Taylor and Williamson burst Australia's bubble

Only cricket could produce an absurd 17-minute delay due to a malfunctioning sightscreen, provide the exhilaration of a Mitchell Starc spell that featured the fastest recorded delivery in a Test, and conjure a pair of seismic innings by Ross Taylor and Kane Williamson that have improbably thrust New Zealand back into this match. All in a single day.

These were sobering hours for Steven Smith's team, as batting of high skill and greater perseverance left the hosts looking tired and bordering on ragged by the end. There had been passages at the Gabba that had suggested New Zealand's batsmen could get a foothold with the benefit of a little more luck and preparation, and that suspicion was confirmed at the WACA by the unimpeachably steady beat of Williamson and Taylor's slightly more skittish rhythm.

As the day wore on, many at the ground were moved to speculate whether Brendon McCullum would surrender to his more romantic captaincy tendencies and declare behind Australia, exposing a tired David Warner and short leg shy Joe Burns to the new ball in lengthening shadow. One of the oft-repeated mantras of this New Zealand side has been "you don't expect any favours over here", and McCullum gave no indication of returning those he had not received.

The methodical approaches taken by Williamson and Taylor certainly did not appear to be the kind designed simply to get the visitors close. New Zealand are inflicting damage on Australia's bowlers, fielders and psyche by batting on, and by stumps there was every indication they would do so for quite some time on day four. McCullum had noted to the press on match eve that "you guys came up with that" when asked about being tagged nice guys. The steel seen here was palpable, even in the face of Starc's speed.

Williamson had of course been a man apart in Brisbane, looking his side's best player by a distance, and the latest member of a New Zealand batting lineage that has included Martin Crowe, Glenn Turner and Bert Sutcliffe. Taylor is a little older and not quite as prodigiously talented, but his persistence as a batsman through many trials was epitomised by how he has improved from a dire first innings at the Gabba to the monumental feat of being the first ever touring batsman to pass 200 at the WACA.

Where it is typical for a a younger player to feed off the knowledge and poise of his older counterpart, this was a case of the 25-year-old Williamson providing an example for the 31-year-old Taylor to follow. Williamson's judgment around off stump, use of both front and back foot strokes, and unfailingly equable temperament were all of the highest standard, and the longer they batted together, the more Taylor came to resemble his more junior partner.

Their security at the crease was accompanied by plenty of handsome strokes, and balls skated across the WACA outfield through Smith fields that always offered gaps. Nevertheless, some instances were particularly memorable - one Williamson drive pierced a gap of no more than three metres between two extra covers, and Taylor's 50 was raised by a firm forward defensive that fairly zoomed back past the non-striker.

It was a major surprise to all when Williamson toe-ended a pull shot at Josh Hazlewood to mid-on; having made it as far as 166, it had become possible to believe that he could bat chancelessly forever. That wicket and the second new ball helped rouse Starc to heights of speed and venom to rank with anything seen at this ground.

It took the very highest pace to extract any life from the pitch, but not even that was enough to find a way past Taylor. The ball clocked at 160.4kph by Nine Network's speed gun will go down in history, but so too should the fact that Taylor met the attempted yorker with the broadest of bats. Either side of this missile, McCullum was dropped by Nathan Lyon at third slip, and then Taylor himself offered the sharpest of gully chances to Mitchell Marsh. The best Australian sides tend to claim these chances; for the second home summer in a row they are failing to do so.

What they are also failing to do is find the right balance between attacking the batsmen and controlling the scoreboard. The coach Darren Lehmann had noted this as a pivotal area for improvement following the Ashes, stating that even his more attacking bowlers like Starc and Mitchell Johnson had to be capable of reining things in. That was plainly not the case here, as New Zealand rattled along at better than four runs per over throughout.

The greatest concern must be that Johnson is a force much diminished, neither as fast nor as economical as Starc or Hazlewood. He seems betwixt and between roles, not as free to charge in at his fastest in the knowledge that he may be needed for longer spells, but not as comfortable trying to bowl to plans more layered or nuanced than those of the fire and brimstone variety. All these issues were evident in England, and have not gone away on his return home.

As Johnson was so comfortably despatched by Taylor and Williamson, Australia's selectors must have started to ponder how they can rejig the side for Adelaide's day/night Test. A greater degree of patience is going to be required to dislodge Williamson in particular, and it is clear that high pace does not bother him enough when he can score regularly from it. Peter Siddle, called up at the last in England, may be needed again.

Starc would later gain some reward when BJ Watling punched a full toss into Lyon's hands at point, but the consolation was scant. Taylor was still there at day's end, and as importantly New Zealand still had four wickets in hand. Of all the extraordinary happenings of this day, a tally of 4 for 370 against a supposedly fearsome Australian pace battery ranked with any of them.