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Justin Langer's Postcards |
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THURSDAY 16 March 2000
Relief all round as Warney clinches record win over Kiwis
At lunch on day one of this first Test it would have been a bold judge who predicted we would still be playing on day five. Obviously the rain played a major part in this drama but when Warney broke DK Lillee's record yesterday afternoon by taking the match-winning final wicket, a huge tension was broken all around.
Walking onto Eden Park yesterday morning the game lay in the balance. Had the New Zealanders scored the 130 required runs they would have pulled off one of the great run chases in Test cricket history but even still, the fact they had a chance increased the tension in our changing room. With a day off in between days three and five both teams had plenty of time to think about every possible outcome. The abandoned day only added to the drama being played out on the field so when Shane finally secured number 356 for himself and number 10 for us, the feeling was one of triumph and relief.
Beating New Zealand always means a lot to us and when there was so much riding on this result the feeling going into the match was magnified tenfold. Warney had the record to beat, we had the record winning streak to play for and we were keen to win the first Test of this series. Determined also to improve our win-loss ratio overseas, we knew it was important to start this series strongly.
Overall we know we didn't play our best cricket throughout this Test match but in a way this is a positive result. Not having played Test cricket since the first week of January it was good to shake out a few cobwebs over the past five days. In the end of the day I think we stuck to our task fairly well and struggled through the toughest periods of the game, without playing as well as we know that we can.
While Warney was the 's hero, Funky Miller's dangerous off-spinners, Glenn McGrath's brilliance and Brett Lee's sheer pace ensured the victory. In the batting department we have room for improvement but Junior, Gilly and Marto, in his comeback Test, showed great signs of touch and control. On a pitch that basically favoured the bowlers we didn't score as heavily as we would have liked but I am sure bigger and better things will follow in the final two Tests.
Leading 1-0 in this series is a distinct advantage and with an improvement in our consistency the prospects for winning the most consecutive Test matches by an Australian team is becoming a definite possibility. After a huge celebration last night our preparation for the second Test starts tomorrow in Napier.
From Auckland, JL
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