Cricket: Langer nudges NZ to brink of test extinction

By RICHARD BOOCK

HAMILTON - New Zealand are on the verge of ending this test cricket series as they began it, in defeat, following another pasting at the hands of Australia's batsmen and a bewildering exhibition from match officials.

Thanks partly to an extraordinary innings yesterday afternoon from Australian left-hander Justin Langer, and partly to there having been more dodgy umpiring decisions than you could shake a white stick at, the third test is unlikely to make it past today's lunchtime gong.

Having bowled out New Zealand for 229 in their second innings, the all-conquering Australians were left requiring 210 to win their 10th consecutive test and take the series 3-0.

By stumps, they were 137 for three, just 73 short of the target with seven wickets intact.

At the rate Langer was going yesterday evening, it may only take another 10 or so overs, although if the form of umpires Steve Dunne and AV Jayaprakash - who was standing at the bowler's end when Pakistani leg-spinner Anil Kumble took his 10 wickets - is anything to go by, New Zealand might still rate their chances of causing an upset.

Among seven or eight questionable decisions were a couple which made the call to charge at the Valley of Death seem quite reasonable, with umpire Dunne carrying the can for prematurely ending Craig McMillan's contribution on the stroke of lunch, and then firing Mark Waugh to a bat-pad appeal during the Australian run-chase.

Even allowing for the chance that he may have put Matthew Horne out of his misery on humanitarian grounds in the first innings, the Otago-based umpire got it badly wrong when he decided that both McMillan and Waugh had edged deliveries which had instead come directly from their pads, and also had a hand in several dubious lbw decisions.

On a day in which Adam Gilchrist set an Australian record for dismissals in a test (10) and Langer struck the fastest Australian 50 since the number of balls faced started to be recorded, 42, New Zealand were given hope in their second innings by another superb counter-attacking innings from Chris Cairns. But they were undone by the second new ball and the unfortunate dismissal of McMillan.

Cairns' 104-ball 71 continued his golden summer, but it was Langer who stole the show later in the day, striking 11 fours in an unbeaten 105-minute stay that virtually sealed the win for Australia, and kept alive their hopes of challenging the world record of 11 consecutive victories.

Taking advantage of a New Zealand attack which suggested the barn door rather than the Willliam Tell school of accuracy, Langer and Matthew Hayden gave the tourists startling momentum following the early loss of Michael Slater, with a quickfire 83-run partnership for the second wicket.

Cairns was unable to find the symmetry with the ball that he had with the bat and went for six runs an over, while Shayne O'Connor and Daryl Tuffey could not stem the boundaries and Paul Wiseman was operating with a bruised thumb suffered when he was struck during his gutsy resistance at the batting crease.