Tenacious teen’s ton turns match for Aces
woefully ineffectual — they’ve snared seven wickets and conceded 1134 runs in the series in two innings.
The Caribbean force achieved a 3-0 series win over Australia at home in 1984 without losing a secondinnings wicket, something Smith’s men are well placed to achieve here.
Smith finished on 134 not out, while Voges was unbeaten on 106.
Both men ticked off personal milestones and continued to punish Holder for sending in the hosts.
Voges moved past 1000 test runs in his 18th test innings — only three other Australians have done it in fewer knocks.
Smith, 26, capped a magnificent 2015 by posting his sixth test ton of the year. He is the leading run-scorer in the world this year, with 1404.
However, England’s Alastair Cook (1357) and Joe Root (1312) will have a chance to catch him when they bat for a second time against South Africa in Durban.
The skipper declared after the 135th over — having just reverseswept a rare boundary.
Smith stroked eight fours, while Voges hit 12 fours.
They were patient in a 223-run stand, both men picking off singles in response to Holder’s defensive fields.
Australia hold a 1-0 lead in the three-test series, having declared at 583-4 in their only dig at Hobart.
A contentious catch injected some late drama on day two. Jermaine Blackwood was on 18 when he flicked a ball off his pads in the direction of Burns at square leg.
Burns dived and seemed confident he completed the catch, while Siddle celebrated what he thought was a wicket with teammates.
But Blackwood stood his ground and the umpires were unsure.
Marais Erasmus conferred with Chris Gaffaney before calling on third umpire Ian Gould to review the footage.
Gould examined the catch from several angles before ruling there was “no conclusive evidence he’s caught that”.
“That’s the problem when you go upstairs for a catch like that — you can talk yourself into anything,” Shane Warne said in the Nine Network commentary box. “To me, that was out.’’ Spectacular centuries from Glenn Phillips and Colin Munro saw Auckland’s limited-overs domestic cricket success continue yesterday with a nail-biting win over Otago in the first round of the Ford Trophy.
Fresh off claiming the Twenty20 title, Phillips and Munro helped the Auckland Aces begin the 50-over format in fine fashion, chasing down 313 with two wickets and three balls to spare in Alexandra.
The home side would have been confident of claiming victory after racking up 313-8 thanks to a run-a-ball ton from Neil Broom and a slick halfcentury from Michael Bracewell. But Phillips gave Auckland’s chase the spark that was needed, with the 19-year-old smashing 101 from 96 balls to record a maiden century in his third match.
The opener found an able foil in Munro and the pair put on 121 for the third wicket before Phillips fell. Munro continued to flay the Otago attack, smashing five sixes and 10 fours for 110 from 79 balls.
There was still some work to do for Auckland’s lower order as the wickets began to tumble, but Tarun Nethula’s unbeaten 16 saw his side across the line in the final over.
Elsewhere, Wellington also chased down a relatively imposing total, but the Firebirds made light work of it against Northern Districts. After Daniel Flynn (69) and Anton Devcich (64) helped the visitors manage 267-9 at the Basin Reserve, Wellington set about making that total look woefully insufficient.
Stephen Murdoch (83) and Craig Cachopa (95) combined to add 160 runs for the third wicket and Wellington overhauled their target for the loss of just five wickets in the 46th over.
In Napier, Canterbury’s bowlers proved too strong for Central Districts, picking up regular wickets to dismiss the home side for 167.
Ronnie Hira then completed a fine match, following up a pair of scalps with an unbeaten 70 as Canterbury cruised to 168-4 in 41.4 overs. Cups is an impressive haul. But New Zealand has rorted the accepted norm, turning over the game to the All Blacks and destroying the authenticity of what should be an awesome Super competition. National teams are supposed to represent a sport, not beat it up.
The wonderful days of provincial rugby and then Super Rugby’s first few seasons are gone but it doesn’t have to be that way. The All Blacks should not be the be all and end all, as they have become.
In other words, it’s time to return to the basics, to let the Blues, Chiefs, Hurricanes, Crusaders and Highlanders run their own squads, without the All Blacks deciding when players join, and how many games they play. We need genuine rivalry, tribalism, individuality, character and stuff that isn’t prescribed and controlled by head office. And we don’t need the Japanese Sunwolves.
Rugby pulls our chain a lot of the time, blathering on about tired players while pinning its flags all over the world.
Yes, the situation is more complex than there is space for here. But the basics of how to run professional sports competitions are simple. Play it like you mean it, from go to whoa, with backyard rivalries to the forefront. And don’t treat your public like fools.
Rugby is playing with fire, too, because the All Blacks will not always dominate the way a remarkable generation of players has suggested they can. And there are plenty of sporting alternatives, including from overseas via the internet?
Rugby has had its grandiose fun, turned everything upside down, won their World Cups. Now give us back the game.