Published: Oct 23, 2015, 10:28 AM (IST)
Edited: Aug 31, 2016, 03:04 PM (IST)
Hello and welcome to CricketCountry’s live coverage of New Zealand’s tour match against the Australian Prime Minister’s XI (PM XI) at the start of their 2015-16 tour of Australia. For a start, the Black Caps will be missing out on the services of regular skipper Brendon McCullum, as well as Kane Williamson and No. 3 mainstay Kane Williamson and South African-born wicketkeeper batsman BJ Watling. The visitors will be led by pace spearhead Tim Southee, with regular members of the side such as Martin Guptill, Ross Taylor, Luke Ronchi, Tom Latham also featuring in the warm-up fixture. The PM’s XI, on the other hand, will be led by former Australian left-handed batsman Michael Hussey, who retired from the game in 2013. Pacer Peter Siddle, who has been struggling to maintain his spot in the Test side off late, will be leading the bowling attack.
LIVE CRICKET SCORE Prime Minister’s XI 205 after 45.2 overs: BATTING: Mark Steketee 5(10): The formalities are over. PM XI have been convincingly beaten by the New Zealanders, they’ll be satisfied with their top performance across disciplines in this game against quite a strong team. Boult took three wickets as did Jimmy Neesham. The other bowlers chipped in as well. New Zealand will now train focus on the two-day game against Cricket Australia XI. OUT! Ryan Carters 74(71) c Southee b Neesham
LIVE CRICKET SCORE Prime Minister’s XI 182/9 after 42 overs: BATTING: Ryan Carters 56(60), Mark Steketee 0(1): So the win is practically out of question for the PM XI. New Zealand are all over them. Boult and Southee have bowled well as expected and have shared four wickets between them with Boult claiming the major chunk of three wickets. The positive for the home team is that Ryan Carters has shown incredible patience and judgement to score his fifty at a good strike rate. OUT! Adam Voges 55(74) st Ronchi b Santner, OUT! Ashton Agar c Santner b Boult, OUT! Peter Siddle 17 (26) run out, OUT! Jason Behrendorff 8(12) b Bracewell
LIVE CRICKET SCORE Prime Minister’s XI 103/5 after 27 overs: BATTING: Adam Voges 51(70), R Carters 17 (22): PM’s XI require 205 more to win from 23 overs. It’s getting increasingly difficult for the home side and it just seems like a formality for the World Cup runners-up. Boult and Neesham have picked up two wickets each and Burns and both Hussey brothers are back in the stands. Voges is still out in the middle and fighting it out.
OUT! J Burns b T Boult 5 (16)
OUT! M Hussey c H Rutherford b J Neesham 15 (25)
OUT! D Hussey c T Latham b J Neesham 8 (11)
LIVE CRICKET SCORE Prime Minister’s XI 7/2 after 5 overs: BATTING: Joe Burns 2(8), Adam Voges 2(6): Not the ideal start, the PM’s XI would have wanted. They lost two quick wickets and the run rate has taken a beating as well. They have lost both their openers. Tim Southee and Trent Boult are swinging it in New Zealand’s favour.
OUT! C Bancroft c M Craig b T Boult 0 (9)
OUT! U Khwaja b T Southee 1 (7)
LIVE CRICKET SCORE New Zealand 307/8 after 50 overs: New Zealand after that kind of a start would have liked to post something in the range of 330, but still 307 is a good total and Tom Latham’s hundred has led the way for them. It was Jason Behrendorff’s three-wicket haul that put brakes on the scoring towards the end of the innings. PM XI have a big score to chase and it won’t be easy against the Kiwi bowling.
OUT! T Latham b P Siddle 131 (127)
OUT! J Neesham c C Bancroft b J Behrendorff 34 (29)
OUT! L Ronchi c R Carters b J Behrendorff 3 (5)
OUT! M Santner c M Hussey b J Behrendorff 21 (13)
OUT! D Bracewell run out 5 (4)
LIVE CRICKET SCORE New Zealand 225/3 after 39 overs; BATTING: Tom Latham 111(111), Jimmy Neesham 14(13): Despite the fall of a few quick wickets, New Zealand are still in a strong position. Opener Latham has smashed a hundred and it’s probably the best time for the hard-hitting Neesham to come in. Guptill missed out on a ton by six runs but shared an important 196-run opening stand with Latham. David Hussey, Ashton Agar and Mark Steketee have shipped in with quick wickets.
OUT! M Guptill c C Bancroft b M Stekette 94 (108)
OUT! H Rutherford c & b D Hussey 0 (7)
OUT! R Taylor lbw A Agar 0 (2)
LIVE CRICKET SCORE New Zealand 126/0 after 24 overs; BATTING: Martin Guptill 60(73), Tom Latham 63 (74): The tourists have made a strong statement with the bat so far, with Guptill and Latham smashing 12 fours and a six between them to put up a 100-plus opening stand. Both are batting in the 60s at the moment, and the stage looks set for them to bring up their centuries, which will be a great confidence booster for the duo ahead of the tougher Tests against the likes of Mitchell Johnson, Mitchell Starc, etc. PM XI skipper Michael Hussey has employed as many as six bowlers so far, including his own brother David.
The match will be played under lights on October 23 at Manuka Oval, kickstarting the international summer of cricket in Australia in which they host New Zealand, the West Indies and India. A pink ball, developed to be more visible to players under lights than the traditional red one, will be used. Despite the misgivings of some players, a pink ball will also be used for the first time ever in a Test match in Adelaide this November when Australia take on New Zealand in a day-night fixture.
Teams:
Prime Minister’s XI: Michael Hussey (c), Cameron Bancroft, Joe Burns, Usman Khawaja, Adam Voges, David Hussey, Ryan Carters, Ashton Agar, Peter Siddle, Jason Behrendorff, Mark Steketee. Ben Taylor (12th man)
New Zealand: Martin Guptill, Tom Latham, Hamish Rutherford, Ross Taylor, James Neesham, Luke Ronchi, Mitchell Santner, Mark Craig, Doug Bracewell, Tim Southee (c), Trent Boult. Kane Williamson (12th man)
