Australia A meet resistance as Kiwis fight back on day two

A five-wicket haul to paceman Scott Kuggeleijn and a strong top-order batting effort pushed New Zealand A ahead of Australia A by 75 runs at stumps on day two of their four-day clash at Allan Border Field in Brisbane.

After resuming at 3-141 – just six behind the Kiwis' first-innings 147 – the hosts lost 4-50 and with it the momentum they had seized through a dominant day one display. Matters became worse for the Australians as the day wore on, with New Zealand A racing to 2-191 from 42 overs by the close.

The day began with stylish left-hander Caleb Jewell continuing his strong day-one form, though his aggressive mindset soon cost him his wicket when he was knocked over by paceman Brett Randell after adding just nine to his overnight total.

Jewell's dismissal for a well-made 78 from 95 balls brought to the middle Queensland keeper-batter Jimmy Peirson, who in three previous innings for Australia A – in Sri Lanka last year – had contributed scores of 13no, 67no and 128no.

And sure enough, Peirson picked up where Jewell left off, flaying several boundaries in quick time to race past 20-year-old Victorian Campbell Kellaway and see the run rate ticking along nicely.

Kellaway looked to be struggling for touch and his innings of 14 from 51 balls came to an end when he slashed at a full, wide delivery from Kuggeleijn and succeeded only in edging through to Cam Fletcher, who took his third catch behind the stumps.

Peirson cut and pulled with abandon but came unstuck when he aimed a big drive from medium pacer Sean Solia, who caught the edge and Ajaz Patel took a good catch at first slip.

His dismissal for 30 from 42 balls left Australia A at 7-191, just 44 ahead, but Mitch Perry (17), Mark Steketee (32) and Mitchell Swepson (21) ensured the lead was a handy one at 116 when the hosts were bowled out after lunch for 263.

In stark contrast to their performance on Monday, the New Zealanders had little trouble in quickly erasing that deficit.

After Jordan Buckingham struck with his seventh ball to remove Henry Cooper (22 from 23), Solia was joined by Nick Kelly, who narrowly avoided a second golden duck for the match and then settled impressively into his work, at one point taking Mark Steketee for four fours in an over.

The second-wicket pair were circumspect when required, playing and missing on occasion, but otherwise dealing largely in boundaries, and as the pitch flattened out their only obstacle became a mid-afternoon rain delay as showers passed through Brisbane.

The runs continued to flow at a good rate in the afternoon as the duo put on the biggest stand of the match to date, and in the process nosed their side in front with nine wickets still in hand.

It was that man Buckingham who produced a breakthrough out of nothing. Only three balls after Solia enjoyed a life when a leading edge flew through gully and an extremely difficult diving chance was put down by Joel Paris, the left-handed Kelly (43) latched onto a shortish leg-side delivery but found Steketee in the deep with his pull shot, with the paceman taking a good catch.

The wicket ended a stand of 77 and brought to the middle NZ A captain Tom Bruce, who settled quickly and brought up his side's 150 during one Buckingham over that cost 15 runs.

Solia then reached his half-century via a reverse sweep off Swepson, a shot he played regularly against the leg-spinner who found little help from a benign surface. And the placidity of the pitch was reinforced shortly before stumps when Perry tried a short-ball approach to Bruce. It resulted only in more boundaries as the Kiwis skipper finished the day unbeaten on 42 from 40 balls, with Solia not out 62 alongside him. 

The match is the first of two four-day clashes between the two sides, with the second scheduled for September 4 in Mackay. South Australia paceman Wes Agar has been ruled out of that game due to lower back soreness, meaning Buckingham will get another opportunity to impress.