Though Nathan Lyon is still Australia's best player, Glenn Phillips and Rachin Ravindra give New Zealand optimism

The visitors fell short of their goal of 369, although even that would represent a record for New Zealand.
With Richmond 56* and Mitchell 12* at 179 and 111 for 3, New Zealand needs 258 more runs to defeat Australia's 383 and 164 (Lyon 41, Phillips 5-45, Henry 3-36).

Despite a thrilling comeback from New Zealand on the third day, Nathan Lyon outmaneuvered Kane Williamson and threatened on a sharply changing Basin Reserve surface, keeping Australia in the driver's seat for their maiden Test triumph.

In an attempt to chase 369, New Zealand managed to reach stumps at 111 for 3, thanks to a fifty-year partnership between Daryl Mitchell and Rachin Ravindra that endured difficult circumstances. They took 2 for 27 from 16 overs against Lyon, a bowler of obvious risk.
Late in the day's play, Ravindra combined aggression and defense, as evidenced by the towering six he scored off Travis Head's offspring. He hit a short delivery from Mitchell Starc to the leg-side boundary to reach his fifty off 77 balls.
Ravindra did face a few nervous moments, including a Lyon leg-before-waist appeal that Australia was unable to properly review. Still, he survived to offer New Zealand hope of pulling off an incredible triumph. Mitchell restrained his natural aggression in light of the challenging circumstances, finishing 12 not out from 63 balls.

If New Zealand is to take the lead in this series, they will have to shatter all previous records, as Pakistan's 277 for 3 in 2003 was the biggest run chase at Basin Reserve ever.
Australia lost 6 for 37 at home to New Zealand, and Glenn Phillips became the first spinner to take five wickets at home since Jeetan Patel in 2008. That was the beginning of New Zealand's comeback. Australia was bowled out for 164, their sixth-lowest score in Test cricket against New Zealand, as he finished with 5 for 45 from 16 overs.

However, New Zealand's pursuit got off to a bad start when, just before tea, opener Tom Latham gave Lyon a wicket by nicking off a short and wide pitch. When Williamson delivered his first ball, Lyon, who came into the attack in the sixth over, had a massive caught-behind appeal rejected, and Australia attempted an unsuccessful review.
After the break, the exciting match resumed with Williamson, who had scored three hundred in four innings against South Africa, keen to avenge his disastrous run-out for a duck in New Zealand's opening innings.

Williamson, who had switched to around the wicket and had a leg slip at his disposal, made a statement by getting into a pair of rare short deliveries from Lyon. When Williamson inside-edged into the safe hands of Steven Smith at leg slip, he was caught in the trap by Lyon's delivery, which pitched on the middle and straightened.
Williamson was clearly frustrated with himself after an uncommon double failure, as his modest career mark against Australia dropped to 37.26 from 55.25.

Captain Pat Cummins resorted to Head when the spin was spitting off the surface, and it turned out to be a wise move as his third delivery removed opener Will Young, who played pointlessly and edged to slip where Smith completed a magnificent one-handed catch. With that catch, Smith moved up to sixth place on the all-time list, surpassing Mark Waugh's record of 181 Test catches.
Australia maintained their confidence despite a meltdown in the middle session that broke their control, thanks to Lyon's effort.
In the first Test match of the series, New Zealand has occasionally seemed intimidated as they look to win a rare Test match against Australia. However, Phillips has emerged as a star since leading New Zealand to a poor first innings of 179 runs with a valiant 71 off 70.

After front-line spinner Mitchell Santner was left out of this match, he also stood up with the ball. After stumping Usman Khawaja in the opening session, Phillips gave New Zealand a much-needed boost just after lunch when he took consecutive wickets of Mitchell Marsh and Head.
Before holing out to long-off, Head, who had scored only one run in his previous three innings, quickly reached 29 off 36 balls. After being caught at short leg, Marsh was out for a golden duck, and Phillips tied his career high of four wickets in an innings.
Following his brilliant unbeaten 174 in the first innings, Cameron Green poked to short-leg to end his 80-ball 34, and Young made a very good catch to give Phillips his fifth shortly after.

After Cummins was dropped twice, Phillips was denied a sixth wicket, but Matt Henry took the final two wickets, finishing with eight wickets for the match, to complete New Zealand's comeback.

Phillips, who had never taken five wickets in first-class cricket, became the first spinner from New Zealand to do so at Basin Reserve since 2006 when Daniel Vettori—who is currently an Australian coach—captured seven wickets for 130 against Sri Lanka.

After dominating the first half-hour of play, Lyon, the night watcher, made a comeback seem improbable for New Zealand. Lyon failed despite hitting a blistering 41 off 46 balls in the top score of the innings, despite having scored the most runs in Test history without a half-century with a peak score of 47.

After he caught Henry by surprise at midwicket and bowled him, Lyon's attempt to reach a landmark was unsuccessful, but he returned to the action later in the day's play.