Brisbane: Australia have won by 149 runs and that'll make them feel a lot better after a difficult tour of India. They were put in to bat in difficult conditions and things didn't look very rosy when they were bowled out for 214. However, they exploited the fragile batting of the visitors and got a handy first-innings lead. It was game on when Maythew Hayden fell first ball but Katich's heroics made the difference. A target of 327 was always going to be tough for Newzealand despite the conditions easing out. The two late strikes last evening will bite for a while. New Zealand will have to capitalise on the better batting conditions at Adelaide.

"It's been a trend for a while now. We need one or two guys to stand up and score hundreds. There's some talented guys in the line-up. It's just a question of self belief," said Vettori.

"We didn't have the best of games but it feels good to bounce back. We came to Brisbane after 6-7 weeks in India so out batsmen were a bit under-prepared for the conditions. Hopefully our batsmen can get better in Adelaide. We're going to have to work a lot harder down there to get wickets. To get two late wickets last night was always a bonus," told Ponting.

Mitchell Johnson is the Man of the Match: "Good to get back on a nice and bouncy track. I felt pretty good back in India, I like to hit the deck hard. Me and Clark bowl well as a unit."

Yesterday, Australia were comfortably poised to win the first Test against NZ after tenacious batting display from Simon Katich revived their fortunes here.

Australia, who were off to a floundering start in their second innings, were steadied by Katich unbeaten 131 herculean effort. Katich thus became the first Aussie i  a decade to carry his bat through the innings.

Brief Score: Australia 214 and 268 beat New Zealand 156 and 177 (Taylor 75, Johnson 5-39, Clark 4-43) by 149 runs
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