Black Caps ridiculed in defeat to Australia
Melbourne: The Black Caps have been ridiculed and their world No 2 test ranking seriously questioned following their second capitulation to Australia.
The 247-run loss in Melbourne on the back of a 296-run defeat in Perth has left Kane Williamson’s team prime targets for the merciless Australian cricket media.
And they didn’t miss a chance with Fox Sports labelling the Black Caps “a rabble with the constitution of a lemonade sandwich.”
“Tell us again bro, who decided this rabble was the second best side in test cricket?” asked Luke McIlveen in a hard-hitting opinion piece on Fox Sports.
“We gave them the benefit of the doubt in Perth. It was damn hot. They were coming off a gruelling series against England (they outrank them, too) at home. They were nice guys and it was coming up to Christmas.
“But this was the test the Kiwis had to deliver – and they showed all the constitution of a lemonade sandwich.”
New Zealand had dished up “club cricket” to the thousands of fans who attended the Boxing Day test at the MCG.
The was a cruel sting to the continued attacks on struggling New Zealand spinner Mitchell Santner.
“Well, let’s just say Twitter was calling Mitchell Santner ‘Santner Claus’ by Boxing Day eve. He gifted plenty of runs to the Australians and asked nothing in return.”
But the Kiwi batsmen were “depressingly inept” compared to the “middling” Black Caps bowling attack.
“We were told Kane Williamson was only a shandy behind Steven Smith and Virat Kohli and his recent form at home suggested as much. But if he was so good, why win the toss and bowl in Melbourne?” Fox Sports continued.
Score: 467 (Head 114, Smith 85, Paine 79, Labuschagne 63, Wagner 4-83) and 5 for 168 dec beat 148 and 240 (Blundell 121, Lyon 4-81, Pattinson 3-35) by
247 runs
-Stuff
Australia New Zealand
A collapse of 7-64 sealed victory for South Africa, despite 84 from Rory Burns and Joe Root’s 48.
The second Test of the four-match series begins on Friday in Cape Town.
It would have required a huge effort from England to secure victory on a wearing pitch but once the second new ball was taken, wickets fell quickly.
While both Root and Jos Buttler were able to bat despite being ill on Saturday, no batsman could produce an innings of substance to anchor England’s chase.
South Africa were patient throughout the morning session and pressed home their advantage after lunch to secure their first victory in five Tests.
England captain Joe Root said: “It’s been a really tough week off the field. Pretty much everything has been thrown at the group. “We were fully confident we could chase those runs down. I still think the toss was a 50-50 call.
“Hopefully that’s the end of the illness, so we can bounce back strongly.”
South Africa captain Faf du Plessis said: “We needed that. The last couple of months has been tough for us. We haven’t won a Test match in a while.
“We’ve got a happy everyone in the dressing room. That’s the best feeling in the world winning a Test match.”
cricket correspondent Jonathan Agnew: “England deserve credit for the fight they showed today - this was no pushover in awkward conditions.”
Score: (De Kock 95) & 272 (Archer 5-102), (Philander 4-16) & 268 (Burns 84, Rabada 4-103). South Africa won by 107 runs; lead 1-0 in series
South Africa 284 England 181