Chris Harris

Harris showed a great deal of mental strength to come out and bat after he tore a rotator cuff in his right shoulder while fielding earlier in the day.

The 35-year-old managed to add eight runs for the last wicket with paceman Kyle Mills before his stumps were re-arranged by Glenn McGrath to hand victory to the home team by 17 runs.

Ponting said: "As soon as he came out I ran straight to the middle of the wicket to say to him that I thought it was a very gutsy and very good effort for him to come out and bat.

"You could see he was very restricted and was hurting a fair bit, but he showed a lot of guts."

Black Caps skipper Stephen Fleming was equally impressed with the veteran's bravery in an attempt to win the match and seal the series for the visitors.

"He saw perhaps the opportunity to win the game so he did what he felt was best. He was in pain but still felt he could do a job and as it got closer it became a pretty real option.

Meanwhile, Ponting expressed his relief that his team got home in the end after having the Kiwis reeling at 166/8 at one stage.

"It was a lot closer than I thought it was going to be," said Ponting.

Fleming also admitted that his team were always going to struggle to pull this match out of the fire after his team's poor start.

 "We didn't start well. We finished the second half well but you have to start better than that if you want to win," he said.
 
The destiny of the Chappel-Bradman series trophy will now be decided in the final clash in Brisbane on Friday.