AUS VS NZ - 2nd Test, New Zealand tour of Australia, 2019-20

Curtains down from Boxing Day, Melbourne: There couldn't be a more arbitrary tradition to be honest, but one can count on it for a melancholic throwback to cricket as we once knew it. Leather meeting flesh with stoic resistance and steely resolve, a reboot of the old-school workhorse, and one-man shows in pursuit of a distant hope that, however statistically unlikely, always keeps burning - until we get a Mohali 2010 to start the decade, or a Leeds 2019 to cap it off. For now, however, it's the Kiwis who need to forget the numbers 2,0,1, and 9 to recalibrate themselves for the next year; the Aussies rejoice, ironically waltzing into 2020 with a Test series win, sealed by the an age-old tradition. On that note, it's Rishi Roy, bidding you and the decade goodbye, alongside Pradeep Krishnamurthy, Nikhil Jadhav, Sriram AS, Raju Peethala, Ramki MS, and Vinod. Now then, 40 Test Championship points for Australia. Over to Operation Sydney on January 3, 2020. *Curtains Down*

Travis Head | Man of the Match (114 & 28): Amazing to contribute in the victory. It was a fantastic win, the summer has been great. I think they tested me all the time. I had the temperament and I'm happy I sailed through the hard period, which I probably didn't do the last time. There wasn't much pressure to score but the coaching staff has been fantastic. They prepared me in the best way possible. We need an all-rounder in the team and at this time it's me.

Tim Paine | Australia captain: The win was very pleasing. I thought the way we went about this Test from the moment we lost the toss was outstanding. Our batters did well on day 1, applied themselves and made it easy for us (Head and himself) on day 2. I thought Pattinson bowled really well, Cummins was superb in the first innings. The bowlers are sharing the load. We are playing well, there's no doubt about that. We need consistency, we need guys stepping up, we can't rely on only a few and that's what we have started to do, and that's excellent. It was a brilliant Test wicket in the end, I thought it would be tricky. But the batters did well and there are quality bowlers in both the sides, in the end it was a quality Test wicket.

Kane Williamson | New Zealand captain: I felt there was enough in the surface. It was really important for us to be on top of our game, but credit to Australia for the way they played in the first session. They've got a fantastic attack, they have the accuracy. They managed to get more out of the surface. They were better in all the departments, so we needed to be on the top of our game, but we didn't. It's always tough coming here and winning. At the moment we haven't been at our best and we were against a tough opposition. It's important that we learn quickly from our mistakes in certain areas. Lion-hearted performance by Wagner, he just keeps going on. The effort by the bowlers was inspiring stuff and it was a magnificent hundred by Blundell in front of this crowd. At this stage it hasn't come off well, but we need to get better.

It was already a questionable choice to bowl first at the MCG, and the Kiwi bowlers did reasonably well given the conditions. It's just that, well, the Australians were better. The pivotal moment arrived early yesterday, when Patty Cummins got rid of Nicholls and Taylor to rip the heart out of the Kiwi hopes. And it was all downhill from there, as the spinners wrapped it up late in the second innings. This Australian team has never looked better, and perhaps they've finally come finished rebuilding after the Newlands setback.

17:45 Local Time, 12:15 IST: Put quite simply, New Zealand have been outplayed. Battered. Let's not rub it inwith more synonyms, because this year hasn't been kind to them, and the world knows, that this isn't the worst 2019 has had to offer them. A lacklustre batting performance from the Kiwis, that simply didn't do justice to the effort put in by their bowlers, with the exception of Blundell today. 15 runs between four dismissals for their two best batsmen leaves a lot to be desired. A lot.

Labuschagne to Tom Blundell, out Caught by Lyon! Australia win the series: Australia 2-0 New Zealand. Boult isn't coming in to bat. But has the catch been taken cleanly? Tossed this up and Tom Blundell charges, clubs it towards mid-on where Lyon takes a good low catch. Tom Blundell c Lyon b Labuschagne 121(210) [4s-15]

Labuschagne to Tom Blundell, THATS OUT!! Caught!!

Labuschagne to Tom Blundell, no run, skids through low, slapped towards cover point

Labuschagne to Tom Blundell, FOUR, overpitches, full-toss, and Tom Blundell slogs that away off the inside edge to the cow corner fence for four! They're having fun now...

Labuschagne to Tom Blundell, no run, pitched up again, and that's whipped away against the spin towards long-on

Labuschagne to Tom Blundell, no run, drops the return catch! Charges against the looper, whip-drives it back, and tries to catch it fingers pointing up - fluffs it

Labuschagne to Tom Blundell, FOUR, drops it short, and he's slapped it away to the deep extra cover fence for four

Lyon to Wagner, FOUR, that's smoked! Smash Factor on that bat would go off the charts! Reaches out to the pitch of the ball, Lyon was expecting a forward defensive and nearly loses his head and he hammers it straight down the ground, past his hands, for four

Lyon to Tom Blundell, 1 run, tossed up on middle and off, Tom Blundell comes down the track and clips it away to long-on for a single

Lyon to Tom Blundell, no run, 95km/h, up from 88, skids through outside off, and that's left alone

Lyon to Tom Blundell, FOUR, another one that's dragged down, and a repeat of the pull to the deep square leg fence for four

Lyon to Tom Blundell, FOUR, dropped short, Tom Blundell is decisive to get back and pulls it away through deep midwicket for four

Lyon to Tom Blundell, no run, round the wicket, zips through towards the stumps, deliberate padding but that's pitched outside leg - big appeal but not given

Jayshankar Naik: Very disappointed with the performances of senior pros of NZ. When you travel, you expect your best batsmen to step up and deliver for your team. But here one or two batsmen are performing well in each innings which is not enough to win Test matches! Expected a better fight from the no.2 ranked team

Labuschagne to Wagner, no run, good bounce from a length, Wagner is pushed back by the overspinner and fends it away into the off-side, taking his bottom-hand off