Cameron Green motors from 50 to 100 off 46 balls en route to 2nd Test century | Cricket

Cameron Green was in fiery form on Thursday, as he came to Australia’s rescue on Day 1 of the ongoing first Test match against New Zealand, in Wellington on Thursday. Green smacked an unbeaten knock of 103 off 155 balls, packed with 16 fours, to take Australia to 279/9 at Stumps, in 85 overs.

The Aussies were initially reeling at 89/4 after being called in to bat. Green led the comeback, alongside Mitchell Marsh, who slammed 40 runs. After reaching 50, the 24-year-old needed only 46 runs to reach his ton in the penultimate over of the day.

Marsh and Green showed good shot selection, registering a 67-run partnership off 77 balls. Green’s ton revived Australia in a thrilling opening day, after Matt Henry blitzed past the Aussie top order, removing openers Steve Smith (31) and Usman Khawaja (33).

Speaking after Stumps, Green said, “Obviously feels really good. Mainly with where we are as a team. It was a pretty tough wicket out there and I felt like the boys played pretty well. Just one of those days. Someone just needed to bat through so glad it was me. I sort of felt like in the 20th over it started to come back even more, than maybe the first 20. Nice to stick out there and hopefully put a semi-competitive total on the board.”

“Have played quite a few times with each other in WA (talking about Mitch Marsh). Knew he’d play his shots and that’s how you need to play out there. They’re probably just on top. They’ve got a quality batting lineup. Will have to bowl well tomorrow,” he added.

Henry also accounted for the dismissals of Marsh (40) and Nathan Lyon (5). Meanwhile, Will O’Rourke and Scott Kuggeleijn bagged two dismissals each for New Zealand. Green will resume batting with Josh Hazlewood (0*) on Day 2 and the pair will look to add more runs to Australia’s first innings total. This was also Green’s second ton in international cricket, and Tests as well. The Aussies had an erratic batting outing, as the likes of Marnus Labuschagne (1), Travis Head (1) and Alex Carey (10) were dismissed cheaply.