Black Caps back at ‘fortress Dunedin’

Exactly 21 years ago on Tuesday, Steve Waugh’s Australians hit Dunedin and there was a near riot on the terraces.

One of the great touring cricket sides beat Stephen Fleming’s Black Caps by 50 runs in an ODI at Carisbrook, not before the crowd fired plastic bottles and other missiles onto the field when a Brett Lee bouncer jolted Adam Parore’s helmet onto his stumps.

A bemused Parore trudged off as learned Dunedin spectators were of the firm opinion it was a no-ball, and Waugh summoned his fielders to the centre for their own safety as order was restored.

A much less imposing Australian team returns for the first time today, across town at a sold-out University of Otago Oval, to face New Zealand who haven’t lost in the city since that feral February evening in 2000.

In a cricket streak unrivalled by the country’s other main cities, the Black Caps are unbeaten in 19 Dunedin matches: three at the nowflattened ‘Brook and 16 at the leafy, pleasant oval at Logan Park (eight wins from eight ODIs, three wins and five draws from eight tests).

Today’s second T20 will be the first shortest-format men’s international at the ground, which hosted Scotland at the 2015 Cricket World Cup and was the scene of Ross Taylor’s incredible 181 not out in the victory over England in March 2018.

As used to be the custom at Carisbrook, New Zealand Cricket scheduled it to coincide with university orientation week, and a crowd of around 5000 will cram in.

‘‘I’m sure it’ll be an amazing atmosphere tomorrow, a very small ground and the crowd will feel very close. No doubt there will be a few students giving the Aussies some advice . . . there will be plenty of energy from the crowd,’’ Black Caps senior man Tim Southee said.

As Southee noted, too, the weather will play ball in terms of making it inhospitable for the Australians, fresh off a 53-run defeat under the Hagley Oval lights.

A forecast maximum of

27degC on match eve drops to a predicted brisk 16degC for the 2pm start.

In a trans-Tasman novelty, New Zealand start favourites to go 2-0 up in the five-match series.

After some top order wobbles in Christchurch, a masterful Devon Conway knock set up an over-par 184-5, then swingmen Southee and Trent Boult got the ball hooping under lights and Ish Sodhi spun out the tail.

Swing may be less likely in a chilly southerly but the Black Caps will back themselves to know the ground’s quirks better, and adjust as they did at Hagley, against a batting lineup missing kingpins David Warner and Steve Smith which never got going.

‘‘They [Australia] are a quality side and they will have learned from the other night and will be better for the hitout. As we know in T20 cricket, it can be such a fine line between a good and poor performance,’’ Southee said.

Recent history suggests a high-scoring match. In the ground’s last two ODIs, the Black Caps posted 330-6 against Bangladesh, then chased down 336 against England in the Taylor onslaught, and in three men’s Super Smash matches this summer the average bat-first score was

194.