Debutant pace bowler James Pattinson ripped through New Zealand’s top order in a brilliant morning spell to fire Australia to an emphatic nine-wicket victory with more than a day to spare in the first Test on Sunday.
Australia, who made 427 in their opening innings in response to New Zealand’s 295, needed just 19 runs in their second knock to claim victory after dismissing the tourists for 150 less than an hour after lunch.
They still managed to lose under-fire opener Phil Hughes for seven before David Warner (12 not out) rattled off the winning runs but the day belonged to Man of the Match Pattinson, who finished with 5-27.
The hosts took a 1-0 lead in the series with the second and final match in Hobart starting on December 9 and kept intact Australia’s unbeaten run in Tests at the Gabba, which stretches back to 1988.
“It was a great performance today and James Pattinson was outstanding,” said Australia’s skipper Michael Clarke, whose 139 in the second innings helped tip the balance of what had been a tight contest in his team’s favour.
“I think our whole performance throughout this Test match was spot on. I couldn’t be happier with the start to the summer.”
Pattinson had already removed opener Brendon McCullum late on Saturday to leave New Zealand to resume on 10-1 but no-one was prepared for the fireworks he unleashed in his opening over of the morning.
The 21-year-old removed the other opener Martin Guptill for 12 with his second ball and his fourth and fifth accounted for Kane Williamson and Black Caps’ skipper Ross Taylor, both for ducks, to leave Pattinson on a hat-trick and New Zealand reeling on 17-4.
Angling to become just the fourth player to take a hat-trick on their Test debut, the pace of Pattinson’s sixth delivery beat batsman Jesse Ryder but the ball missed the off-stump.
Four overs after that devastating three-wicket maiden, Pattinson grabbed his “five-for” with the wicket of nightwatchman Doug Bracewell for two to reduce the tourists to 28 for five.
“It’s pretty surreal,” said Pattinson. “I was a bit nervous in the first innings and I just tried to stay settled today and run in and bowl fast and luckily it worked out.”
Pattinson was the second Australian pace bowler in successive Tests to take five or more wickets on debut after teenager Pat Cummins took 6-79 against South Africa last month.
All five of Pattinson’s victims were caught behind or at close range and, despite the pace, swing and bounce he produced, the New Zealanders will be disappointed with some sloppy batting.
They were also left to rue a string of dropped catches, particularly the two lives they gave Clarke on Saturday, after coming into the match confident they could win a first Test on Australian soil for 26 years.
“I think the top six have got to put up their hands, there were some soft dismissals out there,” said Taylor. “We’re pretty disappointed with that performance … we didn’t play as well as we thought we could have. We didn’t take our opportunities.”
More was to come when Ryder, who had looked like building a decent partnership with Brownlie, took on Nathan Lyon in the offspinner’s first over of the day and succeeded only in slapping the ball to Mike Hussey at mid-off to depart for 36.
Daniel Vettori and Brownlie put on 52 for the seventh wicket before Hussey’s occasional bowling accounted for the former New Zealand captain for 17 with Clarke taking the catch in the slips.
Brownlie faced six balls after lunch before Peter Siddle had him caught at point by Warner for 42 and the same fielder gave spinner Lyon his sixth wicket of the match to send Tim Southee back to the pavilion for eight.
By that stage, New Zealand had at least avoided the innings defeat but it only remained for Lyon to remove Chris Martin before the Australians accumulated the winning runs in 2.2 overs. – Reuters