Carey, Cummins ice epic chase in Christchurch thriller

An exquisitely timed, unbeaten 98 from player of the match Alex Carey just days after his future as Test 'keeper was being debated lifted Australia to an inspirational three-wicket win to secure a series clean-sweep against New Zealand.

Carey had not been the only member of Australia's top and middle-order batting line-up to have been shy of runs coming into the final outing of this Qantas Tour, but the manner in which he had fallen – to in-field catches – had raised eyebrows as well as questions.

But with his glovework near impeccable, and now a match-winning knock when his team was in dire need has seemingly secured his place with Australia's next Test engagement not until the next home summer (against India).

Carey figured in a vital 140-run stand for the sixth wicket with Mitchell Marsh (80) before Australia lost two wickets in consecutive balls to debutant firebrand Ben Sears, and then an unbeaten 61-run union with skipper Pat Cummins that saw Australia chase down their target of 279 that seemed dauntingly distant at 4-34 last night.

The Black Caps had seemed to cost themselves a rare opportunity to land one on the chin of their bigger, brasher neighbours when Rachin Ravindra spilled a straightforward catch off Marsh in the day's second over, with the Australia allrounder on 28.

That profligacy was initially thought to have been mitigated when Travis Head, Marsh's overnight batting partner, fell to a near carbon-copy shot next ball but that was NZ's last moment of celebration until Sears' intervention, by which time the margin had narrowed from 199 to 59.

Amid the ebb and flow of the rain-reduced opening session, NZ felt they had opened the door to Australia's tail on a couple of occasions only to be denied by the off-field review system, which left them with just one live referral as the game approached its denouement.

Both Carey (on 19) and Marsh (on 55) survived third-umpire scrutiny of lbw calls, the former's overturning an on-field decision in NZ's favour and the latter surviving on the cusp of lunch by the barest of inside edges as he squeezed a yorker on to his boot.

Despite those couple of nervous moments, Marsh and Carey were increasingly untroubled against the ageing ball on a pitch exhibiting none of the demons of the first two days.

Even bowler of the series Matt Henry battled to find assistance, and was lifted beyond the square leg boundary for an imperious six by Marsh as the target dipped below 100 and local hopes began to dissipate.

Off-spinner Glenn Phillips, who had claimed five wickets in Australia's second innings at Basin Reserve last week, loomed as the most likely to break the stand on the wearing track having gone past the edge of Carey's bat on several occasions.

But it was when skipper Tim Southee, with less than 60 runs the difference, entrusted his first-gamer with the ageing ball that the game and the increasingly subdued Hagley Oval crowd roared to life.

The first hammer blow of his one-two combination came when the quietly spoken 26-year-old fired a yorker-length ball angled into Marsh's pads which umpire Marais Erasmus – officiating in his final Test – deemed to be hitting leg stump.

Marsh had little hesitation in reviewing the decision, clearly of the view it was sliding past leg stump but both the bowler and the grass banks ringing the parklands venue erupted in euphoria as ball tracking confirmed it to be clipping the wicket.

That reaction was mild compared to the scenes that accompanied Starc's dismissal next ball, when Sears dug a 144kph short ball into the left-hander's hip from where he bunted a simple catch square leg.

With the crowd in full voice and on their feet, Sears' bid for hat-trick immortality in his maiden test found the edge of Cummins' bat, but landed short and wide of Southee at slip and scooted away for a boundary.

But as the clouds closed in and the floodlights came on, Carey and Cummins showed cool heads and steady hands to complete Australia's most memorable fourth-innings run chase since they reeled in 281 in the opening Ashes encounter at Edgbaston last year.

It was Carey's highest Test score since his breakthrough century against South Africa at the MCG in the 2022 Boxing Day fixture and could not have been more crucial nor timely.

After surrendering his wicket tamely three times in preceding innings this series, the 32-year-old – who equalled the record for most catches by an Australia wicketkeeper in a match against NZ in this game – found his place in the starting XI being questioned.

But with wife Eloise and the couple's children Louis and Clementine watching on from the grass banks at Hagley, Carey embraced Cummins mid-pitch after his skipper steered the winning boundary through point shortly before 4pm local time.

Light but persistent rain throughout the morning delayed play until an hour after the scheduled resumption time, and a thick bank of high cloud hovered above the ground when events got underway before an expectant crowd.

They should have been celebrating after the first ball of the day's second over, when Marsh slapped Southee's initial offering straight to point where Ravindra made a mess of the chest-high chance.

But the stunned disbelief was replaced by wild acclaim next ball, as Head decided a similarly short-length loosener should be dispatched in precisely the same manner and leaned back on a languid square drive only to find a fielder who could catch.

It meant Australia's top five batters had failed to advance the team score beyond 160 for seven completed innings in a row.

As the clouds cleared and the sun broke through, so too did the ever-threatening Henry albeit fleetingly as he celebrated Carey's lbw even before umpire Nitin Menon had lifted his finger.

But Carey's call for a review brought Australia another reprieve, with ball tracking finding the delivery from around the wicket that swung into the left-hander before thudding into the knee roll of his front pad was moving too far and would have missed leg stump.

The Australia gloveman was unfazed by his near-miss, and when he steered Ben Sears past gully for his fifth boundary, he took his partnership with Marsh past 50 (off 77 balls) and the score required below 150.

NZ thought they had finally found a second breakthrough when Carey (on 37) looked to ramp seamer Scott Kuggeleijn off an open bat face over the slips, but umpire Marais Erasmus's view the ball had flown through to 'keeper Tom Blundell unimpeded was upheld after another unsuccessful  review.

By lunch, the stand was worth 95 and the target had narrowed to 105 albeit with a few heart-in-mouth moments for both teams in the opening 90 minutes, by which time both Australia batters had reached 50.

Qantas Tour of New Zealand

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February 29 – March 4: Australia won the first Test by 172 runs

March 8-12: Australia won the second Test by three wickets

Australia Test squad: Pat Cummins (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Michael Neser, Matthew Renshaw, Steve Smith (vc), Mitchell Starc

New Zealand Test squad: Tim Southee (c), Tom Blundell (wk), Matt Henry, Scott Kuggeleijn, Tom Latham, Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, Rachin Ravindra, Mitchell Santner, Ben Sears, Kane Williamson, Will Young.