Australia vs New Zealand 2nd Test: Mitchell Johnson's farewell Test ends in a draw
Steven Smith’s late declaration coupled with rain ensured Mitchell Johnson’s farewell Test at the WACA ended in a tame draw. Australia had earlier declared on 385/7, leaving New Zealand 321 to get from a minimum of 48 overs. While the target was unlikely to be chased, rain, which forced an early tea made sure that Australia got the draw they needed to retain the Trans-Tasman Trophy.
Earlier in the day, New Zealand’s fast bowlers did their bit by quickly removing Steven Smith and Mitchell Marsh, but Adam Voges and Peter Nevill stood firm. The pair didn’t put on too many runs, but ensured that enough time was taken out of the game that the Kiwis couldn’t chase down the target.
Johnson and Starc chipped in with a few runs, but by the time Smith declared, there was just another hour to tea, with the possibility of rain in prospect as well. That rain did come, to force an early tea, following which Johnson took his final couple of wickets in international cricket.
The first to go was Tom Latham, who top-edged a pull to Josh Hazlewood at fine leg. Martin Guptill followed suit as he gave Johnson his final Test wicket. The dismissal was in many ways, a fitting farewell as it was a bouncer which was fended off to Joe Burns at short leg – a trademark dismissal for the 34-year-old pacer.
Just when it looked as though the hosts might have an outside chance of forcing a result, the two centurions from the first innings, Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor stayed strong right till the very end, to give the Kiwis a chance of levelling the series going into the final Test in Adelaide.
The match looked to be heading in the same direction as the first Test in Brisbane as the Aussies won the toss and piled on the runs. David Warner got his highest Test score (253) and extended his incredible run of consecutive centuries to three innings.
He was ably supported by Usman Khawaja, whose memory of the game will be bittersweet as he notched up his second hundred, but also strained his hamstring, which rules him out of Australia’s next two Tests.
But, for the first time in the series, the Kiwis fought back. First with the ball, as they ensured Australia didn’t cross 600, then with the bat, as Kane Williamson brought up his 12th Test century and finished with 166.
But even his innings wasn’t the best of the game, as that honour went to Ross Taylor’s 290, which broke a slew of records and not only earned him the Man of the Match, but also a handy lead for his side.
In the end, that made little difference as the lifeless WACA pitch continued to assist the batsmen and ensured that a game that was filled with plenty of highlights including Mitchell Starc’s 160.4 kmph yorker, ended as a tame draw.
Scorecard:
Aus 1st innings: 559/9 dec
NZ 1st innings: 624
Aus 2nd innings:
| David Warner | 24 (22) |
| Joe Burns | 0 (7) |
| Steven Smith | 138 (185) |
| Adam Voges | 119 (240) |
| Mitchell Marsh | 1 (15) |
| Peter Nevill | 35 (83) |
| Mitchell Johnson | 29 (45) |
| Mitchell Starc | 28* (16) |
| Josh Hazlewood | 2* (6) |
| Total | 385/7 dec |
Bowling:
| Overs | Runs | Wickets | |
| Tim Southee | 25 | 97 | 4 |
| Trent Boult | 19 | 77 | 2 |
| Doug Bracewell | 20 | 62 | 1 |
| Matt Henry | 20 | 53 | 0 |
| Mark Craig | 18 | 81 | 0 |
| Kane Williamson | 1 | 8 | 0 |
NZ 2nd innings:
| Martin Guptill | 17 (43) |
| Tom Latham | 15 (32) |
| Kane Williamson | 32* (58) |
| Ross Taylor | 36* (35) |
| Total | 104/2 |
Bowling:
| Overs | Runs | Wickets | |
| Mitchell Starc | 6 | 33 | 0 |
| Josh Hazlewood | 6 | 3 | 0 |
| Mitchell Johnson | 6 | 20 | 2 |
| Nathan Lyon | 7 | 35 | 0 |
| Mitchell Marsh | 3 | 9 | 0 |