Veteran Australian off-spinner Nathan Lyon bowled to young and talented New Zealand all-rounder Rachin Ravindra for the first time during the ongoing Test between the two countries in Wellington on Day 3, Saturday. Ravindra is on 56*(94), as the New Zealand players found themselves at 111/3 at Stumps on Day 3, chasing a record target of 369 as well. Lyon was impressed with the way Ravindra and Daryl Mitchell (12*) steadied the ship after the hosts were struggling at 59/3.

Nathan Lyon told reporters about Rachin Ravindra after the end of play on Day 3: “You got to give respect and credit where credit’s due, I thought Rachin and Daryl played superb innings there. Rachin seems like a really good player, first time I have bowled to him. Watched a lot of him during the World Cup and he’s going to be a superstar. He played very well there.”

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However, New Zealand still need 268 runs to win the game with seven wickets in hand. They would like to see Ravindra and Mitchell swell their overnight partnership further and try to chase the target. Nathan Lyon was happy to see the spinners get help from the pitches in New Zealand as well.

On this, Nathan Lyon stated: “Great day of Test cricket. I am a big fan when the ball spins obviously. I thought Glenn bowled pretty well to take five wickets, hats off to him. Pretty good day. (Surprised to see spin in New Zealand?) No, not after watching that Test against South Africa. When they left Mitch Santner out, I was pretty surprised. I am not sure where that Test was but I was at home licking my lips.”