New Zealand Need 184 Runs, while Australia Require 4 Wickets to Win the Brisbane Test

At the end of the third day, Australia can see victory in the first of the two-match Trans-Tasman Trophy, 2008/09. New Zealand batsmen are struggling at 143 for 6 in the second innings, chasing a winning target of 327 runs. In the low-scoring match, Australian batsmen batted very well in the second innings as they could reach at 268, losing all the wickets. Adding the first innings lead of 58 runs, Australia set 327 runs as the winning target for New Zealand in the fourth innings of the match. Losing 6 wickets at 143, New Zealand is now left with only 4 wickets, needing 184 more runs to win the match.

Australia opener Simon Katich’s excellent century of 131 was instrumental behind Australia’s second innings total of 268 runs. Moreover, Australian tail end also contributed a lot to throw a 300 plus target for New Zealand. Pacer Mitchell Johnson scored 31 runs, coming to bat at no. 10. New Zealand pacer Chris Martin picked up 3 wickets, while pacer Iain O'Brien and left arm spinner Captain Daniel Vettori got 2 wickets each.

At this moment, New Zealand’s biggest hope is around batsman Ross Taylor who is currently not out on 67. Jesse Ryder and Daniel Flynn tried to build up the innings, but both of them got out for 24 and 29 respectively after getting set in the wicket. New Zealand suffered the last blow when Grant Elliott got out in the last ball of the day without getting off the mark. Captain Daniel Vettori will join Ross Taylor tomorrow and New Zealand fans are expecting a good partnership between them. In fact, a partnership between Ross Taylor and Daniel Vettori is now badly needed for New Zealand in order to reach the target. Vettori batted very well in the recent tour in Bangladesh. So, New Zealand can hold on their patience and stick to their hopes of seeing a New Zealand victory.

Australia vs New Zealand 1st Test 2008: Online Live Score

First of the two-test series between Australia and New Zealand is now going on in Brisbane now. After two days, it is now clear that bowlers are dominating the match as 26 wickets were fallen in the first two days of the test. The wicket of the Brisbane now seems to be a minefield. Winning the toss, New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori decided to bowl first. His bowlers justified his decision by getting Australia all out for 214. At that moment, it seemed New Zealand was in the driving seat, but the match took a quick turn when Australian pacers dismissed New Zealand for only 156 in the first innings. Australian batsmen are now struggling at 131 for 6 in the second innings. That means, Australia is now leading by 189 runs with 4 wickets at hand. So, you can see the match is now in an exciting position and there is not doubt, the Brisbane test will definitely see results.

Australia and New Zealand are two neighboring countries and they have a health rivalry in many sports including cricket and Rugby. In Rugby, both Australia and New Zealand are two arch rivals and whenever they play against each other, it becomes a high-profile match. The same thing goes in cricket too. Australia and New Zealand are the two cricket powers in the world. They have a good cricketing rivalry in the history and whenever they face each other, cricket fans gets excited. The same thing is happening in the ongoing Trans-Tasman Trophy 2008/09. Cricket fans of both sides are now exciting with this series.

Australia suffered a 2-0 test series defeat to India recently which aroused many questions about Australia’s superior form in the cricket world that they have been showing for about a decade. Following the retirements of some great players like Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath, Australia is now facing lots of problem to fill up the gaps created by these retirements. For New Zealand, the story is slightly different. They also lost some players like Stephen Fleming for retirement, while New Zealand also lost some excellent players like Shane Bond to Indian Cricket League (ICL). So, both sides are now going through a formation period in true sense and they are yet to come to terms with the players they lost over the last couple of years.

However, that did not matter to the cricket fans of the two teams as they are still attracted by the ongoing test series between Australia and New Zealand. I know that the match is shown live on TV in both the countries. However, it is also true that many of you can not manage your time to enjoy the match live on TV. Still, I would request you not to put your head down. For those passionate, but unfortunate cricket fans, here I am giving some names of online live score websites from where you can get the live score and updates of the match:

Cricinfo
Cricketnext
Cricket.sulekha
stickcricket
cricpoint
indvsauslivescore
cricbuzz
squidoo
Sify
cricketworld