The wicket of Ricky Ponting earlier on in the day slowed things down for the Aussies. Fresh to the wicket, and coming back to international cricket after a break due to injury, Lehmann did not look his usual bustling self. Every time he whipped the ball off his pads it did not quite race to the fence. The manner in which he uses the width of the crease to work the ball away seemed abrupt and predetermined rather than clever and judicious.

If Lehmann was rusty, Martyn was pure untarnished gold. Apart from one slash off Bond which Fleming floored at slip, Martyn did not put a foot wrong. Of the Australian batsmen, he was the most comfortable at the wicket – equally at ease with pace and spin. The fact that his strokes appear so polished, and so easy to execute must infuriate opposition; as much as it pleases audiences.

Little children in the stands shrieked "Aus-tra-lia!" even as Lehmann (35) fell to Mills, caught by Vettori on the leg side.

Some suggested this might have something to do with the fact that the man averaging over 55 in limited overs cricket, Michael Bevan, might be a bit more entertaining than the left-hander he replaced.

Bevan however, was content to concentrate on working the ball around and playing second fiddle to Martyn. The latter saw the ball well, picking the length early and pulling effectively. It was a demonstration in timing rather than raw power that saw Martyn bring up his half-century, the first of the Australian innings, in 68 balls with the aid of six boundaries.

Even the miserly Chris Harris had 38 runs taken off his five overs of dibbly-dobbly mediumpace.

Increasing the pace in the last 10 overs of the innings, Bevan went hard at everything bowled at him, running frantically even when the ball was mis-hit. Attempting to whip Oram across the line to the on side, Bevan (21) was bowled in the 48th over. Bevan had helped add 55 for the fifth wicket.

Martyn too fell soon after, caught by Harris at cover off the leading edge when he tried to work Bond to the on side. His innings of 73 (87 balls, 8 fours) was a vital factor in Australia reaching nearly 300.

Coming to the party late Shane Watson, who will have memories of a semi-final loss against India at this very ground in the Under-19 World Cup two years ago, struck a few lusty blows, combining instinct with a cool head to make 19 off just 9 balls.

Australia will be very happy with their score, and New Zealand will be looking to one or more of its batsmen to play a blinder if they are to successfully chase this target.

When the Australians play the great game at full flight things look so different. The opposition bowlers, no matter how hard they try, look inadequate. The boundaries look shorter and the outfield lightning quick. In truth, it's just how they play their cricket.

Adam Gilchrist, feared the world around for the dazzling array of strokes he has at his disposal, went after the bowling from the word go. Although Shane Bond and Kyle Mills did their best to hold a steady line and length, Gilchrist dismissed them with impunity. The shots down the ground that left fielders with no chance were the most annoying to the home side, with slashes over slip and gully following a close second. And no, it is not a good idea to bang the ball in short to the Aussie – unless you want to see the ball disappear to the outfield and thud into the boundary ropes.

And thud they did for Gilchrist, seven times along the ground and once over backward square for six after a magnificent pick up shot off his hips. Then he chanced his arm one time too many. Mis-hitting Tuffey, Gilchrist's 30-ball 44 came to an end as a back-peddling Matthew Sinclair took a fine catch.

Then came Ricky Ponting to join a sedate Matthew Hayden. The Aussie skipper, in fine nick, took off from where his stumper had left things, crashing the bowling to all parts. Fiercest of all were the off drives, played with the full face of the bat, through the line and often on the up. Punter, as he's nicknamed, lived up to his name with a couple of few gambles, playing and missing and going for some strokes that might have been better avoided.

There comes a time though when the adrenaline begins to surge through the veins and every stroke becomes possible. Ponting just about got into that groove, pushing hard rather than defending and attacking rather than leaving a ball or two alone. And this led to his downfall. Stephen Fleming, regarded as one of the shrewdest one-day captains around, placed himself at short cover and caught his opposite number driving on the up. Bond celebrated his first wicket and Ponting's breezy 37 (31 balls, 8 fours) came to an end.

Hayden and the ultra-stylish Damien Martyn took Australia merrily on to 143 before the former was cleaned up by a peach of a delivery from left-arm spinner Daniel Vettori. A a tossed up, looping delivery caught Hayden in two minds and before he could effect a drive the ball sneaked in between bat and pad and clipped the off stump. Hayden made 43 with the help of four boundaries and one majestic straight six off Jacob Oram.

Martyn (10*) and Darren Lehmann (3*) took Australia to 152/3 at the half-way mark.

The wicket looks a good one here, the outfield is fast and a light dotting of cloud cover adds to the tremendously humid conditions.

Arch rivals from across the Tasman, Australia and New Zealand line-up for one of the crucial first round encounters in this tournament. We have already seen two games go right down to the wire in this tournament, and experts are predicting that this will end the same way.

New Zealand will bank on the fact that their bowling is well suited to the conditions here. A disciplined if not dangerous attack, barring the pace and lift of Shane Bond can be lethal on sluggish wickets.

Australia for their part have a destructive batting line-up and are well backed up by a bowling attack that has variation and can eke life out of even the flattest wickets.

Australia team: ML Hayden, +AC Gilchrist, *RT Ponting, DR Martyn, DS Lehmann, MG Bevan, SR Watson, SK Warne, B Lee, JN Gillespie, GD McGrath.

New Zealand team: *SP Fleming, NJ Astle, MS Sinclair, +L Vincent, SB Styris, JDP Oram, CZ Harris, KD Mills, DL Vettori, DR Tuffey, SE Bond.