Australia edge over New Zealand

The Black Caps have scored 176 runs in 51 overs at stumps and they are trying hard to recover.
The Test is being played at Brisbane Cricket Ground, Woolloongabba, Brisbane, scheduled to be played on 1, 2,3,4,5 December, 2011.

Squads

Australia David Warner Phillip Hughes Usman Khawaja Ricky Ponting Michael Clarke (capt) Michael Hussey Brad Haddin (wk) Peter Siddle James Pattinson Mitchell Starc Nathan Lyon

New Zealand Martin Guptill Brendon McCullum Kane Williamson Ross Taylor (capt) Jesse Ryder Dean Brownlie Daniel Vettori Reece Young (wk) Doug Bracewell Tim Southee Chris Martin

Ross Taylor won the toss for New Zealand and decided to bat with an anticipation of putting a challenging total for the home side.

Brendon McCullum and Martin Guptill came in the center to open the innings against the determined Australians.
McCullum made his intentions clear by smashing three fours in the very first over bowled by the debutant James Pattinson.

Peter siddle shared the attack from the other end and was straight away on target. Guptill had a cautious start and was beaten time and again by the seam of the ball and found it difficult to cope with the rising deliveries.

He survived and they added 34 runs by the end of the seventh over and steadied the innings.
Left arm medium fast bowler, Mitchell Starc who was another debutant for the Kangaroos was handed over the ball in the eighth over and he conceded four runs.

Australia got the first success of the day when Guptill was caught at the wicket by Brad Haddin off Siddle for 13 runs off 34 balls. The first wicket fell at 44 runs when Kane Williamson came to the crease and joined with McCullum who became the first victim of Starc after the addition of 12 runs in the total.

McCullum scored 34 runs off 51 balls with the assistance of seven fours and was caught at point by David Warner.
The Australian bowlers showed their commitment towards the game and the visitors found it hard to go along with the game.

The Kiwi’s lost their five top order batsmen at 96 runs in 25.6 overs and the things started looking gloomy for them.
Dean Brownlie and Daniel Vettori joined together, consolidated the innings and kept the score board moving by adding valuable runs.

Australians might have got few more wickets had they not dropped few catches let down by Usman Khawaja, Michael Clarke and Warner.

The duo shared a valuable unbroken partnership of 80 runs for the sixth wicket. New Zealand managed a total of 176 runs for the loss of five wickets in the rain hit day, Brownlie and Vettori were at the crease with 32 and 45 runs respectively.

Starc was the main wicket taker for Australia with two as Pattison, Siddle and Nathan Lyon shared one wicket each.
The visitors would depend a lot on the current pair to build a useful partnership which can end up in big total whereas Australia will try to get the remaining wickets as early as possible.