Wind drops and NZ revival fizzles out

Australia 5/459 d & 0/106 (P Hughes 86*) def New Zealand 157 & 407 (B McCullum 104, T McIntosh 83, D Vettori 77) by 10 wickets T1 D5 at Wellington

Scorecard

Cricinfo Bulletin

Ill wind does NZ some good

New Zealand 157 & 6/369 (124.0 ov, B McCullum 94*, T McIntosh 83, D Vettori 77) lead Australia 5/459 dec by 67 runs with 4 second innings wkts remaining, T1 D4 at Wellington.

Scorecard

Cricinfo Bulletin

Only weather can save New Zealand

New Zealand 157 & 5/187 (72.0 ov T McIntosh 83) trail Australia 5/459d by 115 runs with 5 second innings wickets in hand. T1 D3 at Wellington

Scorecard

Cricinfo Bulletin

Australia on top as Clarke conquers troubles and NZ attack

Australia 4/316 (90 ov, M Clarke 100*, S Katich 79, M North 52*) v New Zealand T1D1 at Wellington

Cricinfo Bulletin

West Indies post competitive total which Australia is chasing energetically

Australia 0/174 (48 ov, S Watson 96*, S Katich 71*) trail West Indies 451 (124.1 ov, D Bravo 101, B Nash 92, S Chanderpaul 62) by 277 runs with 10 1st inns wkts in hand: T2 D2 at Adelaide Oval

D2's play produced four wickets (all West Indian) for 285 runs. Brendan Nash batted determinedly for 92/178b (12x4) and with Ravi Rampaul's exuberant 40*/66b (2x6, 6x4) added 68 for the last wicket. Nash was unlucky not to register a century though he might have been a little more positive against Nathan Hauritz, who bowled several maiden overs to him while Rampaul was making hay in the sunshine of a benign pitch and Australian bowling which rarely threatened. At least he had the senses to give Rampaul his head and as much of the strike as possible.

451 looked a competitive total. That is until the considerable limitations of the West Indian attack were exposed by Shane Watson 96*/146 b (16x4) and Simon Katich 71*/148b (1x6, 4x4). Sulieman Benn's left arm spin was most successful in restraining the Australians: the others struggled to extract life from the pitch and, sometimes, for accuracy.

This match will certainly go for more than three days (and it's unlikely to be interrupted by the weather), and at present it looks as if Australia will at least match if not comfortably exceed the West Indies first innings score. We should know by this time tomorrow.

Elsewhere New Zealand require another 337 runs to beat Pakistan with 7 wkts in hand at Wellington while at Mumbai Sri Lanka are in trouble: they need 59 runs with 4 second innings wickets in hand to make India bat again.

This time India can't turn dominant position into winning one

India 379 (S Tendulkar 62, Harbhajan Singh 60, M S Dhoni 52, C Martin 4/98) and 7/434 dec (G Gambhir 167, VVS Laxman 61, R Dravid 60, Dhoni 56*) drew with New Zealand 197 (Z Khan 5/65) and 8/281 (R Taylor 107, Harbhajan 4/59) : Test#3 at Wellington

In the end it was rain which thwarted India's attempt to bowl out New Zealand twice in the match, though a tardy declaration and some resolute second innings batting from the Black Caps also contributed.

India were unquestionably the better team over the three match series but a 2-1, rather than a 1-0 result, would IMO have been a fairer reflection of the contest.

New Zealand have, by their standards, had a lot of Test cricket this southern hemisphere season: two against both Australia and West Indies and three against India. Their schedule for the coming year will not be as generous: brief series against Bangladesh at home and Sri Lanka away may not give the younger players enough long form game experience to develop the skills to maintain their country's competitiveness.

Scorecard