Australia beat New Zealand by 3 wickets in first-ever day-night Test at Adelaide, seal series 2-0

Shaun Marsh played one of the most important innings of his career © Getty Images

Shaun Marsh did his reputation no harm, shepherding Australia to a dicey 187-run chase against New Zealand with a patient 49 as the hosts won the historic first-ever day-night Test by 3 wickets. New Zealand battled hard, and for a while on Day Two looked firmly in control before a combination of gutsy lower-order batting from Australia and a DRS howler robbed them of what could have been a massive lead. Thereafter it was all Australia; their bowlers managed to restrict New Zealand to a chaseable total, and barring the hiccups in the start and the end, their batsmen chased down the total as well. This was New Zealand's first series loss since losing to South Africa in 2013. LIVE CRICKET SCORECARD: Australia vs New Zealand, 3rd Test at Adelaide

Australia started the final session needing 74 runs to win with seven wickets remaining. New Zealand started off in ideal fashion, with Trent Boult getting Adam Voges to edge behind in the second over of the session. Mitchell Marsh was in no mood to give the Black Caps reason to cheer; he scored an invaluable 28 off 29 balls, taking the pressure off his older brother in the process. He holed out off Mitchell Santner, but by then the damage was done. Shaun missed out on a well-deserved half-century by just one run, edging Boult to slip with 11 runs needed to win. Peter Nevill was out with 2 runs needed to win to give Boult his fifth wicket, but Australia managed to go over the line in the end.

Adam Voges and Shaun Marsh weathered New Zealand‘s attack to rescue Australia from a precarious 66 for 3 to take them to a relatively safe 113 for 3 at dinner on Day Three of the third and final Test — and also the first ever day-night Test — at Adelaide on Sunday. Trent Boult and Doug Bollinger managed to take out the top three Australian batsmen before Voges and Marsh added an unbroken 47 at dinner. Australia need a further 74 to win, while New Zealand need to somehow pick up seven wickets. The session began with David Warner and Joe Burns getting off to an excellent start. The duo added a quick 34 before Boult bowled the perfect in-swinging yorker to take out Burns for 11 off 14 with two boundaries. Steven Smith got a similar ball from Boult and was out LBW for 14, while David Warner innings was cut short for a 37-ball 35 when he edged Bracewell to Tim Southee. Mark Craig was guilty of bowling a few too many loose balls as Marsh (24 not out) and Voges (27 not out) kept the runs coming at a decent clip. LIVE CRICKET UPDATES: Australia vs New Zealand, 3rd Test at Adelaide, Day 3

Earlier, Josh Hazlewood ended with career-best figures of 6 for 70 as Australia bowled out New Zealand for 208 at tea. Mitchell Santner and Doug Bracewell ensured that the Black Caps managed to cross the 200-run mark. The debutant Santner scored an attractive 45 off 88 balls with five boundaries and a six. Bracewell’s unbeaten 27 came off just 40 balls with one four and one six. Mark Craig made 15 and Tim Southee 13, as the New Zealand lower order made up for the lacklustre showing of the frontline batsmen.

On a pitch with considerable movement and turn, Hazlewood was the star with his third Test five-for. Hazlewood succeeded because he kept bowling a tight line and managed to extract late movement, frequently getting the batsmen in trouble driving. His six wickets included both openers Martin Guptill and Tom Latham, Ross Taylor, BJ Watling, Mark Craig, and Trent Boult. READ: India vs South Africa at Nagpur and Australia vs New Zealand at Adelaide show double standards

Brief scores:

New Zealand 202 (Tom Latham 50; Mitchell Starc 3 for 24, Josh Hazlewood 3 for 66) and 208 (Ross Taylor 32, Mitchell Santner 45; Josh Hazlewood 6 for 70) lost to Australia 224 (Steven Smith 53; Doug Bracewell 2 for 18, Mark Craig 2 for 9) and 187 for 7 (Shaun Marsh 49; Trent Boult 5 for 60) by 3 wickets.

Full Scorecard

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Man of the Match: Josh Hazlewood

Man of the Series: David Warner

(Shiamak Unwalla, a reporter with CricketCountry, is a self-confessed Sci-Fi geek who loves cricket more than cricketers. His Twitter handle is @ShiamakUnwalla)