Second Test, Adelaide (day four, close):
Australia 535 bt New Zealand 270 & 203 by an innings and 62 runs
 Lee ended with nine wickets in the match as Australia eased to victory |
Brett Lee bounced back from his troubled tour of India with nine wickets against New Zealand as Australia sealed a 2-0 series win. Lee took 4-66 and 5-105 as New Zealand made just 203 in their second innings, losing by an innings and 62 runs. Brendon McCullum provided resistance in Adelaide with an explosive 84 which included 14 fours and two sixes. But Lee, left-arm paceman Mitchell Johnson (3-29) and spinner Nathan Hauritz (2-32) ensured a four-day win. Lee took just two wickets per Test in India and was under pressure to perform with series against South Africa and England to come. There was even talk the 32-year-old paceman would be rested for one of the New Zealand Tests. Lee countered with the best match figures he has ever collected in a Test. He said a virus picked up in India had robbed him of his strength, and had taken a while to shake off. Lee said. "It only feels now over the last couple of weeks that the strength has come back. The results show that as far as pace and wickets. I'm ecstatic to get nine wickets in a Test." "I've been improving every match. That just goes down to strength. The next couple of weeks are going to do me a lot of good I think, being back in the gym, having a great strength programme, putting back on the kilos that I've lost. I'm getting really close."  | 606: DEBATE |
For all Lee's improvement, New Zealand were extremely poor with the bat in Adelaide, and Australia are sure to face stiffer opposition from South Africa. They began the day on 35-0, still 230 behind, but lost five wickets before lunch in a limp attempt to make the Aussies to bat again. Black Caps captain Daniel Vettori watched on as his team self-destructed in the face of Lee's probing line and length. Aaron Redmond squirted the second ball of the day to Michael Clarke at point before Jesse Ryder scooped a cover drive to Andrew Symonds. Ross Taylor departed after a leading edge handed Lee a simple caught and bowled, then Ponting produced a stunning full length diving catch in the slips to remove Jamie How. Johnson removed Daniel Flynn after the Kiwi played across the line before bowling Peter Fulton after the interval. Vettori and McCullum briefly steadied the innings but when the captain was caught by Matthew Hayden at first slip off Hauritz, Australia's triumph was within sight. McCullum and Tim Southee added 26 for the eighth wicket before the Kiwi bowler handed Hauritz a second wicket, caught at second slip by Ponting. New Zealand reached tea 98 runs adrift at 167-8, before Iain O'Brien and Chris Martin both completed pairs. The Black Caps will look to bounce back in their two-Test series against the West Indies, starting in Dunedin on 10 December.
The world's three leading news agencies are not covering the series due to a dispute with Cricket Australia. Reuters, Agence France-Presse and Associated Press have suspended all coverage of the 2008-09 season. Their photographers and reporters did not supply material from within the ground. As a result, we cannot use pictures from the current match.
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