The New Zealanders should immediately bottle whatever it was they had to drink at the halfway mark of today's play. Perhaps it had been pilfered from Justin Langer's kitbag as he was back to his blazing best todayin his third consecutive Test century. After a woeful first three hours New Zealand lifted after lunch. Sadly for them, the Australians had bolted long before.

This was yet another frenetic day of Test cricket as attack met counterattack in a wonderfully entertaining exhibition. Daniel Vettori's fortunes summed up events as well as anything.

The Australians have obviously decided to go for Vettori as soon as he comes on, Matthew Hayden, the batsman with the heavyweight boxer's build, leading the way with lofted drive and powerful sweeps. Thankfully Vettori held fast today, despite a shaky start. His later burst of four good wickets confirmed his stature as his country's best bowler while also restoring a little Kiwi pride after another double-century opening partnership from Hayden and Langer.

New Zealand's fast bowling in the first session was club standard and treated as such by Langer ad Hayden. Fortunately for NZ, Vettori dragged them out of an ever-deepening hole with a courageous mixture of flight and deception. His lovely arm-ball did for Mark Waugh (bowled coming down the pitch) and Damien Martyn (leg before to a ball that slid on), his flight for Adam Gilchrist (also bowled coming down).

Vettori's effort was not the only bright spot in the Kiwi gloom. Shane Bond, flown over this week as an emergency replacement, produced good pace and looks to have the sort of simple, energetic and upright action that should help him develop into a good Test bowler.

But by the time Vettori and Bond recovered face in the afternoon, Australia were already over the hill and far away.

Talking of attack and counterattack, Australia's aggressive approach with the bat always threatens to take the game away from opponents. Occasionally it comes unstuck but any mistakes by the bowling side – such as the Kiwis' poor new-ball bowling or the dropping of Langer when he was on 1 - usually earn a hefty penalty as the Australians keep playing their shots.

The Australians' scoring rate did not change as they lost 5 for 44 in the middle session. A stumps scoreline of 411 for 6 after being sent in has all but shoved New Zealand out of this contest.

Mark Ray has covered Australian cricket since 1987 and is also the author of a number of books on the game.

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