Southee: We must be better for longer
Tim Southee was in kindergarten when New Zealand last celebrated a home test win over Australia.
The old enemy yesterday showed why the Black Caps skipper has spent a lifetime waiting for another.
Whenever the hosts felt victory was near in the second test, the world champions brushed them aside and regained control at Hagley Oval.
Southee removed Travis Head in the day’s second over — Alex Carey and Mitch Marsh responded with a series-defining sixth-wicket stand.
Ben Sears struck twice in two balls with 59 still required — Carey and Pat Cummins replied by racing to the target of 279.
It was dispiriting for the crowd, many of whom weren’t around on March 16, 1993, when Ken Rutherford and Danny Morrison combined in a five-wicket victory at Eden Park.
Soon after his side’s three-wicket defeat, Southee was left to wonder whether his last chance for a home win had raced away with Cummins’ match-winning punch through point.
“You’d always like one,” he said. “It’s been tough to achieve for 30 years and that wait goes on. They’re the No 1 side in the world and they’re tough to beat, not only in Australia, but when they travel as well.
“When you play the best, you have to be at your best for a little bit longer. We had moments through both test matches where, if we could’ve been a little bit better, things could’ve been slightly different.”
The moment that immediately sprung to mind was Rachin Ravindra letting Marsh slip through his hands when the No 6 was on 28, having added one run to his overnight score.
Marsh added a further 52, but Southee, who with his next delivery picked up Head, justifiably wouldn’t entertain that what-if.
“Whenever you finish a close game, you always look back on a number of things. That one went down early in the day, but if we take that, we don’t get the wicket next ball, and who’s to say Head doesn’t go on and have an innings like Marsh?”
Head, a few months removed from smashing a brilliant hundred to chase down India and win the ODI World Cup, could well have played another match-winning knock. That’s the challenge in toppling Australia; Mitchell Starc goes for a golden duck, then Cummins does it with ease.
New Zealand had other openings in the first session but, none taken, pressure eased and scoring became easier.
“The morning was going to be a crucial period with the ball still relatively new and we saw it beat the bat a few times. But they were able to weather that storm and put on a partnership we couldn’t quite break.
“We created a few chances but we knew as the day went on and the ball got older, it was going to be tougher. The way they naturally play, they score pretty quickly, which takes scoreboard pressure off them.”
Denied Devon Conway, Kyle Jamieson and, in the second test, Will O’Rourke, ill health added to the degree of difficulty.
But these opportunities are rare — Southee has now played 15 tests against Australia in a 16-year career — and the frustration of a 2-0 series loss will linger longer given how close they came.
“It’s disappointing to finish a test block like this. The belief and the fight from guys through the day was there. We saw that with Ben [Sears], a guy on debut changing the game and giving us that glimmer of hope late in the day. One more wicket in that period would’ve been interesting.”