Honours even after Oram hundred

Australia 4 for 197 (Martyn 59*, Ponting 51) trail New Zealand 353 (Oram 126*, Sinclair 69, Kasprowicz 4-90, Warne 4-97) by 156 runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

Jacob Oram celebrates his superb hundred © Getty Images Enlarge

The second day of the Brisbane Test belonged to New Zealand, but in the context of the match, honours were just about even at the close. An hour after tea Australia were wobbling on 4 for 128 in reply to New Zealand's 353, but a solid end to the session from Damien Martyn and Michael Clarke steadied the ship. The shame was they left the field to a chorus of boos when they accepted an offer of bad light, despite the outfield being bathed in sunshine. Australia were 4 for 197 - still 156 behind - at stumps.

Jacob Oram's terrific hundred dominated the morning and completed a recovery which began in the final session yesterday. He arrived at the crease with New Zealand in trouble at 5 for 138, and survived some hairy moments, especially against Shane Warne. But resuming on 63, he marshalled the tail to such good effect that the last five wickets added 215, of which his share was an unbeaten 126.

And then, after Australia had grown in confidence as the afternoon progressed, they lost three wickets straight after tea. Daniel Vettori removed Justin Langer, plumb leg-before for 34 to one that jagged back and kept low, and Darren Lehmann, caught behind for 8 attempting an unnecessarily flashy drive. In between, Ricky Ponting, who had just reached a far-from-convincing half-century, was well caught by Nathan Astle after an airy hook off Chris Martin.

Kyle Mills celebrates his first Test wicket - Matthew Hayden lbw © Getty Images Enlarge

Only when Clarke and Martyn reasserted control as the shadows lengthened did Australia gain the upper hand for the first time in the day. Both timed the ball well, were willing to play their shots, and gave the good-sized crowd some much-needed cheer. Martyn set out his stall with a spectacular six guided over the slips in the same over that Martin had removed Ponting. For their part the New Zealand bowlers extracted considerable pace and bounce, and if Shane Bond had been fit to lead their attack, Australia might really have struggled.

The day started well enough for Australia, with Vettori falling to Michael Kasprowicz in the fifth over, but after that the Aussies were uninspiring. The bowling was ordinary, both in pace and quality, and Ricky Ponting's decision to give Oram singles to try to expose the tail backfired as Kyle Mills and Martin, a genuine rabbit, held firm. The fielding was also shabby, with several routine stops missed, and a clumsy and unnecessary four overthrows adding to the general gloom. Even Warne looked out of sorts, the only sparks of passion coming when he bounced Oram and when Aleem Dar called him for successive leg-side wides as he attempted to frustrate Oram into holing out.

There was a danger that Oram would be left stranded short of a deserved century: he had 92 when Mills's dogged 29 ended as an angled defensive push off Warne was well held by Ponting at first slip. But Martin hung around, and some eccentric field-placing allowed Oram to steal twos with increasing ease, as well as singles when it mattered.

Early success: Michael Kasprowicz dismisses Daniel Vettori © Getty Images Enlarge

Once he brought up his century, Oram cut loose, smacking Jason Gillespie for ten off the next two balls and then launching successive sixes off a tiring Kasprowicz. His hundred had come off 166 balls - the next 25 runs came off 11.

After Warne finally ended Martin's resistance, Australia had to endure a difficult hour. New Zealand's bowlers extracted pace and bounce and caused Langer and Matthew Hayden a few alarms. Hayden was trapped leg-before on the back foot for 8 by Mills, his first Test victim, although it appeared to hit him high on the pad. But on a good pitch batting got easier as the ball lost its shine.

Midway through the afternoon Ponting survived a close call when Vettori at mid-off checked his run and the looping ball fell just short of his desperate lunge. Two overs later Langer seemed to have got a big edge off Oram but, despite long and vociferous appeals, he survived.

Those were the turning points. After that Langer and Ponting found form, and while the run rate was sedate by Australia's standards, the large crowd basked contentedly in the Queensland sunshine. After a rather alarming morning, there was a feeling that the usual world order was slowly being restored. But that sense of wellbeing was disrupted again later on.

Martin Williamson is managing editor of Wisden Cricinfo.