Leaders Online Desk: Australia beat New Zealand by 3 wickets in the Christchurch Test to complete a 2-0 clean sweep in the two-Test series. The Kangaroos needed 202 runs to win on the fourth day at Hagley Oval. They had 6 wickets left in their hands. At that time, a 140-run partnership between Alex Carey (98 not out) and Mitchell Marsh (80) took Australia to the brink of victory. After Marsh's dismissal, Pat Cummins scored an unbeaten 32 to seal victory for Australia.
Earlier, New Zealand scored 162 and Australia scored 256 in the first innings. Thus the Kangaroos had taken a lead of 94 runs. But the Kiwis then scored 372 in their second innings to set Australia a target of 279 for victory. In response, the Kangaroos' innings thundered. By the end of the third day's play, he had scored 77 for 4 in the second innings. Australia needed 202 runs while New Zealand needed 6 wickets to win on the fourth day. The New Zealand team was in a strong position. At the start of the fourth day's play, Australia lost their fifth wicket for 80 runs.
But then Mitchell Marsh and Alex Carey put on a partnership of 140 runs for the sixth wicket and turned the entire match around. But Ben Sears made a comeback for the Kiwi team. He took the wickets of Marsh and Starc in two consecutive balls to make the match exciting. But Australian captain Pat Cummins took care of Carey. Both shared a partnership of 61 runs. Australia needed 3 runs to win while Carey needed 2 runs for a century. Cummins then hit a boundary. With this, the Kangaroos defeated the Kiwis 2-0. Cummins scored an unbeaten 32 off 44 balls. Debutant Ben Sears took 4 wickets from New Zealand. Apart from this, Matt Henry took 2 wickets and Tim Southee took 1 wicket.
With this win, Australia moved to second place in the World Test Championship points table. After 12 matches, their winning percentage stands at 62.50. On the other hand, the winning percentage of New Zealand, who have played six matches, is 50. This team has fallen to the third position. While India has won six out of nine matches and is at the top position. Team India's winning percentage is 68.51.
