Earlier, a Mitchell Starc five-for had knocked over New Zealand for 166
\nnews agency
\nPerth
\nSmith dived horizontally to his right at second slip to take the catch to remove Williamson for 34 from the bowling of Starc, just when it appeared New Zealand were fighting back well, after losing their two openers with only one run on the board.
\nAfter Australia posted 416 in extreme heat on the back of a third successive Test century for Marnus Labuschagne the Kiwis were struggling at 109 for five in reply at stumps, still 307 runs in arrears.
\nRoss Taylor, who put on 76 for the third wicket with Williamson and made 290 in his previous Test in Perth, was on 66 and BJ Watling was yet to score.
\nSmith\u2019s freak catch was a key moment, as the Kiwis slumped to 97 for five by losing three wickets for just 20 runs and Tim Southee conceded the last hour cost the Kiwis dearly.
\n\u201cBeing five down is a couple too many, but we\u00b4ve got a couple of scrappers in there,\u201d he said. \u201cHe (Smith) has taken a few of those that against us and it was another great catch from him today.\u201d
\nStarc said the Smith catch to remove Williamson was a pivotal moment in the day\u00b4s play.
\n\u201cTo hang onto him was a big moment in tonight\u00b4s session,\u201d he said.
\nStarc (4-31) did the damage with four wickets, including those of Henry Nicholls (7) and night watchman Neil Wagner (0) in successive balls.
\nHowever, Australia had also lost opening bowler Josh Hazlewood (1-0) with a left hamstring injury.
\nHazlewood bowled opener Jeet Raval for a duck in his first over, but managed just two balls in his second before pulling up short during his run up.
\nHe left the field immediately with a devastated demeanour, becoming the second fast bowler to succumb to injury in two days of scorching Perth heat.
\nKiwi debutant Lockie Ferguson was forced out the game on the first day by a calf injury.
\nThe wicket of Raval followed the dismissal of Tom Latham in the very first over, easily caught and bowled by Starc in his follow through.
\nHaving claimed the two openers in quick time in favourable bowling conditions Australia looked in total control, but Williamson and Taylor rode their luck early and then settled in as the home side was forced to turn to former wicket-keeper Matthew Wade to send down a couple of overs of erratic medium pace.
\nReplays suggested Wade actually had Williamson caught behind on 13, but the Australians didn\u00b4t review even though Smith seemed confident it was out.
\nEarlier, Labuschagne\u2019s 143 was the foundation of an Australian innings that lasted just a few balls shy of five full sessions as the mercury again climbed towards 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) and a bush-fire broke out adjacent to the ground.
\nLabuschagne looked set for his third successive innings over 150 until he was bowled by the determined Neil Wagner (4-92).
\nThe 25-year-old hadn\u2019t given a chance in reaching 143, but walked a little far across his stumps and the ball crashed into his leg stump to reward Wagner for a spirited spell.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Earlier, a Mitchell Starc five-for had knocked over New Zealand for 166 news agency Perth Smith dived horizontally to his right at second slip to take the catch to remove Williamson for 34 from the bowling of Starc, just when it appeared New Zealand were fighting back well, after losing their two openers with only […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":97397,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-97370","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports"},"yoast_head":"\n