It's Still Even in Brisbane

New Zealand resumed this morning and continued to be well served by the 6th wicket pairing of Daniel Vettori and Dean Brownlie. Vettori's limited range of shots hasn't prevented him from making six Test centuries and he was never troubled by the Australians in the first hour. Brownlie, dropped by Clarke yesterday off Siddle when he had only 3, showed no sign that the event ever took place. He was playing drives and cuts with confidence. Vettori raised his half century quickly in the first over, from Mitchell Starc, with two well struck fours. The 200 came up after 25 minutes and the quick men were still bowling too short to Vettori.

With drinks just a few overs away, Vettori lofted Nathan Lyon high to mid wicket and two of the newbies, Starc and Warner, confused each other and the chance went to ground. The next ball, he drove uppishly back at Lyon and a tough chance also went astray. After drinks, they stretched the partnership to 158 before Vettori committed batting suicide. Driving Lyon hard to Michael Hussey at a standard mid on, he took off and was beaten by Mr Cricket's direct hit. It would have been dumb at any time, but when you are on 96 it's high handed stupidity.

Nathan Lyon 

From there, despite Brownlie pushing his own scoring, the last four collapsed in much the same way as the first five had. Young snicked a sitter to Clarke from Siddle and was held. Before play, Clarke spent more time practising slips catches than any of the Australians. Lyon then ripped out the last three to finish with the best figures but Peter Siddle remained the best of the bowlers. Clarke held a second catch to remove Bracewell, who replicated his father's duck in Brisbane in the early 1980's. Tim Southee sent Lyon over the rope at long on and Hussey was immediately posted back at the boundary. The opening bowler obliged, continuing the theme of batting stupidity which ran right through the innings, plonking the ball straight down Hussey's throat. Chris Martin avoided adding yet another quacker to his imposing record of Test ducks but after scoring a single, Lyon bowled him.

Phil Hughes and Dave Warner had two overs to negotiate before lunch. The first was bowled by Vettori and the second was started by Southee. His first ball climbed at Warner and as he withdrew, it brushed his glove and his batting debut was over.

After the long break, Usman Khawaja opened with a glorious cover drive off Vettori and the spin experiment ended after two overs, bringing the aging Martin to the bowling crease. Hughes blasted an beautiful straight drive past Southee and then mistimed an off drive with an ugly hack - such is the problem with Hughes. It only took until the seventh over for the inevitable to happen, Martin jagging the ball across Hughes, squaring him and sending a tough chance to Martin Guptill who held a brilliant catch low in the gully.

Ponting pulls Martin to the
square leg fence

At 1:15, the lights were turned and Ricky Ponting was at the wicket. Martin tried hard to unsettle him but there was no joy. A Ponting cover drive was followed by a classic on drive, both of which were from a past which had seemed all but forgotten. Khawaja was unloading his own magic, with careful pushes laced with exquisite shot making. In the thirty minutes before tea, Ponting was tied down but it seemed every time Doug Bracewell returned, the batsmen found the release valve. In the last over before tea, Southee drew Ponting's first error with a play and miss outside off stump.

After tea, Ponting pushed the first ball away on the on side and took off for the single. Khawaja, still not switched fully on, had a delayed reaction and was caught short by Kane Williamson's direct hit. It was just another wicket to fall just before or just after a break and it was another terrible waste.

Michael Clarke came to the wicket virtually unheralded - applause coming only after the ground announcer introduced him when he was almost at the wicket and had already started consulting Ponting. After just a few deliveries he drove imperiously past mid off and back cut, both for four. Ponting, meanwhile, was unloading silky drives, trademark pulls and singles taken with just a bit more care. He looked unstoppable. He looked powerful and confident. He looked like Ricky Ponting.

Clarke bowled off a Bracewell no ball

With only 1 run until the fifty partnership, Clarke was indecisive to a nothing ball from Bracewell and steered it from the inside edge back onto his middle stump. He was livid, walking from the centre wicket area banging his bat on pads and shaking his head. At least his commitment to the role was there for all to see. With two thirds of the walk back to quiet mates in the dressing room completed, Asad Rauf was calling for a check of the placement of Bracewell's front foot. Rauf's doubts confirmed, Clark was motioned back with a gentle beckoning and the crowd were all suddenly the captain's best friend. A review shortly after showed that Ponting was lbw but under the sequencing protocol, he was excused.

At 4:30pm, with the ground lights blazing down still, out came the light metres and off went the players. This ICC rule, intended to ensure continuity across the cricket playing planet, claimed another 10000 victims. With the light even and certainly good enough for play, numbers on a device said otherwise and under the changed rules which have taken choice away from batsmen, the umpires ordered players from the field when clearly, neither side wanted to go.

A lot of the cricket has been dumb in this Test but none of it is as bad as this rule.

Ponting resumes tomorrow with the chance to break the longest streak of disappointment of his otherwise stellar career. Twenty three months ago he was dropped before he scored against Pakistan in Hobart and went on to score the last of his 39 Test hundreds.

Today, he narrowly avoided being run out before he scored. As much as this writer has been critical of his captaincy and his position in the side continued, romance dictates that great champions leave as same and I would wish no less for Ponting. He would be in anyone's best Australian XI of all time and is certainly in thecricketragic's so bring on the remaining 33 runs and let glory drape over him one last time.

He's earned it.

(Photos by the author using a handheld Canon PowerShot 100 and digital zoom)