WARNE DOWN AS KIWIS CLUTCH VALUABLE LEAD
It was down and very nearly out at times, but Shane Warne somehow found a way to hoist a punchdrunk Australia off
the canvas on a frenetic third day of the Third Test against New Zealand at the WACA Ground in Perth today. By
stumps, a phenomenal innings of 99 from Warne had permitted the Australians to reach relative safety with their first
innings score of 351 after they had been reeling at a sorry 6/192 in the early afternoon.
There was some wonderful bowling, some wonderful fielding, and some more wonderful suffocation of Australia by New
Zealand as the third day of this engrossing match began. But several fundamental lapses in concentration cost the
Black Caps dearly, leaving them only to wonder at what might have been.
Nathan Astle, a hero yesterday, turned villain today when he spilled a catch to play an unwitting but central role in the
defining piece of action of the day. And possibly even the entire Test match too.
Though there was ultimately tragedy awaiting him as he perished one run short of a maiden Test century, Warne
survived that miss at 10 to mount the most productive innings of his entire first-class career. On a day replete with a
series of bewitching twists and turns inspired by two of the best spinners in the game.
The bowling of Daniel Vettori (6/87) was of an electrically high standard early, his flight and guile impeccable in
relatively unhelpful conditions.
Though the first 80 minutes passed without setbacks for Australia, Vettori was quick to consolidate the advantage that
his team had earned courtesy of its first innings total of 9/534, driving stakes through the heart of the Australian cause
by removing its two most experienced batsmen in the space of 20 telling minutes in the opening session.
Mark Waugh (42) was brilliantly caught by Shane Bond, low and to his left, at deep backward point and then Australian
captain Steve Waugh (8) was deceived by a delivery of perfect length, edging a catch to wicketkeeper Adam Parore as
he defended marginally inside the line of a ball that turned across him.
Further problems arrived for Australia on the other side of the luncheon adjournment.
The plucky Justin Langer (75), who remains easily the highest run-scorer of the series, gloved a catch to Parore as he
hooked at Chris Cairns (2/86), though the dismissal was not without controversy as television replays suggested that
the ball had been delivered from forward of the crease.
And then New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming summoned up visions of Australia's tour of India earlier in the year
when he clustered men around the bat of Adam Gilchrist (0), attacked him immediately with spin, and promptly had
him caught at short leg from another lovely Vettori delivery.
It was then that two doughty partnerships, each featuring Warne, extricated Australia from the mire.
The first - with a free stroking Damien Martyn (60) - yielded an invaluable 78 runs for the seventh wicket and then
another 72 runs arrived in an eighth wicket stand with the stubborn Brett Lee (17).
Warne adopted the role of a corsair, generally expertly choosing which deliveries to defend and which to plunder. He
rode his luck equally well.
Until, that is, he tried to play one attacking shot too many and lofted a high catch to Mark Richardson running a few
metres in from his position at deep mid wicket.
He dodged the most threatening bullet when Astle was deceived at second slip by the speed of a ball that looped to
him from the back of the bat as a Bond (1/74) delivery was defended. But there came another escape act at 16 as a
Lou Vincent throw at the stumps from cover missed with a scrambling Warne short of his ground in attempting to
complete a single. Another life was granted to him when Cairns grassed a caught and bowled chance at 51. And there
was a further stroke of fortune at 80 when umpire Ian Robinson denied a beseeching appeal, decreeing that he had not
edged a flailing drive at the luckless Chris Martin (1/88).
All the while, he unleashed crisp drives, cuts and pulls in a hand that perfectly balanced attack with defence.
Warne was also helped by a decline in the standard of New Zealand's out-cricket; where excellence had earlier
prevailed, suddenly errors overtook the tourists' game. An overdose of short-pitched deliveries, in particular, permitted
him the chance to issue horizontal bat shots with audacious authority and to leave deliveries with comfort when he
chose not to be lured into playing strokes.
But, in a Test that continues to confound most understandings of normality, he then struck upon the most cruel of
departures. With the final act of the day, he attacked a flighted delivery from Vettori but cracked it into the teeth of an
eddying breeze, lobbing a catch to a gleeful Richardson in the shadows of the Inverarity Stand.
Warne, left high and dry on 99, cut a tragic figure on his exit from the ground; Vettori chanced upon his best Test
figures in Australia; Richardson showed little restraint in showing a raucous crowd what he felt about the catch; and,
New Zealand had fashioned a first innings lead of 183 runs. All this after the Australians had somehow avoided the
prospect of having their country follow on for the first time in 144 Test matches.
It's rare for the emotions to become any more worn (or Warne) down than this.::Tea - Day 3::Australia 1st innings::Black Caps maintain control as further wickets tumble
New Zealand spinner Daniel Vettori is maintaining his hold over the batsmen, and duly Australia is continuing to find life difficult, on an engrossing third day of the Third Test at the WACA Ground in Perth. At tea, the Australians are in trouble at a score of 6/251 as they respond to the tourists' distant 9/534.
Damien Martyn (54*) and Shane Warne (28*) restored a considerable amount of ticker to the Australian scorecard with a doughty unbeaten stand of 59 runs for the seventh wicket but the middle session of the day was another that provided far more heart to the tourists than the locals.
It began in fine style when their biggest thorn in the side throughout this series, Justin Langer (75), committed the error of mistiming a pull at a short delivery bowled down the leg side from Chris Cairns (1/64). Television replays laced the left hander's departure with a hint of controversy when they suggested that the delivery had been bowled with Cairns' front foot planted well ahead of the crease, but there was no doubt about the nature of the dismissal itself. After his gloves had made decisive contact with the ball, a disconsolate Langer even resigned himself to the prospect of the long walk back to the pavilion before umpire Ian Robinson had a chance to raise his finger.
The New Zealanders, cock-a-hoop at the departure of the leading runscorer in the series, then had further cause for celebration a matter of seven minutes later when they removed Adam Gilchrist (0) for a rare Test duck.
The belligerent wicketkeeper-batsman was the victim not only of a nicely-aimed delivery from Vettori (3/65) which turned back into him and attracted a thin inside edge to short leg, but also some fine attacking captaincy from Stephen Fleming. There was even a chance to recall visions from Australia's tour of India earlier in the year as Fleming surrounded Gilchrist with a cluster of men around the bat and subjected him to spin bowling at the very outset of his innings.
It was from the rubble of 6/192 - a total that still left their team 143 runs short of averting the follow-on - that Martyn and Warne were accordingly forced to extricate Australia.
In his first substantial innings of the series, Martyn's play was a delightful mixture of back foot shots played square of the wicket and attractive front foot drives back down the ground. Warne was more content to play a defensive game, though there was the occasional sight of a lusty blow being meted out from his bat.
They received unwitting, but nonetheless immeasurable, assistance from Nathan Astle at second slip. Warne's score was at just 10 when he was squared up by a Shane Bond (1/51) delivery and sent the ball looping off the back of the bat at deceptive pace in the direction of Astle. It already looks like proving a costly miss. And there was another escape for the Victorian when a throw from Lou Vincent at cover failed to connect with the stumps with a scrambling batsman, on 16 at that point, short of his ground at the striker's end.
It all permitted Australia to move closer to the prospect of avoiding what would be a first follow-on for the country in 144 Tests.
There remains no great measure of assistance in the pitch for the New Zealand bowlers, but they have exploited whatever life does remain with disciplined line and length for the majority of the day. Vettori's accuracy remains a joy to behold, and inexperienced pacemen Bond and Chris Martin (1/66) have also bowled with great control and a lack of luck at times.
