31 Mar 2010

Johnson puts Australia in winning position

6:26 am on 31 March 2010

The Australia's Mitchell Johnson is back at the top of his game, bowling at speeds of more than 150 kmhh as New Zealand faces another big loss on the last day of the second cricket Test in Hamilton,

The Black Caps will resume on 185 for five after being set a world-record chase of 479 runs to win and square the series.

Mitchell removed openers Tim McIntosh and BJ Watling and the first innings century maker Ross Taylor, bowling at up to 152 kmh on a pitch offering variable bounce

Johnson, who has seven wickets for the match and 152 overall, has claimed the record for the left-arm bowler to reach the 150-wicket milestone in the least amount of Tests.

The 28-year-old has completed the feat in 34 matches, beating some big of cricket's biggest names including Alan Davidson (37) and Wasim Akram (41).

The highest successful fourth-innings run chase in Test history is the 7-418 for 7 compiled by West Indies against Australia in Antigua in May 2003.