Christchurch [New Zealand] : Star spinner Nathan Lyon said that Australia is confident and still has a chance to make a stunning escape in the second Test against New Zealand at Hagley Oval.
Australia fell to 34 for 4 in pursuit of their score of 279. The visitors still need 202 runs to win with just six wickets in hand and two days of the Test remaining. Lyon stated that Australia believes they can win in any situation.
“It would be a great Test match win if we’re able to pick this off. There’s a lot of belief in that change room and I think that’s credit to Pat [Cummins] and Ron [Andrew McDonald], the way they go about their leadership, instilling a lot of belief that we can win from any position,” Lyon said after play as quoted by ESPNcricinfo.
“And we’ve now found ourselves in this position where our backs are up against the wall. New Zealand were on a roll tonight but I’m sitting here understanding and believing that we can win, that’s for sure,” he added.
Prior to Edgbaston, Australia’s only successful chase of that scale was in South Africa in 2011, when captain Pat Cummins was again the hero on his Test debut as an 18-year-old, with Lyon uncomfortably padding up as the next and final man in.
“We’ve been able to tick off a couple of totals in the past. So there’s a lot of confidence within our batting group and us bowlers with the bat in hand. We pride ourselves on our batting, so we’ll give it our best chance if it comes down to that,” Lyon added.
“Too often I seem to be batting in the top six. Happy to do the role but it’s nice that I didn’t have to walk out there tonight,” he said.
He avoided criticizing his hitting lineup, but his tone conveyed how the squad feels about their most recent batting disaster.
“It’s not a frustration. I think it’s a learning curve for us. We’re on a path, and on a journey, on a dream to become one of Australia’s great cricket teams. And I’m not saying that we are that at the moment. It’s a learning experience for us. And if we can try and get better at that, then it’s going to put us in really good stead on our dream to become a great Australian team,” Lyon said.
“I know that we’ve got a lot of work to do, but that’s our dream and that’s our goal,” the star spinner added.
