Australia vs. New Zealand: Winners and Losers from 2nd Test
Australia and New Zealand played out a draw in the second Test of their three-match series in Perth.
Disappointingly, the pitch didn’t provide the usual spit that we have come to expect from the WACA Ground. There were runs aplenty as the batsmen dominated.
All eyes now shift to the next match, which will be the first-ever day-night Test. But first, here are some winners and losers from the match. Add yours in the comments.
Winner: David Warner
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Another Test, another hundred for David Warner. He failed in the second innings, but perhaps some will argue that he made up for it by scoring a double century in the first innings.
Warner finds himself in some sensational form, having scored consecutive hundreds in the first Test. Warner has accumulated over 4,000 runs in Test cricket with relative ease (just 45 Tests), and while he is still a long way off from becoming the all-time leading run scorer, he'll make it into the top 10 if he keeps this up.
Loser: New Zealand's Bowlers
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OK, this is a bit harsh. But in both Tests, New Zealand's bowlers conceded over 500 runs in the first innings. Yes, Tim Southee might not be completely fit, but where is the back-up and support?
None of the front-line bowlers had a very high economy rate—Mark Craig's of 5.34 was the highest—but the Black Caps just seemed out of ideas for getting rid of the stubborn Aussie batsmen. They weren’t solely to blame, though, which will take us to our next loser.
Loser: The Pitch
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The pitch was a road. Australian pitches usually offer a little bit of juice, but this deck was flat and flattened out as the heat baked down on the surface throughout the Test.
During the first Test between India and South Africa, we saw just how much consternation a pitch that favours the home side can cause, but an overly flat track that made bowlers sweat doesn’t do the game any good either.
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Winner: Ross Taylor
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Ross Taylor's 290 in the first innings was the highest score by a New Zealand batsman in away Tests and the highest by an overseas batsman in Tests in Australia—pretty impressive going. It helped New Zealand to a massive total of 624 in their first innings and almost certainly helped secure the draw for the visitors.
Winner: Kane Williamson
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Like David Warner, Kane Williamson is in some serious form. He scored a hundred and a half-century in the first Test and followed it up with another hundred in this match.
Williamson is still only 25 years old and will almost certainly go on to become one of the Black Caps’ greats.
Winner: Mitchell Starc
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Mitchell Starc was one of the few bowlers who managed to extract something out of the wicket. He bowled fiercely and was rewarded with four wickets in his first bowling innings.
It takes a special kind of talent to produce performances like that on a flat deck.
Loser: Fast Bowling
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No, this has nothing to do with the deck bogging down bowlers, but everything to do with Mitchell Johnson’s retirement. The left-arm quick has retired from international cricket and will be sorely missed.
Although he was on the wrong side of 30, Johnson still had plenty left in the tank. As one of Australia’s leading wicket-takers, he inspired a generation of young quicks to go faster and bowl more aggressively. He will be missed.
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