Cameron Green’s Century Lifts Australia as New Zealand’s Quick Bowlers Shine in First Test Day One
2 min read
At an important stage for his team and himself, Cameron second century in Test cricket arrived. He has been striving to establish himself at number four in the order. He led his side to a significantly stronger position than was probable earlier in the day by batting with patience and intermittent power.
On a cloudy day, after losing the toss and being placed on a green wicket, the tourists had a difficult start.
Just before midday, Steve Smith (31) overcame the formidable Henry Henry after both players battled valiantly for the better part of two hours, scoring just 61 runs between them, with Tom Blundell making a superb catch.
Marnus Labuschagne, whose unsettling recent form has persisted, managed a hesitant 1 from 27 balls prior to tumbling and pushing Scott Kuggeleijn aside.
After Henry got enough swing to get past his defenses and terminate Usman Khawaja’s tenacious stand at 33 from 118 balls, Travis Head fell victim to a trap and held off a Will O’Rourke delivery to Blundell for 1.
After Australia had lost four wickets for 29 runs, Mitch Marsh produced an outstanding comeback, scoring 40 at more than a run per ball.
Marsh let off the shackles to play with a characteristic boisterous abandon against tight bowling on a field where everyone had labored before him, slicing all comers to all sides of the ground.
Marsh obviously seemed at home in the capital of New Zealand after scoring an undefeated 72 in the Twenty20 International at the Wellington Regional Stadium. He was hitting back-foot drives and well placed cuts to Wellington’s iconic Basin Reserve.
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As always, there’s a chance of making a mistake while taking such high-risk strokes, and just after tea he skied a hook ball off Henry to finish Australia 5-156.
The pitch aggressively misbehaved soon after Marsh left, making batting extremely difficult due to its inconsistent bounce and excessive seam movement.
Cameron Green scored a century against New Zealand in New Zealand. 👏
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) February 29, 2024
– Great news for RCB ahead of IPL 2024. pic.twitter.com/PHU6Og7Si5
Alex Carey was frequently caught on the gloves, and Green took a severe blow to the arm.
Glen Phillips dropped Carey on five, but it doesn’t take into account the slip fielder from New Zealand’s really outstanding performance, which involved jumping high into the air to catch a piece of the ball as it sailed over him.
Carey was caught for 10 chips after mid-off, chipping a drive to Kane Williamson, but it didn’t cost New Zealand anything.
Before going for 9 and 16, respectively, Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins contributed some useful runs. Nathan Lyon was Henry’s fourth victim, falling for 5 just before stumps.
With a goal of reaching his milestone before stumps, Green struck three boundaries in the last over of the day, accelerating his progress into the 90s and reaching 103* with the last ball of the first day.
