The recently concluded three-match Test series between Australia and New Zealand turned out to be pretty one-sided. Australia whitewashed their trans-tasman rivals completely as the hosts won all three of the matches comprehensively. The Kiwis looked down and out in each and every encounter even though There had a lot of time to acclimatise to the conditions. But eventually, they did not turn out to be good enough to stand in front of the ruthlessness of their Australian counterparts. There were some players who completely dominated the series with their individual brilliance. So, let’s take a quick glance at them and their exploits in the series.
Marnus Labuschagne: The young Australian batsman has been in phenomenal form ever since the Ashes last year. The bowlers have looked completely clueless against him during the last one year and it wasn’t any different in this series. Labuschagne plundered 549 runs during the course of these three matches at a mindboggling average of 91.50. It included three fifties and two hundred, one of which was converted into his maiden double ton as well.
Nathan Lyon: He enhanced his reputation as one of the best longer-format spinners of present times once again with a terrific outing in this series. Lyon played all the three matches and picked up 20 wickets at a scintillating average and strike-rate of 17.25 and 34.9 respectively. That included two five-wicket hauls with both of them coming in the final Test match at Sydney.
Neil Wagner: The left-arm seamer’s performance was probably the only silver lining in New Zealand’s dismal performance in the series. Wagner ended up as the second-highest wicket-taker during the series having claimed 17 wickets at an excellent average and strike-rate of 22.76 and 55.5 respectively. One fascinating aspect of his performance was his consistency in claiming wickets. He didn’t even register a five-wicket haul during the three matches and yet went on to be one of the top wicket-takers.
Mitchell Starc: You can’t keep Australia’s ace-pacer out of any list? Can you? Starc dominated this series with his bowling as usual. He was Australia’s next best bowler after Lyon as he claimed 15 wickets at an outstanding average and strike-rate of 17.86 and 35.9 respectively. That includes one five-wicket haul which came in the first innings of the first Test match at Perth. It was an excellent spell of 18-2-52-5 that broke the back of New Zealand’s batting lineup completely and thus set the tone for the rest of the series.