Austrailia's Ian Dumergue versus New Zealand in round two (Day 7)
Day 2 was another day of doubles, and a day of ups and downs for NZ in the second test.
After day 1, Australia were leading 2-1 and got off to a fast start with Malcolm and Robert Fletcher beating myself and Aiken Hakes 2-0 with two error-free games. I felt a little unlucky in hilling off from centre ball on two consecutive long shots in game 1 but the Australians played well to finish their TPs.
Once again the heroic combination of Hogan and Shilling played a fantastic gritty match to wear down Hockey and Greg Fletcher (their first defeat in the MacRob) in straight games. Chris did an excellent controlled TP in the first game and had a good go at another in game 2, reaching peg & rover with a good leave.
By far the longest match of the day was Tahurangi & Clarke vs Forster & Dumergue. Jenny played an excellent final turn in game 1 after Harps had been pegged out, hitting the lift and rolling off 4-back from corner 4 and finishing. In game 2, the Australians reached rover & rover before a spirited kiwi fightback. Eventually the kiwis reached peg & peg but found themselves hampered after rover, enabling the Aussies to force a decider. In the third game the Australians had the first break before Jenny had an equalising break of her own. The Aussies hit back in however and generally maintained control of the decider, winning +17 to take the day 2-1 and a 4-2 lead heading into tomorrow's singles.
All in all, it was a slightly disappointing day for NZ, but 4-2 is a fair result and only 1 match win away from being 3-3 overall. We will be aiming to win the day tomorrow.