Australia laboured to 416 against a disciplined and determined New Zealand, whose reward for 146.2 overs of toil in an unpleasantly hot Perth Stadium was the task of batting in the final session under lights on day two of the day-night Test, ESPN reveals . Marnus Labuschagne and Travis Head had looked capable of dominating for the hosts, but both were dismissed in circumstances they would have been disappointed by as part of eight wickets shared between Neil Wagner and Tim Southee.
That meant the remainder of the innings was something of a slog for the Australians, as the captain Tim Paine forged partnerships with Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc in an effort to not only advance the scoreboard but also ensure that New Zealand's innings would commence in the harder batting conditions under lights at day's end.
Labuschagne had begun the day with designs on a third consecutive score in advance of 150, after a fluent start, as he and Head asserted themselves. But he was left annoyed and confounded by Wagner, who found another way past an international batsman of strong repute when he angled a fullish ball into Labuschagne from around the wicket and snaked it behind the No. 3's pads and into leg stump. Wagner's celebration was prolonged, indicating that like most of his wickets, this was no accident.
Head was then left with the responsibility for building the innings, but on 56 he leaned back to hammer Southee through the off side and picked out the fieldsman at cover. Head threw his head back in disgust at the dismissal, as did the former captain and sometime Australian team mentor Ricky Ponting in the commentary box.
Paine, who had made a circumspect start, was joined by Cummins, and the pair worked their way to the long break in the hope of adding plenty more to the total. They re-emerged with a clear plan to bat for as long as possible, even to the exclusion of scoring, to keep New Zealand in the field and also to ensure that the home side's bowlers would get to use a new ball once the sun had gone down. This made for some absorbing if not exactly pulse-quickening cricket, as the partnership soaked up 135 balls for 38 runs.
Cummins was teased out by the part-time leg breaks of Jeet Raval, bowled around his legs trying to sweep after the bowling had convinced Kane Williamson to bring the deep backward square leg in from the boundary. The arrival of Starc brought a rise in the scoring rate, but Australia's 400 was still their second slowest in a home Test since 2000.
Starc ultimately fell when an attempt to hit Southee out of the stadium finished in Williamson's hands, and Nathan Lyon hooked a couple of boundaries before picking out fine leg to hand Wagner his fourth wicket. Paine hooked Southee into BJ Watling's gloves to end the innings on the stroke of the tea break, leaving New Zealand with 31 overs to face in the evening.