From 1877 until World War One
Between the World Wars
Post War to the WSC Revolution
The Professional Era to the New Millennium
The New Millennium and Beyond
Other Pages
Home Page
Article Archive
How the System Works
Frequently Asked Questions
Statistical Points of Interest
Current and Future Series Predictions
Links
Site Map
Contact Us
Get Free e-mail ratings updates
Brisbane
08 - 12 November 2001
New Zealand won the toss and elected to field first.� The decision did not pay off as they failed to breakthrough during the crucial first session and the Australian openers walked back to the pavilion for lunch with 103 runs on the board.� New Zealand had no luck in the afternoon session as Hayden passed his century.� Australia ended the session at 199 runs without loss.� New Zealand brought some balance back to the game after tea.� After finally breaking though and removing Hayden (136) at 1 for 224, they then dismissed Ponting (5) and Mark Waugh (0) within another ten balls to have Australia 3 for 235.� The middle order collapse continued in the final hour of play with Stephen Waugh (3), Martyn (4) and then Langer (104) falling to be 6 for 263.� Gilchrist (13*) and Warne (18*) managed to hold things together until stumps when the score was 6 for 294 with New Zealand having dragged themselves back to an even position.
Play throughout the second day was restricted due to frequent rain.� In the shortened session before lunch, New Zealand continued where they left off the previous afternoon by dismissing Warne (22) in the third over.� However, this was their only success as Gilchrist and Lee batted through to lunch to take the score to 7 for 361.� New Zealand continued to lose any control of the game during the afternoon session when they were unable to break the partnership that was adding over five runs per over.� When rain ended the session early, and prevented any further play that day, Australia was 7 for 435 with Gilchrist (88*) and Lee (60*).�
Rain only allowed half an hours play before lunch on the third day.� New Zealand dismissed Lee (61) early, however, Gillespie and Gilchrist took the total to 8 for 450 at lunch.� Soon after the break Gilchrist brought up his fourth Test century before holing out for 118 runs leaving Gillespie not out on 20 when the declaration came at 9 for 486.� Cairns was the best of the bowlers with 5 for 146 off 37 overs.� New Zealand faced only 6.4 overs before rain returned to finish play for the day when the score was 0 for 29.
Australia maintained the pressure on the fourth morning and dismissed Bell (6), Richardson (26), Fleming (0) first ball and then Sinclair (3) to see New Zealand slump to 4 for 55.� New Zealand then stabilised and went to lunch at 4 for 115.� Australia dismissed McMillan (45) after lunch, but when the rain again ruined the rest of the day New Zealand were 4 for 186 needing another 101 runs to avoid the follow on.
The final day dawned without threat of rain interupting play. New Zealand batted through to the follow on target, losing Astle (66), Cairns (61) and Parore (11) along the way. They declared just before lunch at 9 for 287 conceeding a 199 run lead and tempted the Australians to set them a target to liven up the Test. Lee was the best of the bowlers with 5 for 67 off 23 overs. Australia responed in kind, smashing 84 runs in 14 overs for the loss of Gilchrist (20) and Hayden (13) leaving Ponting (32*) and Langer (18*) the not out batsmen. The Australian declaration left New Zealand 284 runs to get in 57 overs. They lost Bell (5) with 33 runs on the board and then Richardson (57) and Sinclair (23) an hour later to be 3 for 90. However, Astle (49) and Fleming (57) took the score within reach of the target at 5 for 213. Cairns (43) smashed two sixes to give them their best opportunity to defeat Australia since the mid 1980s. However, once he fell at 5 for 264 neither McMillan (23*) or Parore (3*) could continue the lusty hitting and the game finished in a draw with New Zealand finishing at 6 for 274, a painful 10 runs short of victory.
Second Test
Hobart
22 - 26 November 2001
New Zealand won the toss and elected to field first. The Australians immediately took the initiative and, with the advantage of a dropped catch off Langer, batted through to lunch to be 0 for 126.� Langer (123) eventually fell at 1 for 223 and Hayden (91) and Mark Waugh (12) soon followed at 3 for 253.� As New Zealand fought back, Australia went to tea at 3 for 263.� New Zealand repeated the middle order collapse they inflicted on the Australians suffered in Brisbane by dismissing Stephen Waugh (0) and then Martyn for a golden duck to have Australia 5 for 267 soon after tea.� However, they again dropped Gilchrist, but it was not as costly as he was soon dismissed for 39 runs at 6 for 336.� Australia continued to flail on and at stumps they were in complete control again at 6 for 411.
Rain interrupted the second day?s play.� During a shortened morning session New Zealand dismissed Warne (70) but Australia moved their score to 7 for 488 while Ponting passed his century.� When play resumed after tea, Australia eventually declared when Lee (41) fell at 8 for 558 leaving Ponting not out on 157.� Vettori was the best of the bowlers with 5 for 138 off 36 overs.� Australia had intended to have half an hour at New Zealand before stumps were scheduled, however, the rain prevented this.
After another rain delay on the third morning, New Zealand began their reply by losing Bell (4) but by lunch they were 1 for 53.� The first ball after lunch saw Sinclair (23) dismissed and then ten overs later the rains returned to finish play for the day with New Zealand 2 for 71.
Australia dismissed Richardson (30) and Astle (11) on the fourth morning while the New Zealanders crawled toward the follow on target at less than two runs per over and taking no risks.� At lunch New Zealand was 4 for 153 needing a further 206 to reach the follow on target.� The New Zealand batsmen took the total to 4 for 190 when the rain again intervened and in the handful of minutes the teams spent on the field there after the total moved to 4 for 197 before the umpires gave up and called play off for the day.
Australia went out on the final morning looking to break through early to force a victory. They dismissed Fleming (71) first ball and then McMillan (55) and Cairns (20) soon followed as New Zealand lost 3 for 26. However, predictably the rain arrived after less than 90 minutes play and ended all hope of play resuming that day and the match was declared a draw later that afternoon.
Third Test
Perth
30 November - 4 December 2001
New Zealand won the toss and elected to bat first.� Australia broke through early dismissing Richardson (9) and Sinclair (2) as New Zealand slumped to 2 for 19.� However, with McGrath leaving the field with back spasms the batsmen consolidated and at lunch they were 2 for 87.� Australia was unable to break though during the afternoon session as the Kiwis started to dominate the day going to tea at 2 for 190.� Vincent (104) brought up his century on debut after tea before being dismissed at 3 for 218.� However, this triggered a dramatic slide as Australia fought their way back to an even position taking another 4 quick wickets before the end of the day to have New Zealand 7 for 293 at stumps.
Australia only had to take one more wicket to get at the weakest part of the visitors batsmen on the second morning.� However, again they went wicketless in the session as Parore and Astle took New Zealand to lunch at 7 for 363.� New Zealand built up to a dominant position as both batsmen moved past their centuries before Parore (110) fell at 8 for 534.� Bond (0) offered little resitance and New Zealand declared at 9 for 534 leaving Astle not out on 156.� Lee was the best of the bowlers with 4 for 125 off 32.5 overs.� This left Australia with 15 overs to face before stumps during which they lost Hayden (0) and Ponting (31) to be 2 for 75.
New Zealand dismissed Mark Waugh (42) and then Stephen Waugh (8) during the second morning as Australia added another 94 runs in the session to go to lunch at 4 for 169.� Another two wickets fell in the afternoon as Australia desperately tried to avoid a follow on, something they have avoided since 1989.� Langer (75) and Gilchrist (0) were dismissed and Australia was 6 for 251 needing another 84 runs to pass the follow on target.� Soon after tea Martyn (60) fell at 7 for 270 before Lee and Warne took Australia to the relative safety of the follow on target of 335 runs.� Lee (17) fell at 8 for 342 as Warne neared a first Test century after 95 Ttests.� However, Gillespie (0) was unable to help Warne and when McGrath (0*) appeared Warne moved to 99 before being caught in the outfield trying to bring up three figures in the second last over of the day.� Australia was all out for 351 giving New Zealand a first innings lead of 183 runs.� Vettori was the best of the bowlers with 6 for 87 off 34.4 overs.
On the fourth morning New Zealand set about building a commanding lead over Australia to ensure their final innings target would be as difficult as possible.� Australia was only able to dismiss Vincent (54) in before New Zealand went to lunch at 1 for 88 with a lead of 271 runs.� New Zealand visibly picked up the pace and added 111 runs in the afternoon session for the loss of Richardson (30), Sinclair (29) and Fleming (4) to be 4 for 199 with a lead of 382 runs.� However, when most thought they would declare they kept on batting into the evening session and lost Cairns (42), Astle (40), McMillan (19), Vettori (3) and Bond (8) before eventually declaring at 9 for 256 setting Australia a final innings target of 440 runs off 107 overs.� Lee was the best of the bowlers with 4 for 56 off 16 overs.� New Zealand claimed Langer (0) and Ponting (26) as Australia struggled to 2 for 67 at stumps.
New Zealand needed wickets early on the final morning.� However, they were only able to dismiss Hayden (57) at 3 for 130 before Australia went to lunch with the Waugh twins together at 3 for 157.� Mark (86) fell first during the afternoon session and then Martyn (30) was bowled by the last ball before tea when Australia was 5 for 244. �Australia continued scoring as less than the rate required and had looked to be batting out for a draw.� However, with just over an hour to go Gilchrist went berserk and brought the run rate required down from over 10 per over to eight per over after smashing over thirty runs off two overs.� Suddenly the Australians were looking for victory.� However, Stephen Waugh (67) was dismissed in the cruellest manner when Vettori deflected a Gilchrist ball driven like a rocket onto the non striker's stumps.� Gilchrist (83*)continued to try and win the game until Warne (10) was run out and then they batted out the remaining overs for a draw.� Vettori was the most successful bowler with 2 for 142 off 45 overs.
