Australia go to lunch with a lead of 266 against New Zealand in 2nd Test, Day 5 at Perth

Australia go to lunch at 331 for 5 and have secured a lead of 266 on the final day of the second Test at Perth. New Zealand were on firs in the first session as they removed skipper Steven Smith for 138 and followed it up with another wicket of Mitchell Marsh for just 1. The Kiwi bowler then kept things extremely tight, not allowing runs to flow from the bat of the Australian batsmen. This pressure eventually paid off as they managed to dismiss Adam Voges for 119. Voges’ wicket got Mitchell Johnson to the crease, who was sportingly given a guard of honour by the New Zealand players whent he walked out. Johnson, before play started announced that he will retire from all forms of cricket after this Test. Live scorecard: Australia vs New Zealand 2015-15, 2nd Test at Perth

New Zealand will believe that they can still win this match from here and will hope that they can dismiss the Australian batsmen early. They will surely go all guns blazing since they are already 0-1 down in the series after they lost at Brisbane. Ross Taylor scored 290 as New Zealand managed to post a massive score of 624 in their first innings, thereby taking a 65-run lead in the first innings. Kane Williamson too scored 166 to help his team’s cause. The third and final Test will be played at Adelaide, which will be a Day-Night Test, the first of its kind. Live Updates: Australia vs New Zealand 2015, 2nd Test at Perth, Day 5

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Earlier, Australia had won the toss and elected to bat first. Australia declared their first innings at 559 for 9, with David Warner scoring a double century and Usman Khawaja scoring a big hundred once again. Khawaja’s participation in the Test is a big doubt now, considering that he has not taken field since he was dismissed.

Brief scores:

Australia 559 for 5 decl. (David Warner 253, Usman Khawaka 121; Mark Craig 3 for 123, Doug Bracewell 2 for 815) & 331 for 5 (Steven Smith 138, Adam Voges 119; Tim Southee 2 for 54, Trent Boult 2 for 60) lead New Zealand 624 (Kane Williamson 166, Ross Taylor 290; Mitchell Starc 4 for 119, Nathan Lyon 3 for 107) by 266 runs.

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