 During that series, Australia had repeatedly fallen behind the required over rate; during the final match, captain Ricky Ponting used part-time bowlers to try to catch up rather than push for a victory, a move which was criticised by former captains.Prior to this series, the New Zealand side had just completed a tour of Bangladesh, winning the test series 1-0 (with one test drawn after three days were lost to rain) and the one-day series 2-1.At the beginning of the test series, they were ranked seventh in the ICC Test Championship.