Australia sneak home in tense finish
Australia sneaked home to win the inaugural day-night Test match against New Zealand by three wickets
Australia sneaked home to win the inaugural day-night Test match against New Zealand by three wickets
Scorer: Sanjay Murari | Commentator: George Binoy
9.15 pm BT: "An Adelaide Oval Test under clear (if not always blue!) skies only last 3 days? I don't think it is a resounding success, if very popular. The ball dominated too much, but perhaps it is the rebalancing from the big bats of the last 10 years. A bit less grass on the pitch, get it into day 4, let a side score 350 and we have a success. On the other hand, no balls needed replacing!"
I think batsmen's techniques need to get tighter. This pitch was not impossible to bat on - it swung and seamed but the pace and bounce were true. Survival and scoring just required a patience that is increasingly rare in modern batsmen. Was the pink ball harder to see? Was the seam - and consequently the direction in which the ball was going to move - harder to spot? We'll have to ask the batsmen that. I'm sure the details will emerge in the coming days.
Will we see another day-night Test? Sooner rather than later, I imagine. Until the next international game, that's it from the comms team at ESPNcricinfo. Cheers, and thank you for reading.
9.00pm Dardic: "What a test match. Enormous fight shown by NZ at the end there, so much respect for them as an Aussie"
Time for the presentation ...
The Player of the Match, in the first ever day-night Test, is Josh Hazlewood, for taking a career best nine wickets and ensuring that Australia did not miss the injured Starc too much.
Hazlewood: "It was obviously entertaining cricket, harder to bat at night with the ball swinging, very exciting Test, crowds were unbelievable as well. It was more enjoyable to bowl at night, especially if the ball was a bit newer, there was grass on the wicket which helped."
The Player of the Series is David Warner, for making 592 runs in three matches.
Warner: "Was quite challenging to bat, the previous two Tests were tough for the bowlers, great to play here on a wicket with a bit of grass, a bit of swing ... was quite nerve wracking towards the end, Hobart was in our mind a bit ... I think it's about backing myself and keep everything simple, if I try and defend I'll probably get out ..."
Here's Brendon McCullum ...
McCullum: "Was an outstanding game of cricket, completely contrasting to what we had seen previously in the series. The crowd supported it, and as an experiment it went off well ... You're only ever two balls away from being back in the game, so we always kept believeing, unfortunately we came up short but we can shown fighting characteristics in defeat ..."
McCullum on the Lyon review: "Unfortunately that had an impact on the game, would have loved to have a bit more runs .. but got to look at the series at a whole and Australia played well ..."
Australia's captain Steven Smith comes up before going on to receive the trophy.
Smith: "Was obviously a tight finish, great for cricket, last couple of days have been amazing, an exceptional event. It's been great, a bit different from the first two matches dominated by bat, it brought the bowlers into the game, under lights. If you got yourself in you could still score runs ... I just thought if Starc came in and hit one out of the screws that would be it ... Great to see Shaun score runs in his first game back."
And with that, Australia begin their celebrations that will undoubtedly go on late into the night. They have played really well to win this game. To dismiss New Zealand for 208 in the second innings without the services of their best bowler Mitchell Starc was where this Test was won and lost.
Here's Brydon Coverdale's report of an incredibly tense final day. There will be lots of news and analysis and video coming from Daniel Brettig and Melinda Farrel in Adelaide, so stay tuned for that.
8.45 pm The first day-night Test has been a special game. It's been tense throughout, and there's relief and elation on the faces of the Australians as they shake hands with the New Zealand players.
Siddle: "It was a bit nerve wracking out there, I didn't think I would need to bat ... to get the runs to win, a great way to finish. I was trying to hit a boundary but I couldn't get it away ... we thought we were never going to pierce the field! Credit to the boys for digging in and getting the job done ... great support all week, nice to get the job done."
Boult: "An exciting few days ... It was incredible to be honest (about the day-night Test) disappointing not to win ... would have been nice to have a few more runs but we thought 187 was defendable. Full credit to them, they played very well."
Nevill: "Unfortunately I was out (on his dismissal). I might have said some very quiet expletives, very quiet, I hope, to keep my match fee! It was a closely fought match between the two teams and I am sure it was exciting to watch."
Shaun Marsh: "It was tough work, they bowled really well throughout the day. Had to work really hard, happy to have got over the line. I worked really hard over the last few months ..."
Mitchell Marsh: "I got a bit excited, would have been really nice if Shaun and I had finished it off and not left it to anyone else, but glad we got over the line."
Can Southee give Boult another over?
Southee to bowl. This could be the last over of the game?
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The recent day-night Test was greeted with suspicion - notably (and absurdly) by the statistically minded
The Test at Adelaide Oval was an aesthetic delight, and it put bums on seats too
The ICC has admitted that third umpire Nigel Llong made "an incorrect judgement" while deciding on New Zealand's review of the appeal for catch against Nathan Lyon