Tour match: South Australia v New Zealanders at Adelaide, 16-19 Nov 2001 CricInfo Live Report

Tour match: South Australia v New Zealanders at Adelaide, 16-19 Nov 2001
John Polack

New Zealanders 1st innings: Lunch - Day 3, Tea - Day 3,
South Australia 2nd innings: Stumps - Day 3,
Live Reports from previous days

NEVER SAY NEVER AS BOND CHASES TEST BERTH

He didn't quite come to the Adelaide Oval with a smoking gun, but Shane Bond has thrown his hat into the ring for New Zealand Test selection nonetheless with an impressive performance late on the third day of the tour match against South Australia today. By stumps, the South Australians had been reduced to a second innings score of 4/130 after they had earlier conceded a 17-run deficit on the first.

Bond (2/30), vying with fellow pacemen Daryl Tuffey (0/6) and Chris Martin (0/26) for a vacant Test fast bowling slot, had been forced to watch the action from the sidelines for most of the day as his team patiently chiselled out a 17-run first innings lead.

But, when his chance arrived, he seized it with both hands. He induced David Fitzgerald (0) to chop the very first delivery of the Redbacks' innings back into the stumps, and then rattled the castle of Shane Deitz (8) eight overs later with a classical yorker. He was bowling down-breeze on a blustery day in Adelaide - and television replays suggested both scalps had been obtained from no balls - but there was no denying the strength of his impression. He developed excellent pace and maintained disciplined line and length in each of two spells.

Admittedly, Tuffey also bowled well and the spinning prowess of Daniel Vettori (2/43) continued to make life difficult for the batsmen too. But, as the Redbacks were led most of the way to stumps by the experienced pairing of Greg Blewett (61) and Darren Lehmann (51), there was no member of the attack more impressive than the 26-year old right armer.

Earlier, Tuffey (56) had made a decisive impact of his own with the bat in the course of New Zealand's progression to a first innings total of 314. Around more than two sessions of vigilant batting from the Kiwis, the powerfully-built right hander added some much-needed aggression to his team's innings in the lead-up to tea, clubbing two glorious sixes over mid wicket and slamming several inside-out drives over the off side on the way to only the third half-century of his first-class career.

Therein, he matched the standards of attacking entertainment that had been established by Adam Parore (48) before lunch, and had nearly even overhauled top scorer Lou Vincent (74) by the end of his cameo effort.

Vincent, for his own part, again played well, but the exuberance that bubbled over into his play yesterday wasn't quite replicated. Before he played a delivery from fiery left arm paceman Mark Harrity (2/22) back into his stumps shortly after lunch, he remained keen to play off the front foot and unfurled more of his flourishing and technically correct strokes. But he was also tied down for long periods, never more so than at the outset of the day when the nagging accuracy of pace bowlers Mike Smith (1/38) and Paul Rofe (0/29) kept the accumulation of runs to a premium.

The opening 31 deliveries of the day from impressive youngster Rofe were all dot balls, and just three runs were taken from his first 37 in total.

At the other end of the day, Vettori also shut down the scoring rate when he lured Blewett into driving a catch to mid on and Lehmann into lobbing back a caught and bowled chance from the final ball before stumps.

It all helped to bookend a generally laboured day of batting from both teams.

BLACK CAPS BAT ON TO ESTABLISH NARROW LEAD

If occupation of the crease was New Zealand's primary goal at the start of this innings, then it would be fair to say that the mission has been accomplished. By tea on the third day, the Black Caps have inexorably batted on to a score of 314 to gain a 17-run first innings lead over South Australia.

For all of their solidity at the crease, though, the Black Caps' tactics have been difficult to understand.

The battle for a fast bowling slot still appears to represent the most pressing item on their agenda ahead of the Second Test in Hobart later this week. And, accordingly, it might have been assumed that another chance to bowl at the South Australians would have been viewed as an appealing prospect.

Particularly when runs have been scored in relatively sedate fashion throughout this innings.

Instead, however, the middle session of the third day was largely devoted to the exercise of offering tailenders Daryl Tuffey (56) and Glen Sulzberger (35) batting practice.

After left arm paceman Mark Harrity (2/22) had engineered an end of the vigil of Lou Vincent (74) by forcing him to inside edge a shot into the stumps, and sent Daniel Vettori (5) in the direction of the pavilion too by bowling him through the gate, the pair joined in a stubborn stand of 68 runs for the eighth wicket.

Tuffey intermittently opened his shoulders, cracking two glorious sixes over mid wicket and carving several inside-out drives over mid off and cover, to reach the third half-century of his first-class career shortly before the interval.

But, before he was bowled by part-time spinner Darren Lehmann (2/16), Sulzberger's play at the other end was scratchy.

After failing to convert several half-chances into wickets in the opening session, it looked as though the home team's fortunes had turned when Harrity attained his two scalps quickly upon the resumption. But it soon turned into a frustrating session both for the Redbacks and the respectably-sized crowd in attendance on a sunny day in Adelaide.

PATIENT NEW ZEALAND BATSMEN PRESS ON

New Zealand's batsmen have continued the prospect of gearing up for next week's Second Test against Australia with another patient session of batting at the outset of the third day of the tour match against South Australia at the Adelaide Oval. In sunny and blustery conditions, the Black Caps have pushed their first innings score to 5/219 after the opening 150 minutes of today's play.

Occupation of the crease again proved the main name of the game for the Kiwis as the action resumed at the early time of 10:30am. Neither Lou Vincent (69*) nor Craig McMillan (51) was in any particular hurry to increase the scoring tempo as their partnership for the fourth wicket resumed, with defensive strokes forming the core of the early passages of play.

Both players had trouble with the nagging accuracy of pace bowlers Mike Smith (1/27) and Paul Rofe (0/25) and were rarely able to hit the ball off the square in the opening block of overs. Rofe's first 37 deliveries for the morning from the River Torrens End cost him just three runs.

It was on the half-hour mark that McMillan finally lost concentration and hit across the line of an off cutter from Smith to be clean bowled between bat and pad.

The emerging South Australian all-rounder should have gained a further reward for his adherence to disciplined line and length when incoming batsman Adam Parore (48) soon edged a delivery between wicketkeeper Graham Manou and first slip fieldsman Greg Blewett. Neither laid a finger on a ball that travelled past them at regulation catchable height, however.

It was almost as though that error released the shackles on the batsmen. Parore, who only had four runs alongside his name at the time of his escape, suddenly began to produce a number of lovely drives, cuts and sweep shots. And Vincent, who had shown a great hint of his talents with his batting yesterday, also began to open his shoulders for a brief period again. Rofe was soon forced out of the attack after an unthinkable 11 runs were hit off his 17th over.

The pair had added an enterprising 85 runs in partnership by the time that Parore's innings ended courtesy of a superb catch by Darren Lehmann, who was forced to dive athletically low and to his right at mid wicket to intercept a drive at the left arm spin of Brad Young (1/71).

Glen Sulzberger (10*) struggled on his arrival against the still-appreciable turn being gained by Young and fellow spinner Peter McIntyre (2/79), and survived a huge lbw appeal as he padded up to the former before he had opened his account.

Vincent, all the while, has been consistently keen to push on to the front foot and has played some more of his flourishing and technically correct strokes. There have been signs of lapses of concentration and tiredness at times - especially when he nearly dragged deliveries back on to his stumps on three separate occasions against the spinners. But his clearly remains the defining individual hand of New Zealand's innings.