Black Caps Batting Blues

Chris Cairns and Adam Parore face an uphill battle to save the first New Zealand innings in the third test being played today in Hamilton.

The two batsmen, brought together when the Black Caps score was 5 for 131, will be required to pull out another top draw performance to save the New Zealand innings, with a minimum of 20 overs remaining to be bowled.

Things started off badly for the kiwis when their top order once again failed against the Aussie onslaught.

Speirmans wicket was the first to fall, after only 8.5 overs with the New Zealand score on an inadequate 22. He was caught behind off the bowling of Glenn McGrath for 12.

With only 20 more runs added to the score, McGrath’s bowling also netted Matt Horn caught behind also on 12.

Australian pace man Brett Lee also is having a good day at the office, first snaring Matthew Sinclair caught behind.

Only two balls later he trapped Nathan Astle LBW on a duck. Stephen Fleming and McMillan went on to form a valuable partnership of 78 lifting the NZ score to 131 before Fleming was dismissed also LBW from Lee.

A positive note was found early in the partnership of Cairns and McMillian with Cairns next to the crease smashing a boundary past square leg off his first delivery

Shortly after with the New Zealand score on 139 McMillian bought up his well deserved fifty with a drive for four. The confident tone has been maintained throughout the partnership with both players hitting the ball with control and finding the boundary with regularity.

The pair-up reached the seventies lifting the New Zealand total to over two hundred before Lee captured McMillan, caught behind of a loose shot.

Currently at 4:15pm the score stands at 208 for 6 with Parore on 0 and Cairns on 35.

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