Final Day at Hobart: The Mongrel's Day Out

I just realised John Wright's final test as a player in 1993 was the last time New Zealand had ever beaten Australia, before the Bellerive victory yesterday. And, in between, Vettori (who missed this test) has played some 20 tests against the Aussies without ever being on the winning side. So now we know where NZ have been going wrong for 18 years!

It was such a see-saw game you always sensed there would be one final twist left in it, though when Warner, who played amazingly well, had taken Australia to 159 for 2 just before lunch things looked dead and buried. Then, Bracewell stepped up to the plate. A number of including people (including me) had criticised him for talking too much before the first test, where he bowled rather badly and was duly cut down to size. In this test, the "mongrel" which he said was needed to beat Australia was in full view. Bracewell is a deceptive bowler - cricinfo only rates him as 'medium' - but he hits the pitch hard and moves the ball both ways, and this proved to be a nightmare for the out-of-form Aussies.

His excellent spell saw him snuff out Australia's three most experienced batsmen, and I was reminded of Dion Nash's match-turning effort at the Oval in 1999 in which he prised out Atherton, Ramprakash and Stewart when it looked like England were cruising to victory. While Ponting never looked comfortable anyway, Clarke has had his problems against Braces all series long and was brilliantly set up. Hussey's wicket for me was the all-important one - it sent panic in the Australian ranks and removed their best 'finisher'. Even better, Braces came back to wipe out the tail, something NZ bowlers have always struggled to do. Tim Southee, who had a miserable game till then, finally got some away swing going and sent Haddin and Siddle packing.

All along, David Warner had played, in the words of someone on twitter "one of the most epic final-day innings of the last decade, surely". He proved me wrong with this knock, and the entire NZ top order should look at it as an example of how a largely limited-overs player can prosper on a difficult pitch in test cricket. Nathan Lyon is well above the Chris Martin standard as a no.11, and their last-wicket partnership made for a nervous final session.

From an Australian point of view, I suppose the curator must be applauded for coming up with a rare bowlers' pitch when it would have been tempting to play it safe. But if this was Australia's way of trying to squash an opposition whose batting lineup they didn't rate at all, they better be kicking themselves. They effectively provided NZ's pace quartet with the ideal surface to bowl on, and the kiwi batsmen for once knuckled down and batted a bit better than the opposition. Also some of the under-fire Aussies were dismissed in such beautifully predictable ways, it was a sadist's dream come true. Philip Hughes, c Guptill b Martin, enough said. Ponting is clearly in denial, and the manner of his dismissals must be embarrassing for such a great player. Brad Haddin played his natural game, and looked naturally reckless. As for the rest, the last thing they needed were swinging and seaming conditions to deal with, really.

Still, it was great to see Ross Taylor achieve what his predecessors Fleming and Vettori couldn't. His captaincy was quite solid, and he did his bit with the bat and caught very well in the slips. I mentioned NZ would be a handful if they didn't repeat the mistakes at Brisbane. Here, they largely cut out the reckless shots, the bowlers were relentlessly accurate, and their fielding especially in the slips was first-rate. It was one of those win where everybody contributed in some small way. Memorable stuff!