Steve Smith pulled off two stunning catches to leave Australia with the advantage as New Zealand stumbled early in their pursuit of 369 to win the first Test here at the Basin Reserve on Saturday.
\nThe home side were 111-3 at stumps on day three, with Rachin Ravindra unbeaten on an eye-catching 56 and Daryl Mitchell on 12, with the pair having put on 52 in 20.3 overs together.
\nNathan Lyon took 2-27 \u2014 aided by some brilliance from Smith in the slips \u2014 to give the accomplished off-spinner six wickets for the match.
\nLyon shapes as a key figure in preventing New Zealand from scoring the remaining 258 runs they need to win on a pitch that is taking turn and bounce.
\nNew Zealand part-time spinner Glenn Phi\u00adl\u00adlips earlier capitalised on the conditions, snaring career-best figures of 5-45 as Australia were bundled out for 164 in their second innings.
\nLyon was introduced in the sixth over of New Zealand\u2019s response and made an immediate imp\u00adact, having Tom Latham caught behind for eight.
\nThe 36-year-old claimed the key wicket of Kane Williamson soon afterwards for nine, when Smith pouched a sharp catch down low at leg slip.
\nSmith\u2019s second catch was even better, to rem\u00adove Will Young for 15 off part-time spinner Tra\u00advis Head, reacting qui\u00adckly to a fine edge that went low and to his left.
\nIt was the 182nd Test catch from Smith, lifting him to sixth on the all-time list for outfielders \u2014 now 28 catches behind Indian leader Rahul Dravid.
\nRavindra, who sco\u00adred 240 in the first Test against South Africa last month, defied Australia late in the day with a series of aggressive strokes in his 94-ball knock.
\nThe 24-year-old struck most of his eight fours through cuts or pulls and swatted Head over mid-wicket for six.
\nMitchell was fortunate to survive an early stumping chance off Lyon, when the ball evaded the gloves of wicket-keeper Alex Carey, with the charging batsman well out of his ground.
\nEarlier, Australia lost their last six wickets in the space of 13 overs, with Phillips producing the best figures by any New Zealand spinner on home soil in 18 years, complementing his 71 with the bat in New Zealand\u2019s first innings of 179.<\/p>\n
SCOREBOARD
\nAUSTRALIA (1st Innings 383 (C. Green 174 not out, M. Marsh 40; M. Henry 5-70)
\nNEW ZEALAND (1st Innings) 179 (G. Phillips 71; M. Henry 42; N. Lyon 4-43)
\nAUSTRALIA (2nd Innings, overnight 13-2):
\nS. Smith b Southee 0
\nU. Khawaja st Blundell b Phillips 28
\nM. Labuschagne c Blundell b Southee 2
\nN. Lyon c Young b Henry 41
\nC. Green c Young b Phillips 34
\nT. Head c Kuggeleijn b Phillips 29
\nM. Marsh c Young b Phillips 0
\nA. Carey c Southee b Phillips 3
\nM. Starc b Henry 12
\nP. Cummins c Latham b Henry 8
\nJ. Hazlewood not out 1
\nEXTRAS (B-5, LB-1) 6
\nTOTAL (all out, 51.1 overs) 164
\nFALL OF WICKETS: 1-0 (Smith), 2-4 (Labuschagne), 3-53 (Lyon), 4-81 (Khawaja), 5-127 (Head), 6-127 (Marsh), 7-139 (Carey), 8-146 (Green), 9-159 (Cummins)
\nBOWLING: Southee 11.1-2-46-2; Henry 12.1-1-36-3; Kuggeleijn 3-0-18-0; O\u2019Rourke 7.5-4-11-0; Phillips 16-4-45-5; Ravindra 1-0-2-0
\nNEW ZEALAND (2nd Innings):
\nT. Latham c Carey b Lyon 8
\nW. Young c Smith b Head 15
\nK. Williamson c Smith b Lyon 9
\nR. Ravindra not out 56
\nD. Mitchell not out 12
\nEXTRAS (B-9, LB-1, W-1) 11
\nTOTAL (for three wickets, 41 overs) 111
\nFALL OF WICKETS: 1-15 (Latham), 2-35 (Williamson), 3-59 (Young)
\nSTILL TO BAT: T. Blundell, G. Phillips, S. Kuggeleijn, M. Henry, T. Southee, W. O\u2019Rourke
\nBOWLING: Starc 6-2-22-0 (1w); Hazlewood 7-2-17-0; Lyon 16-7-27-2; Cummins 8-1-25-0; Head 4-1-10-1<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Steve Smith pulled off two stunning catches to leave Australia with the advantage as New Zealand stumbled early in their pursuit of 369 to win the first Test here at the Basin Reserve on Saturday. The home side were 111-3 at stumps on day three, with Rachin Ravindra unbeaten on an eye-catching 56 and Daryl […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":391323,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-391310","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports"},"yoast_head":"\n