Australia’s Alex Carey was denied the chance to snare a rare fourth-innings century when captain Pat Cummins struck the winning runs against New Zealand – and Cummins admitted he had ‘no idea’ his teammate was on 98 runs at the time.
Carey batted brilliantly alongside Mitchell Marsh (80) to dig Australia out of a huge hole and – with Cummins – put the visitors on the brink of a remarkable comeback.
But despite needing two runs to bring up just his second Test ton, he didn’t get the chance – with Cummins hitting a four off the last ball of the over when he could have blocked it out and given Carey the strike.
Carey survived two DRS reviews and hit 15 fours in his unbeaten 98, and was named man of the match after also taking 10 catches in the match. Having been under immense pressure to produce a strong performance with his place in the side under threat, Carey’s second-highest Test score was a potentially career-defining knock.
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But Cummins admitted he was clueless as to Carey’s situation.
“I had no idea he was on 98!”
“That would have been embarrassing if he was celebrating (his ton) and I wasn’t looking,” the skipper added.
In the post-match press conference, Carey was more than happy to put the team first.
“I was happy with that,” Carey laughed.
“I didn’t want to get on strike again.”
Despite missing out on a century, Carey’s matchwinning performance drew plenty of plaudits.
Source Agencies
