Big screen referrals and desperate ducks

Ryan Harris was convinced he had Brendon McCullum lbw for a third-ball duck early in the day as New Zealand struggled in their first innings. Ian Gould agreed and gave McCullum out, but an instant challenge came from the batsman. It turned out to be a good one as the replays showed Harris had over-stepped and the delivery became a no-ball. It looked like Martin Guptill, the non-striker, was keeping a close eye on Harris' foot and he had every reason to. On the first day, Harris had picked up his first Test wicket when he had Tim McIntosh caught at gully, and replays suggested that delivery was also a no-ball. That one wasn't picked up.

Reviews are often controversial and part of the drama in the past has arisen because the players and umpires aren't shown the replays and therefore don't know what the third umpire has seen. That has changed at the Basin Reserve, where the entire review process is broadcast on the electronic scoreboard just as it is to TV viewers at home. It made for an interesting outcome when Tim Southee was given caught behind to end New Zealand's first innings, challenged the decision, and waited several minutes for the result. The players and umpires watched intently at the big screen as every possible angle was analysed, the fans began a slow hand-clap and although it looked like there might have been daylight between bat and ball, the decision was eventually upheld.

Daryl Tuffey hasn't taken a Test wicket against Australia in ten years and his game became even worse when he was run out without scoring in the first innings. Tuffey took off for a quick single and appeared to have made his ground when Nathan Hauritz managed a direct hit at the bowler's end. Asad Rauf was convinced he was in and even fixed the stumps before belatedly deciding to check with Aleem Dar upstairs. The replay showed that Tuffey might have been over the line but lazily had not grounded his bat, in a piece of running that would have had under-13 coaches fuming. The New Zealand coach agreed. "That's schoolboy stuff, really," Mark Greatbatch said. "He's disappointed and hopefully he'll learn from it. You don't tend to do those things more than once."

A golden debut
Brent Arnel enjoyed the perfect start to his Test career on the first day when he grabbed a wicket in his first over. The notable feats continued on the third day when he edged to slip from his first ball. It is a dubious honour to be added to the list of ducks on debut, especially golden ducks. Arnel was the first New Zealander to score a golden duck in the first innings of his first Test since James Franklin nine years ago. Franklin went one better - he was also out for 0 in the second innings.