B. McCullum lbw b Clark 3
D.R. Flynn b Johnson 29
G.D. Elliott b Clark 0
EXTRAS (LB-5, W-2, NB-3) 10
TOTAL (for six wkts, 44 overs) 143
FALL OF WKTS: 1-1, 2-30, 3-40, 4-49, 5-133, 6-143.
BOWLING (to-date): Lee 9-0-53-1 (3nb); Clark 12-5-23-3; Johnson 12-4-25-2 (2w); Watson 5-1-19-0; Symonds 4-0-12-0; Clarke 2-0-6-0.—Agencies