Pat Cummins turned saviour once again for Australia, taking them to a thrilling three-wicket win against New Zealand at the Hagley Oval in Christchurch today (March 11).

In the latest entry to the club of classic Test run-chases in New Zealand, Australia pulled off a come-from-behind victory in a game which looked out of their grasp by the fourth morning.

Early trouble on day four for Australia

The visitors started day four at 77-4 chasing 279 and lost Travis Head early, slipping to 80-5. Mitchell Marsh was joined by Alex Carey for what was the last recognised batting pair. If Australia were to get close to the target, bulk of the runs had to come off the bat of these two, which is exactly what happened.

Marsh and Carey stuck together to steadily build a partnership. After surviving a lbw decision which was overturned on review, Carey started to look more and more comfortable as the duo kept the scoreboard ticking at a good rate.

Marsh reached his 50 off just 64 balls while Carey did so off 60. On either side of both batters reaching their milestones, New Zealand took two reviews but to no avail. Australia went into lunch at 174-5, needing another 105 runs for a victory which looked too far away a couple of hours back.

Soon after lunch Australia went past 200. At 220-5, the momentum was now well and truly in their favour when debutant Ben Sears produced a brief period of magic.

He first trapped Marsh lbw with an inswinging half-volley on middle and leg. Marsh reviewed but ball tracking showed it would clip the outside of leg stump and had to make his way back having scored 80. The very next ball, Mitchell Starc uppishly flicked a length ball to square leg as 220-5 became 220-7.

Ice-cool Cummins does Edgbaston encore

The onus was on captain Cummins once again to take his team across the finish line. He had been part of a similar scenario in the first Ashes Test last year in Edgbaston, where he came out to bat with Australia needing 72 for victory chasing 281 and finished unbeaten on 44.

He had Carey for company on that occasion as well, but only for a brief while as the wicketkeeper was dismissed soon after, leaving Cummins to finish the job with Nathan Lyon at the other end.

Today, though, Carey completed his redemption as he stayed unbeaten on 98, taking Australia over the line with three wickets to spare. Cummins finished not out on 32 off 44, having hit four boundaries.

Well played Australia 🤝 The visitors win the Tegel Test Series 2-0 after a 3-wicket victory at Hagley Oval. Head to https://t.co/3YsfR1YBHU or the NZC App for the full scorecard 📲 #NZvAUS pic.twitter.com/s0L6NyU6Cn

— BLACKCAPS (@BLACKCAPS) March 11, 2024

Three succesful 250+ chases for Australia since Pat Cummins' debut and he hit the winning boundary in all three of those.
v SA Joburg 2011
v Eng Edgbaston 2023
v NZ Christchurch 2024#NZvAUS https://t.co/qF40LvqJQ7

— Deepu Narayanan (@deeputalks) March 11, 2024

It was the second-highest score by a wicketkeeper in a successful run-chase, surpassing Rishabh Pant’s 89 not out at the Gabba in 2021. This was also the first time that Carey crossed 50 in the fourth innings of a Test match. In fact, Marsh’s 80 was his first fifty-plus score in the fourth innings of a Test as well, making the feat all the more remarkable.

Earlier in the game, New Zealand had been bowled out for 162 in the first innings. Australia took a lead of 96, but a solid second innings recovery meant New Zealand put up 372 on the board with fifties from Tom Latham, Kane Williamson, Rachin Ravindra, and Daryl Mitchell.

With this victory, Australia finished the series 2-0, winning their eighth consecutive Test match against New Zealand. In fact, since November 1993, Australia have lost only one Test against them out off 33.

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