Australia win historic day-night Test in tense finish

ADELAIDE AFP - Australia yesterday claimed a thrilling three-wicket victory over New Zealand inside three days at the Adelaide Oval in the first-ever day-night Test match.

Shaun Marsh anchored Australia to the cusp of victory before losing his wicket on 49, and the battling Kiwis set up a tense finish under the floodlights by also dismissing Peter Nevill to leave the home side seven wickets down.

Much to the crowd’s relief Peter Siddle, whose ailing grandmother passed away overnight, cracked the winning runs with a hobbling Mitchell Starc as his batting partner, to clinch a 2-0 series victory over the gallant Black Caps.

Australia won the first Brisbane Test by 208 runs and the second Perth Test was drawn.

The match was redemption for Marsh, who has struggled to hold down a place in the Australian team with inconsistent batting performances over his four years at Test level.

“It was fantastic for Shaun to get an opportunity,” said skipper Steve Smith. “He’s been batting extremely well and the way he played under pressure with his brother to put a partnership together was really crucial for us at that stage.” The pink ball developed for day-night Tests triumphed over the bat in a fastpaced Test which attracted a total attendance of 123,736. The aim of the experiment is to bring the crowds back to the long form of the game. “The bowlers have dominated this game and it’s great for cricket, “Smith said.

It was the first three-day Test match at the Adelaide Oval in 64 years -- since the West Indies beat Australia by six wickets.

“I thought it was an outstanding Test match. It was closely fought. We’d dearly have loved an extra few runs today, but it wasn’t to be,” said Kiwi captain Brendon Mccullum.

“It’s pretty hard to separate the two teams over the last two Test matches.” Shaun Marsh had been dropped during the Ashes series in England in August and only came into the Adelaide Test as a replacement for injured number three Usman Khawaja.