Australia v New Zealand, 2nd Test, Day 3 - New Zealand fight back

I was following the third test match between Australia and New Zealand at Perth in 2001 where I saw the Kiwi batting line-up to lose their way and lose seven wickets with not-enough-runs  on the board to challenge the might of Steve Waugh’s men. But New Zealand clawed back into the match through Nathan Astle and Adam Parore. I kept on waiting for the start of the Australian innings, but those two Kiwi batters stitched a 253-run stand for the eighth wicket and from 281 for 7, New Zealand went on to declare at 534 for 9.

New Zealand always find a way to bounce back in the game whenever they play against their neighbours.

The memories of 2001 revisited at the WACA today as well. Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor kept on batting, batting and batting to script a partnership of 266 runs for the fourth wicket and surpassed the feats of Astle and Parore. Taylor and Willaimson were in complete command replicating the feats of David Warner and Usman Khawaja on day one as both registered three figures. Williamson was dismissed for 166, but Taylor remained as the hero of the day.

His form has not been good and proved shaky against the short-pitched examinations, but at the WACA, he buried all those doubts and lean-patches to essay one of the most memorable knocks on Australian soil. It was a 13th Test hundred for Taylor, and a second double century in his 66-Test career, moving him past Williamson (12) and behind only Martin Crowe's mark of 17 among New Zealanders.

It was also his second hundred against Australia in his eighth Test against them, following on from his stunning 81-ball century effort in Hamilton in 2010. In moving to 208 shortly before drinks in the final session, Taylor also became just the fifth New Zealander to reach 5,000 Test runs.

Moreover, it's the first Test double-hundred by a touring batsman in Australia since Kevin Pietersen's 227 during the 2010-11 Ashes, and the first by an overseas player in Tests at the WACA.

I don’t wish to give credit to the WACA track for the success of Taylor and Williamson. Yes, the track was flat, but did the Aussie bowlers bowl very poorly on this track? Was Steve Smith’s captaincy lacking the intent? I didn’t find the Aussie bowlers to bow poorly or Smith captaining the side defensively. If the Australian bowlers were over thinking about the track then, I must say, they were simply depending too much on the track rather than looking for wickets. Example, Mitchell Johnson.

How fast was Mitchell Starc? He has been just Wow! His fiery spell against Brendon McCullum and Ross Taylor has been breathtaking, but it lacked the adventure and aggression like Wahab Riaz. Starc generated speed, but to make such spells the talk of the town and last longer in our memories, there has to be that extra bit of X-factor to add colours to the climax. Wahab does that better than anyone.  
Thank You
Faisal Caesar