New Zealand puts pressure on Australia

The top four Australian batters were dismissed by New Zealand on Sunday, leaving the tourists at 77/4 and needing to chase 279 to win the second Test in Christchurch. With Australia struggling for runs on a pitch where the highest successful fourth innings was 285/8 scored by New Zealand against Sri Lanka last year, the hosts set a challenging goal for themselves.

Tom Latham, the opener, made 73 in the second innings of 372 for New Zealand. New Zealand's seamers quickly sent Australian batters Steve Smith, Marnus Labuschagne, Usman Khawaja, and Cameron Green back to the Hagley Oval pavilion. Matt Henry, got figures of 2/37 while Ben Sears, who was making his debut, was 2/22. Australia needs 202 more runs yet. By the end of the third day of play, Travis Head was undefeated at 17 and Mitchell Marsh was at 27.