Australia v New Zealand 3rd Test Preview: History beckons at Adelaide as Australia look to wrap up the series

Australia vs New Zealand 3^rd Test Preview: History beckons at Adelaide as Australia look to wrap up the series: Test cricket will step onto a new unknown as Australia will face their neighbors New Zealand in the first ever day and night Test match. Perhaps for all the good reasons, the cricket itself has been off the spotlight in the anticipation of how will events fold out at the Adelaide on 27^th evening.

The concept has garnered mixed reactions from the horizons of cricketing fraternity. While many of the former players and critics have voiced out their support for the day-night Test, calling it an added excitement and factor to the game itself, but the rest of them haven’t been so lenient. Most of them have voiced out their concerns for how the very concept of day-night Test goes against the nature of Test matches, and additionally, concerns have been heard about the durability and the visibility of the “pink ball”, which has been modeled and remodeled ‘n’ number of to be used for the purpose.

But keeping the speculations aside, it is finally time to gear up to see how things play out at the Adelaide on 27^th November. Here’s a look at the two teams going into the historic Test match.

Australia

The Australians have been on a roll against New Zealand. Their batting has absolutely dominated the visitors, primarily thanks to David Warner and Usman Khawaja. The latter has been ruled out due to an injury, but the former will be eager to continue his rich vein of form. Smith and Voges have chipped in as well, and the batting order really looks really sturdy as a whole. But can they perform in such drastically different conditions? That’s the only question that remains.

The bowling attack will bear a new-look, this will mark the beginning of their renaissance after the retirement of Mitchell Johnson. While Starc and Hazelwood were clinical with their performances, Johnson’s pace will be missed by the Aussies. James Pattinson is expected to make a comeback into the team, but Siddle has been a consistent performer as the third pacer, and it will be a hard choice to make for skipper Smith. Off-spinner Nathan Lyon automatically selects himself into the playing XI, and will be eager to bowl under the lights on his home ground.

The team looks upbeat going into this historic Test match. But will the conditions affect their performance? A lot remains to be seen.

New Zealand:

The Black Caps made a quite a decent comeback post a lukewarm response in the first Test at Brisbane. The batting order has finally stood up, mainly thanks to the in-form Kane Williamson, and veteran Ross Taylor, who made a spectacular 290 at the WACA. The rest of the batsmen were decent, but couldn’t manage to make a big score in all the Test matches. While Latham has made some impressive starts, he has failed to convert it into a big one. The rest of the batsmen, including Martin Guptill and captain Brendon McCullum, haven’t really kicked off in this series. The spotlight will be on how the batsmen will handle the pink ball under the lights, but according to Martin Guptill, who scored a century under the lights in a practice match against WACA XI, things look positive and is looking forward to the game.

As far as the bowling is concerned, they have really taken a beating in this series. None of the bowlers, with Tim Southee being an exception to an extent, have managed to trouble the Australian batsmen on lucid pitches. While Boult struggled to get his line and lengths right, Henry and Bracewell were unimpressive with the ball. Mark Craig was hammered all over the park in both the Tests and might pave the way for the Michel Santer. Wagner, who took a 5-fer against WACA XI under the lights, might get a look in.

The New Zealand team rose with a remarkable recovery in the second Test, but they are going into an unknown territory. The team will have to play at their best if they wish to square up the series.

Pitch:

The pitches in Australia have been on the flatter side over the past year or so, but Adelaide has been forever known to be a batsman’s paradise, and it still remains the same. The Aussies have a slight advantage by having a tearaway pacer in their ranks. But day-night conditions will play a huge part in the proceedings. One can expect the team winning the toss preferring to bat second, which will help them get an idea as to how to go about the act in such conditions.

Stats:

1 – The Australia v New Zealand 3rd Test will be recorded in the history as the 1st day-night Test match.

575/8 decl – Highest team score in an Australia-New Zealand Test at the Adelaide, made by Australia.

0 – Number of 150+ scores made by a New Zealand batsman at the venue.

79.28 – David Warner’s average at the venue, having scored 555 runs in 4 matches.

0 – Number of matches Australia has lost to New Zealand at the venue. Having played 4, Australia has won 3 of them, with the other one being drawn.

24 – Number of wickets Nathan Lyon has taken at his home ground, in 4 matches.

556 – David Warner’s tally in this series, in just 2 matches. He needs 196 runs in the Adelaide Test to break Graham Gooch’s record of most runs in a 3-Test series.

10– Number of wickets Mitchell Starc has taken in this series @ 27.

Possible XI:

New Zealand:

Tom Latham, Martin Guptill, Kane Williamson, Ross Taylor, Brendon McCullum (C), BJ Watling (wk), Mitchell Santner, Tim Southee, Doug Bracewell, Trent Boult, Neil Wagner.

Australia:

Joe Burns, David Warner, Steve Smith (C), Adam Voges, Shaun Marsh, Mitchell Marsh, Peter Nevill (wk), Mithcell Starc, Peter Siddle, Josh Hazelwood, Nathan Lyon.

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