Read more about Cricket.
Kiwis collapse as Aussies draw first blood
Cricket, 11:49, November 23, 2008 ,
Mitchell Johnson took five New Zealand wickets as Australia secured a 149-run victory in the first Test at the Gabba.
The Black Caps resumed on day four on 143-6, still needing 184 runs to win following Simon Katich's timely second innings century for the hosts on Saturday. However once Kiwi skipper Daniel Vettori was dismissed on 10 thanks to Andrew Symonds' fine one-handed catch from a Johnson delivery, it was game over with the remaining three wickets tumbling for just 17 more runs as the visitors failed to last an hour at the crease.
The win for Australia comes as a timely boost following their recent 2-0 Test series defeat in India earlier this month. However captain Ricky Ponting still feels there is much room for improvement.
"I think we were a fair way off playing our best cricket, both teams struggled with the bat on that wicket," he said.
"(But) after halfway through the second day, it probably wasn't a bad surface to bat on at all.
"I thought we bowled very well, we fielded well, but our batting wasn't great.
"We've done what we needed to do, we had a number of outstanding individual performances in the game, but at the moment we're just lacking that real consistency through the group that we need to play our best cricket."
Meanwhile, Vettori felt Michael Clark and Simon Katich were the difference between the two sides.
"We started pretty well with the ball and got Australia into the position we wanted, but if we reflect back, Clarke in the first innings and Katich in the second, two very impressive innings and probably the difference between the two sides," he said.