Renshaw piles on more runs as Aus A push for victory

A dominant day three has left Australia A requiring 10 wickets on the final day for victory in their tour match against New Zealand A in Lincoln. 

Four wickets apiece to South Australia quicks Wes Agar and Spencer Johnson saw the hosts bowled out for 224 at lunch on Monday, 146 behind their opponents’ first-innings tally of 6d-370.

Matthew Renshaw (78 off 72 balls), Tim Ward (67no off 90) and captain Nathan McSweeney (69no from 58) then all hit second-innings half-centuries as the Aussies generously declared in the final session to set NZ 365 to win.

Agar, who has previously played with Renshaw at the Adelaide Strikes in the KFC BBL, suggested Renshaw's Test experience had shone through.

"You just see the class of player he is," Agar said of the 14-Test batter who featured on Australia's recent tour of India.

"You see the experience he has and he brings it out there, he looks so calm at the crease, which is so funny because it's a bit a different to what he is off the field. He loves to be bubbly, he loves to be the life of the party around the group.

"When he's out there he's just so calm, composed and mature. It's so good to see him do so well and grow.

"It's just his playing maturity. You look at him as a senior player now, you look at him as a player that has played the Test matches that he has.

"You can definitely see that when he's out there batting, or when you talk to him about tactics. His game knowledge has grown so much and it's a credit to him as a player."

The home side survived some probing bowling in fading light and got to stumps on 0-31 when bad light was called.

Resuming NZ A’s first innings on 3-109, it was a bright start for captain Tom Bruce (48) and Cole McConchie (74) as the pair saw off the opening spells in a 105-run fourth-wicket partnership.

It took nearly an hour but Queenslander Xavier Bartlett was the bowler who found the breakthrough – a sharp delivery flew off Bruce's outside edge and into the hands of McSweeney at second slip.

Soon after Spencer Johnson (4-53) displayed his attacking weapons, finding Robert O'Donnell's edge with a ball that decked across the right-handed batter before unleashing the perfect in-swinger to trap Cam Fletcher lbw two balls later.

Agar (4-56) was also getting the old ball to swing, removing top-scorer McConchie and a dumbfounded Scott Kuggeleijn in the same over as the NZ A innings crumbled quickly. 

The home side lost their last six wickets for 41 runs, three of those going to left-arm quick Johnson. 

Although Australia A lost Teague Wyllie for a duck in the first over of their second innings, the visitors’ intent to build on their 146-run lead quickly was clear.

Renshaw, full of confidence after his first-innings century, struck a rollicking 78 off 72 balls, including 11 fours and two sixes. 

He combined the conventional with the outrageous, with his strokeplay ranging from classic straight drives to unorthodox hoicks while backing away. 

The 112-run partnership between Ward and McSweeney allowed Australia A to declare on 2-218.

New Zealand A v Australia A series

First four-day match: April 1-4, Bert Sutcliffe Oval, Lincoln

Second four-day match: April 8-11, Bert Sutcliffe Oval, Lincoln

Both matches will be live streamed on nzc.nz.

Australia A squad: Wes Agar, Xavier Bartlett, Jordan Buckingham, Aaron Hardie, Caleb Jewell, Spencer Johnson, Campbell Kellaway, Nathan McSweeney, Mitch Perry, Jimmy Peirson, Matthew Renshaw, Mitchell Swepson, Tim Ward, Teague Wyllie

New Zealand A squad: Tom Bruce (c), Adi Ashok, Doug Bracewell, Henry Cooper, Jacob Duffy (Game 1 only), Dean Foxcroft, Cam Fletcher, Mitch Hay, Scott Kuggeleijn, Cole McConchie, Robbie O'Donnell, Will O'Rourke, Ajaz Patel, Brett Randell, Sean Solia