Black Caps bask in the glory of rare victory

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New Zealand captian Ross Taylor celebrates after beating Australia in the second cricket test match at Bellerive Oval in Hobart.

New Zealand players celebrate after beating Australia in the second cricket test match at Bellerive Oval in Hobart.

New Zealand players celebrate after beating Australia in the second cricket test match at Bellerive Oval in Hobart.

New Zealand bowler Doug Bracewell celebrates after beating Australia in the second cricket test match at Bellerive Oval in Hobart.

New Zealand players celebrate after beating Australia in the second cricket test match at Bellerive Oval in Hobart.

Doug Bracewell of New Zealand celebrates taking the wicket of Nathan Lyon of Australia during day four of the second test.

Tim Southee of New Zealand celebrates but his appeal for lbw is unsuccessful during day four of the second test.

David Warner of Australia celebrates making his maiden test century during day four of the second test.

Doug Bracewell of New Zealand appeals during day four of the second test.

Tim Southee of New Zealand celebrates taking the wicket of Brad Haddin of Australia during day four of the second test.

Doug Bracewell of New Zealand is congratulated by team-mates after getting the wicket of James Pattinson of Australia during day four.

Michael Clarke of Australia leaves the field after being dismissed by Doug Bracewell of New Zealand during day four of the second test.

Australia's Ricky Ponting leaves the field as New Zealand's Doug Bracewell celebrates taking his wicket during their second test cricket match.

Doug Bracewell of New Zealand celebrates taking the wicket of Ricky Ponting of Australia during day four of the second test.

Phil Hughes of Australia leaves the field after being dismissed by Chris Martin of New Zealand during day four of the second test.

New Zealand's Tim Southee appeals for an LBW decision against David Warner.

Australian opening batsman David Warner misplays a ball off his pads.

A fired-up Peter Siddle reacts after taking a wicket.

Lower-order batsman Doug Bracewell ducks under a bouncer.

Australian spin bowler Nathan Lyon is high-fived by team-mates.

Ricky Ponting and wicketkeeper Brad Haddin appeal for Chris Martin's dismissal.

Australia's James Pattinson is exuberant after removing New Zealand captain Ross Taylor.

Ross Taylor, not out on 42 at stumps on day two, plays a delivery off his pads.

Australian rookie pace bowler James Pattinson signs autographs for some young fans.

Jesse Ryder plays and misses at a ball down the leg side.

Debutant New Zealand quick Trent Boult took three wickets in the Australian first innings.

Peter Siddle watches as Doug Bracewell fields a shot.

Mike Hussey takes the walk back to the pavillion after Trent Boult claimed his wicket.

Australian batsman David Warner survives an LBW shout from Ross Taylor and Martin Guptill.

Australia's Peter Siddle appeals for a wicket during day one of the Second Test against New Zealand at Bellerive Oval, Hobart.

Australia's James Pattinson appeals for a lbw decision on the first day of the Second Test against New Zealand at Bellerive Oval, Hobart.

Australia's Peter Siddle is congratulated by team-mates after getting the wicket of Martin Guptill on the first day of the Second Test against New Zealand at Bellerive Oval, Hobart.

New Zealand captain Ross Taylor reacts after his dismissal on the first day of the Second Test against Australia at Bellerive Oval, Hobart.

New Zealand captain Ross Taylor looks back after being dismissed early on the first day of the Second Test against Australia at Bellerive Oval, Hobart.

Australia's Ricky Ponting (left) celebrates with captain Michael Clarke (second from right) after New Zealand's Martin Guptill was caught on the first day of the Second Test at Bellerive Oval, Hobart.

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The Black Caps beat Australia

Opinion poll

Does the Hobart triumph suggest eighth-ranked New Zealand are on their way back to being a world test force?

Yes. It's a young team and this win will give them huge confidence.

Not sure. Remember it's not a great Australian team.

No. Our players simply aren't good enough. This was a one-off.

Vote Result

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As he basked in the glory of being the first New Zealand skipper to win in Australia in 26 years, Ross Taylor could barely utter the words.

Could he quite believe it? A seven-run win?

After a long pause, "Nah."

There was a long exhale from the captain, and all the tension of the past five hours flowed out like a therapy session.

From down and out when they arrived at Bellerive Oval, when Australia were 72-0 chasing 241 to win, New Zealand roared back into it thanks to Doug Bracewell's magical spell. Now, at 199-9, victory was surely theirs on a sunny Hobart afternoon.

But there was one, final twist in a remarkable test that gave all batsmen nightmares, bar Australian opener David Warner who carried his bat through the final innings for 123 not out.

He and batting bunny Nathan Lyon nudged, prodded and occasionally slashed their way towards the total.

The target somehow got below 10. Bracewell was on empty, Tim Southee was trying to squeeze out one final unplayable delivery.

"The way Lyon and Warner played, I nearly had a heart attack," Taylor said as he dropped the field back for Warner, then surrounded Lyon.

Then there was the umpire decision review system. New Zealand blundered on Sunday when they did not challenge a Phil-Hughes caught behind on nought.

Southee thought he had trapped Lyon lbw with 25 required to win. They challenged, it pitched outside leg stump. Then, eight balls later, Bracewell roared an appeal against Lyon with 18 required. They challenged, it was missing leg stump.

Finally, at 2.25pm (local time), in Bracewell's 16th over of the day, he snuck one through Lyon's defences and shattered his stumps.

The New Zealanders embraced wildly, Lyon seemed inconsolable. New Zealand had been two boundaries away from a heart-wrenching defeat as the last pair added 34.

"My emotions, hopefully the goal, was to show a calmness but inside I was churning," Taylor said.

Bracewell was a touch calmer, he claimed, before the 21-year-old hauled in the final scalp of his 6-40, in just his third test.

"Yeah, I was a bit nervous there at the end when they only needed nine runs. We knew we were a chance if we could keep Warner at the other end. He was on 100 and striking well," Bracewell said.

"We just looked to bowl at Lyon and every ball we were a chance with the No11. Thankfully, he missed a straight one and it was game over."

It all turned on a Bracewell blinder of 3-0 in 15 balls to remove the big three, Ricky Ponting, Michael Clarke and Mike Hussey.

The ball was still swinging, the edges were found, then Hussey, Mr Cricket in these parts, was trapped in front by an inswinging thunderbolt, first ball.

Taylor said: "We believed in ourselves that we could win this match. We talked a lot about the way we bowled in Zimbabwe in that last session. Just fight and take our catches and bowl in the right areas and we'll get reward."

This was an epic victory, given what they had been through. And it was done without their best player, Daniel Vettori, who missed out with a hamstring strain.

They arrived in Brisbane full of optimism and were thrashed; their batsmen swung wildly, the fielders dropped catches. On Friday in Hobart they were greeted by an emerald green surface with branches almost growing out of it, and were rolled for 150.

But they still applied themselves with the bat and held their catches, crucially. None went down in Hobart; Taylor and Martin Guptill were outstanding in the cordon.

"I'm not a very good speaker as you can tell now. The only thing I try to instill in the players is fight and pride and playing for your country.

We didn't show much fight in Brisbane but we showed a lot of guts and determination out there today. That was for the New Zealand public, an early Christmas present, I guess," Taylor said.

AT A GLANCE

First New Zealand test win on Australian soil since Perth in November, 1985

Third win from 28 tests in Australia

First win against Australia since Auckland in March, 1993

Eighth win from 52 tests against Australia

First away win against a top-eight test side since 2002, against the West Indies in Barbados

Doug Bracewell's 6-40 was the second-best New Zealand innings figures on Australian soil, after Richard Hadlee's 9-52 in Brisbane in 1985

From three tests, Bracewell has two five-wicket hauls and 16 wickets at 19.25

- © Fairfax NZ News