Pressure mounted on Phil Hughes after he again failed with the bat as Australia chased New Zealand’s modest 150 on an eventful opening day of the second Test at Bellerive Oval on Friday. The under-fire opener lasted just five balls before he was again caught in the slips off Chris Martin for four, as Australia reached 12 for one before rain ended play early. For the third straight time in the series Hughes was caught by Martin Guptill off Martin’s bowling, scoring just 21 runs in the process, heaping pressure on his Test place ahead of this month’s series with India.
A total of 11 wickets tumbled in 50 overs on a bowler-friendly Bellerive wicket with Michael Clarke winning perhaps the most crucial toss of his eight Tests as Australian captain and sending the Black Caps into bat. At the close, David Warner was on seven and Usman Khawaja, who had lived dangerously, was on one. Martin had 1-12 off 2.2 overs. Kiwi skipper Ross Taylor set three slips and three gullys for Hughes, who now has been caught behind the wicket in 20 of his 30 Test dismissals, raising questions over his technique. Pace newcomer James Pattinson earlier starred with five wickets for the second consecutive innings as New Zealand were skittled out in 45.4 overs.
