Southee Steps Up

Day 1 at Hamilton

The first two sessions of the day eerily mirrored the corresponding events on day 1 at Wellington. Australia ground their way to tea, five wickets were picked up through some tight bowling (one more than at the Basin), Katich had held the innings together, Ponting was run out, and the kiwis played the waiting game.

Where Michael Clarke and Marcus North wrested the initiative then, today Tim Southee and Vettori - playing his hundredth test - combined beautifully to skittle out the Aussies for 231.

It was a heartening performance from Southee given his insipid display in wellington. He's been hit around a fair amount on this tour but has bounced back well each time; there was a fine spell of death in the T20, and a four-wicket haul in the final ODI where Australia were bowled out for 190. Particularly satisfying was the way he worked over Haddin and North after tea. His away-swingers asked a fair number of questions of the batsmen, and his haul was important to NZ's future given the rest of the attack has been either ageing or retiring. Jeetan Patel, who eventually got the nod over Kane Williamson, played an important role too in tandem with Vettori.

The Aussies will be furious with themselves when they look back at some of their dismissals, and will likely not be as generous second time around. NZ's batsmen have a great opportunity to put themselves in front for once, but will they take it? Tomorrow should be a fascinating, pressure-filled day.