Australia v New Zealand - Third Test

The WACA Ground, Perth

Australia: WM Woodfull, WM Lawry, DG Bradman, AR Border, SJ McCabe, KR Miller, +IA Healy, *R Benaud, AK Davidson, RR Lindwall, DK Lillee.
New Zealand: GM Turner, MH Richardson, BE Congdon, MD Crowe, MP Donnelly, *JR Reid, RJ Hadlee, +KJ Wadsworth, BR Taylor, J Cowie, SL Boock.

Debuts: Nil
Umpires: Khizer Hayat (PAK) & CJ Mitchley (SAF)
Toss: New Zealand

With the series result already decided, pride was the main commodity on the line in Perth, and with the destructive Thomson sidelined with a hamstring injury, New Zealand's chances of avoiding a whitewash were raised before a ball had been bowled. Thomson would have enjoyed bowling on a fast paced track at the WACA, and without him in the attack the Kiwis took on Australia's remaining pacemen in cavalier fashion after Reid won the toss and elected to bat.

Partnerships through the card took New Zealand to a reasonable first innings total of 305, but with Congdon, Donnelly, Reid and Hadlee all getting out between 40 and 70 one felt that it could have been much more. Lillee lost his head and was carted around the park by the tourists' top order, but Lindwall, Miller and Davidson all bowled well and were backed up by some smart catches in the cordon and behind the wicket, with Miller's catch off Lillee to dismiss Wadsworth for 2 being the pick.

Australia began their reply half an hour before lunch on the second day, and when Woodfull fell for 28 shortly after the resumption, caught by Boock in the gully off Taylor, Don Bradman walked out to play what was perhaps the most important innings of his ATG career to date. His poor form had been highlighted as one of the main reasons for Australia's recent decline, and scores of 9, 20 and 7 in this series had put his previously untouchable place in the team in severe jeopardy. The Don looked calm and collected despite the pressure though, and over the course of the next two days he compiled one of the greatest, if not the greatest, innings ever played.

Bradman had progressed to 92* out of a score of 188-1 at stumps on day two, and an off driven four off Hadlee completed his 20th ATG hundred on the third morning, the moment being greeted with a truly emotional standing ovation. This was only the start however, and by the third day's close Australia's total had moved on a monumental 529-2, 341 runs having been scored in the day for the loss of only one wicket. Bill Lawry had been the lone casualty, but not before he had ground his way to 131 out of a partnership of 325 with Bradman, the ninth highest stand of all time and the fourth highest for Australia.

Lawry's innings had not been attractive, but it had proved the ideal foil for Bradman, whose bat posed questions to which New Zealand's bowlers simply had no answers. His hundred had been converted to a double by mid-afternoon, and when stumps were drawn Bradman sat tantalizingly poised on 299, one run short of becoming the first player to record two triple hundreds in ATG Tests. The first ball of day four gave Bradman the single he needed to reach the landmark, and with Border making his way to his second consecutive hundred in typically unfussy fashion, the pair eclipsed the previous day's partnership with a stand of 327, the second highest ever for the third wicket. The scoreboard read a staggering 695-2 the ball before Cowie bowled Border, Australia's highest ever score and the second highest in ATG history, and the 700 mark was reached before Bradman finally fell, caught behind off Cowie for 383, the second highest individual score ever, behind only Bradman's own quadruple century against Pakistan.

Bradman had been at the crease for over eleven hours, and in that time he had well and truly silenced all the doubters in the most emphatic manner possible. With a lead of 395, Benaud declared upon Bradman's dismissal, leaving New Zealand the task of surviving for four and a half sessions to deny Australia a series sweep. A solid 46 from Turner and stroke-filled 80s from Crowe and Donnelly gave the Kiwis every chance of holding out, but from a position of 262-4 shortly after lunch on the final day, the innings fell apart just as it had done in the first two Tests, with Alan Davidson taking on Thomson's role of destroyer on this occasion.

Davidson moved the old ball prodigiously to claim figures of 5-56, and he finished off the match with an incredible spell of 4-0 in 10 balls as the tourists lost their last 6 wickets for just 22 runs. New Zealand simply seemed to run out of steam at the end of what had become a most physically and mentally demanding series, and Australia's innings victory confirmed a welcome return to form for the Baggy Green and for one man in particular; Bradman is back!

Scores
NZL 1st Inns 305 (Congdon 67, Hadlee 64, Donnelly 63, Reid 47)
AUS 1st Inns 700-4 dec. (Bradman 383, Border 133, Lawry 131)
NZL 2nd Inns 284 (Crowe 88, Donnelly 80, Reid 49, Turner 46; Davidson 5-56)

AUSTRALIA WON BY AN INNINGS & 111 RUNS


Man of the Match: DG Bradman