[ad_1]
Cameron Green and Josh Hazlewood in action©AFP
Star all-rounder Cameron Green was involved in a hilarious incident on Day 2 of the ongoing first Test between New Zealand and Australia at Basin Reserve in Wellington on Friday. It happened in the third over of the morning session after Australia resumed their innings at 279/9. New Zealand pacer Matt Henry swung towards Josh Hazlewood, who stroked the ball through mid-wicket. While Green and Hazlewood could have stolen two runs, the former gave back to the latter even before completing a single.
Both Green and Hazlewood had crossed, but the all-rounder called the pacer to his position as he was eager to recover the strike for the first ball of the next over.
The incident, which took place on the last ball of the 88th over, left the umpires and opposition captain Tim Southee baffled. The commentators, on the other hand, saw the funny side of Green’s antics.
Meanwhile, Green and Josh Hazlewood wrote history on Friday when they combined to record Australia’s highest partnership for the 10th wicket against New Zealand, as well as the fourth-best overall for an Australian pair.
The pair tormented the New Zealand bowling attack during the second day’s morning session in Wellington, adding 116 for the last wicket with ease, breaking Jason Gillespie and Glenn McGrath’s previous record of 114 runs in Brisbane in 2004.
The partnership was only Australia’s sixth 100-run or more for the 10th wicket in red-ball cricket, and helped the reigning World Test Championship winners to a huge score of 383 in their first innings after a difficult opening day at Basin Reserve.
Green’s unbeaten performance of 174 encouraged Australia, with the young all-rounder playing a patient game to start before hitting his second Test century in the penultimate over of the day, and then adopting a more offensive strategy with Hazlewood on Friday.
The duo batted wisely when required, with Green, in particular, using his power to smash anything short from the Kiwis, frustrating the hosts and recording the fourth-best all-time partnership for the 10th wicket by an Australian team.
Green’s hundred was only the second time he had scored in triple figures for Australia in Test cricket, surpassing his previous best of 114 against India in Ahmedabad last year.
(With ANI inputs)
Topics mentioned in this article.