By seven runs, in what has to be one of the better matchs I have seen in a while.
Cicero will doubtless be here to bash me on the head with a bat and do the same for Ponting.
I notice that this is the first time since 1985 that the Kiwis have won on this side of the Tasman, so I guess you can gloat about your very rare victory.
Don’t know about “your” as I’m pretty sure AK84 is a lifelong Pakistan supporter, but as a Pom I will join in the temporary support for the Kiwis. Aussies losing is always good!
I had a day off and was was watching Australia cruise to victory until Bracewell came back on. Then it turned into one of the all time great tests.
But some unfortunate aspects:
Daniel Vettori withdrew just before the game began
Dave Warner, in his second test, played one of the great innings in test history, and was on the losing team.
Well Pakistan did lose 12 tests in a row to Aus so we are in the same boat. But growing up in a generation which saw Australia win again and again an again and yet again, its nice to see them being humbled. And NZ is a good team which is more then the sum of its parts and manages to upset the odds repeatedly and best of all always has the good grace to usually lose to Pakistan. Especially in World Cup semis.
The match was a classic. Early Aussie domination, overturned in literally the last session. Anyone want to know why we watch 5 day cricket had their question answered.
…just posting in the thread to gloat. 
Well done NZ. It’s not all gloom for a rebuilding Australia. Winning against Sri Lanka and drawing with South Africa were decent results. More importantly, they have found a few promising players - Lyon, Pattinson, Cummings, Warner and Marsh.
Time for some belated gloating. I’d written the game off with Aussie at 72/0 on Sunday night, didn’t follow it at all on Monday until I heard on the news that Aussie were down to their last wicket. So I listened to the last few overs, and became increasingly convinced that Warner and Lyon were somehow going to pull it off for Aussie.
Some random observations:
This is not the Australian team of old.
Its time for Ponting and possibly Hussey to retire.
Brownlie was a great import for NZ. The rest of our batsmen were pretty poor.
Warner deserved to be man of the match, despite being on the losing side.
India in Australia should be a great series to follow.
Amazing that no Australian got within a hundred runs of Warner in the second innings - and that their batting should have imploded so spectacularly. Turning an old saying on its head, that must have been like bowling to W.G. Grace at one end and a pub team at the other.
Some random observations:
… and hasn’t been for some time.
Those of us who still carry the scars from the 80’s when Aussie cricket was shite following the loss of a it’s world class core would like a steady/orderly transition. (it should have started after the Ashes were lost in 2009.)
Not bad for a relatively undistinguished Perth club player. We consider that the national batting stocks are thin, but he gives cause to wonder how many other internationals standards are out there. Conversely, it’s hard not to tear your hair out when the national team is faced with simply applying a bit of solid graft to grind out the win and they play like its a T20.
maybe, but it took some gloss of a good win.
I suspect Australia will get a shellacking, which will be recompense for the last time India were here when they were robbed blind.
Much the same as Michael Clarke in Cape Town, it seems to me (apart from “in his second test”, of course) - for those who saw both, which was the better batting performance?
So you won the test, it is Man of the Match that really counts…
Not necessarily. India’s bowling is very thin at the moment, especially if Zaheer Khan isn’t fit. Kumar is a skilful swing bowler, but has little pace.
Here are the results of India’s summer tests against England:
1st Test: England v India at Lord’s - Jul 21-25, 2011
England 474/8d and 269/6d; India 286 and 261
England won by 196 runs
2nd Test: England v India at Nottingham - Jul 29-Aug 1, 2011
England 221 and 544; India 288 and 158
England won by 319 runs
3rd Test: England v India at Birmingham - Aug 10-13, 2011
India 224 and 244; England 710/7d
England won by an innings and 242 runs
4th Test: England v India at The Oval - Aug 18-22, 2011
England 591/6d; India 300 and 283 (f/o)
England won by an innings and 8 runs
England passed 500 three times and 700 once, while India couldn’t pass 300.
I’m with Alka Seltzer. What is hidden by those match results is that, when they were down, the Indian bowlers (and the fielding unit too) didn’t look like turning it around. If Australia can get on top with the bat, there is potential to score big runs, whilst the Indians mope about.
A lot is going to depend on the Aussie bats. Our mix of Saffers, Irish and English bullied them remorselessly. Unfortunately, the Aussie bats are either green or in extended rough patches. If a couple of them run into form though, you could be giving the Aussie bowlers generous targets to bowl at - and thus allow lots of attacking fields.
What we need is a thread dedicated to Cricket.
I agree. If there can be one for WOW or Canadian politics we should be able to keep a cricket thread alive as well.
SA just finished their first innings on 411. Looking tough for Sri Lanka this test.
I love the difference in selection practices between SA and Australia. I am just amazed that Vernon Philander had over 250 First Class wickets at less than 20 before he made the SA team.
Maybe a mod can change the title of this thread?Cricket 2011/2012 season.
That’s VD Philander to you as he is a professional.
And they’re 38/4 in their second innings - could be an innings victory on the cards…