The first Test match between New Zealand and Australia at Basin Reserve took an unexpected turn when former Test captain Kane Williamson faced an unfortunate run-out on Day 2. Glenn Phillips, one of Williamson's teammates, and Australian pacer Josh Hazlewood offered contrasting perspectives on the incident.
In the 5th over of New Zealand's innings, Williamson's attempt to take a quick single led to a mix-up with his batting partner, Will Young. The collision between the two batsmen resulted in Williamson falling short of the crease at the non-striker's end, with Marnus Labuschagne executing a direct hit.
Speaking to reporters after Day 2, Glenn Phillips shared his view that the collision wouldn't have occurred if Australian pacer Mitchell Starc had bowled the ball on a slightly different line. While emphasizing that Starc didn't intend to obstruct, Phillips described the incident as a "freak accident." "At the end of the day, it was a little bit of a freak accident. If Mitch (Starc) was on a slightly different line, obviously he wasn't in the way on purpose, but if he's on a slightly different line, Kane runs around Youngy, Youngy goes through on his normal line and nothing happens" Phillips said.
"It was just one of those moments where everything brought together a perfect storm and Marnus unfortunately hit (stumps)." he added.
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Despite the unfortunate incident, New Zealand couldn't avoid an early collapse in their batting line-up, losing five wickets for just 29 runs. Phillips played a commendable knock of 70 off 71 balls, but the Kiwis were eventually bowled out for 179 in the first innings after dismissing Australia for 383.
On the other side, Australian pacer Josh Hazlewood offered a different perspective, suggesting that even if Williamson and Young hadn't collided, Labuschagne's fielding prowess would still have resulted in the former New Zealand captain's run-out. Hazlewood praised Labuschagne's outstanding fielding standards, emphasizing the importance of his presence on the field for Australia.
"Marnus, in particular, has just been outstanding in the past couple of years. I know he works super hard at training all the time. I think it would have been out, even if they didn't collide," Hazlewood stated, highlighting the significant role run-outs play in Test cricket.
After bundling out New Zealand for 179, Australia faced a couple of setbacks in their innings, losing Steve Smith (0) and Marnus Labuschagne (2) for 13 runs. At the end of Day 1, Australia posted a total of 13/2 in 8 overs, with Usman Khawaja and Nathan Lyon batting on 6 and 5, respectively.
