Close Australia 435 for 7 (A Gilchrist 88*, B Lee 60*)
Scorecard

Inclement weather meant that only 29 overs were possible on the second day of the first Test at the Gabba, but in that time Adam Gilchrist and Brett Lee ensured there could only be one winner with a swashbuckling display of hitting.

The pair hammered an unbroken 133, a record for Australia's eighth wicket against New Zealand and also for the eighth wicket in Tests at Brisbane. And to rub salt in the wound, their runs came at a rate of more than five an over.

When Shane Warne slashed to backward point in the third over of the day Australia were 306 for 7 and the game was in the balance. But Gilchrist vigilantly shepherded Australia into the driving seat before cutting loose in familiar style. From his first 68 balls he made only 24 runs; his last 55 brought a further 64.

It was scintillating, cavalier batting – but the bowling was at times atrocious. Gilchrist's partner, Lee, the sexy young thing of the Australian team, was in lusty mood. He gave New Zealand's pin-up boy, Chris Cairns, some real hammer, creaming him over mid-off, uppercutting a short one over third man for six and clouting another bouncer over square leg to bring up his second Test 50. The first, 62 not out against West Indies in 2000-01, also came on this ground. This was only Lee's fourth Test innings in five Tests he's played in Australia – his average currently stands at 190. Not bad for a No. 9. As Lee and Gilchrist's partnership became more than mere nuisance, Stephen Fleming turned to first-day destroyer Craig McMillan, who had winkled out Steve Waugh, Damien Martyn and Justin Langer in the space of seven overs. But lightning never looked like striking twice as Gilchrist disdainfully drove, clubbed and late-cut 21 off McMillan's two pre-lunch overs. For all the quality of the batting, New Zealand's performance was shabby. Fleming and his men made no attempt to hide their desire to be off the pitch rather than bowling at two rampant batsmen with a wet ball. Their body language spoke volumes – even when Gilchrist was at his most watchful they seemed only interested in damage limitation - and they bowled with a startling lack of nous. Gilchrist is as merciless a puller and hooker as there is in the game, but Dion Nash continued to bounce him and continued to get smacked to the boundary. Steve Waugh may look for Gilchrist and Lee to take the score up to around 500, but an overnight declaration is more likely. The pitch looks fairly placid, but Glenn McGrath and Jason Gillespie have a habit of finding movement where there was none before. Either way, it looks ominous for the Kiwis.

Australia 1 Matthew Hayden, 2 Justin Langer, 3 Ricky Ponting, 4 Mark Waugh, 5 Steve Waugh (capt), 6 Damien Martyn, 7 Adam Gilchrist (wkt), 8 Shane Warne, 9 Brett Lee, 10 Jason Gillespie, 11 Glenn McGrath

New Zealand 1 Matthew Bell, 2 Mark Richardson, 3 Mathew Sinclair, 4 Stephen Fleming (capt), 5 Nathan Astle, 6 Craig McMillan, 7 Chris Cairns, 8 Adam Parore (wkt), 9 Dion Nash, 10 Daniel Vettori, 11 Shayne O'Connor

Rob Smyth is a staff writer with Wisden.com.

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