"Lot of belief in that change room" - Nathan Lyon optimistic about victory on Day 4 of AUS vs NZ 2nd Test
Australia off-spinner Nathan Lyon has complete belief that his side will be able to chase down the 279-run target on Day 4 of the ongoing second Test against New Zealand at the Hagley Oval in Christchurch.
The 36-year-old also claimed that the leadership of Pat Cummins and Andrew McDonald had made a massive difference in the morale of the dressing room.
Chasing a stiff 279 for victory, Australia suffered a top-order collapse as Steve Smith, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, and Cameron Green perished cheaply. However, Travis Head and Mitchell Marsh got their side through to Stumps on Day 3 without losing any more wickets and the scorecard reading 77/4. They need 202 runs more to win the game.
Speaking after the day's play, Lyon admitted that New Zealand put on a good show with the ball, but Australia were optimistic about beating them. As quoted by cricket.com.au, he claimed:
"There's a lot of belief in that change room and that's a credit to Pat and 'Ron' and the way they go about their leadership. They've installed a lot of belief that we can win from any position, and we've now found ourselves in this position where our backs are up against the wall. New Zealand were on a roll tonight but I'm sitting here understanding and believing we can win, that's for sure."
New Zealand started Day 3 at 134/2, and half-centuries from Daryl Mitchell and Rachin Ravindra took them to 372. Notably, the Black Caps lost their last three wickets for just one run.
"We pride ourselves on our batting" - Nathan Lyon
Lyon further claimed that Australia had some recent successful run-chases to draw inspiration from, elaborating:
"We've still got two world-class batters at the crease now and we've got confidence and belief that if we do the good things for a long period of time, with 'Heady' and 'Marshy' the way they bat then you've got Alex (Carey) coming in next, then anything is possible. And we've been able to tick off a couple of totals in the past, so there's a lot of confidence in our batting group and us bowlers with the bat in hand. We pride ourselves on our batting, so we'll give it our best chance if it comes down to that."
Australia are undefeated in Tests against New Zealand since 2011. Moreover, the Kiwis haven't defeated their trans-Tasman rivals at home since 1993, but they need just seven wickets to change that.