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Fleming happy with a draw
Wisden CricInfo staff - November 26, 2001

HOBART, Australia (Reuters)
New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming said the Kiwis were happy to escape with a draw against world champions Australia in the second Test after rain washed out more than two days of play.

"It's fair to say particularly in this Test we were always behind the eight-ball, right from the first ball," Fleming said.

"To be out of it with a draw, yeah, we've got to be happy with that."

Fleming said New Zealand had to play catch-up in both drawn Tests of the three-match series.

Fleming had won the toss at the Bellerive Oval on Thursday and sent in Australia who made 558 for eight declared with centuries from Ricky Ponting (Man-of-the-Match with 157 not out) and Justin Langer (123).

New Zealand replied with 243 for seven including Fleming's 71. More than two full days of play were lost due to rain.

"In both Tests we have been coming from behind and that stems from the way we played on the first day, the first morning," Fleming said. "We tried to address it in this game and it probably went even more horribly wrong," Fleming added.

Australia have not drawn a Test series at home since playing South Africa eight years ago for a 1-1 result.

The previous season, 1992-93, provided Australia's most recent home Test series loss, 2-1 against West Indies.

"The outcome of what's happened in this Test is very exciting for us now," Fleming said. "We have a chance to win the series.

"We're not there by the quality of our play, we are there through other influences (bad weather), and we'd like to finish this tour playing a little bit better cricket."

Fleming said it was clear that New Zealand's bowling attack, led by Chris Cairns (1-122 off 28 overs), needed a massive overhaul.

"He (Cairns) has certainly been working hard to identify the problems with his bowling," Fleming said.

The Kiwis lost Dion Nash (stomach injury) and Shayne O'Connor (knee injury) after the first Test and Daryl Tuffey, who took 0 for 74 from 15 overs in the second Test, is a doubt for the Perth match because of a hamstring strain.

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