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Australia 257/4 (Steve Smith 77*, Travis Head 25*)
STUMPS - Opening day of the Boxing Day test and it's Australia's. Williamson won the toss and chose to bat, would've liked to have taken advantage with plenty more wickets. Click here for a full wrap.
90th over - Final over of the opening day, Southee takes the ball. Edge from Head, through slips for four.
89th over - Boult's final over of the day. Head cuts him for four off the first ball.
88th over - Maiden from Southee.
87th over - Head gets a leading edge off Boult, ball is in the air for some time but falls safely.
86th over - Smith finishes the Southee over with an on-drive for four.
85th over - 80,473 confirmed in attendance at the MCG. There are a few leary characters starting to emerge among them, it's been a long day drinking in the sun. Two off the Boult over.
84th over - Southee around the wicket. Beats Head on the back foot. Santner does well to save a boundary at point. Head whips one off the pads for three.
83rd over - Smith drives Boult straight and to the fence.
82nd over - Head drives Southee straight down the ground for four. Southee gets him fishing, off-cutter beats Head's bat.
81st over - New ball is up! Williamson takes it immediately and Boult steps to the bowling crease. These next 10 overs could decide the day. Three slips and a gully in for Boult. One off the over.
80th over - Santner is back. Turns one sharply and beats Smith's bat, who's on his back foot.
78th over - Two overs remain until the new ball is available. Head gets off the mark against CDG.
76th over - New ball available very shortly. Too many gimmes for the new bastman Head from CDG, he's getting plenty of sighters.
74th over - OUT - De Grandhomme gets one to nip off the seam and Wade edges an easy catch to BJ Watling. Just reward for CDG who has toiled hard. That was Wade's sixth edge of the day and his luck finally ran out.
Matthew Wade c Watling b De Grandhomme 38 (78)
73rd over - Wade lofts one over slips for four off Wagner to take us to drinks.
69th over - Santner back to the bowling crease after an expensive early spell. Wade drives through covers for three. 200 is up, and the partnership rolls past 50.
68th over - Wade takes three runs off the CDG over.
67th over - Boult again. Produces a pearler of a yorker, Wade slips to his knees as he only just manages to dig it out.
65th over - Williamson looks to his talisman Boult for a spell. Strays down leg for four byes.
63rd over - Wagner continues to bend his back, lots of short stuff but nothing forcing a shot. Maiden over.
62nd over - Southee maiden.
61st over - Wagner running in hard, as per. Wade takes his eye off the ball and cops one right in the back of the helmet. Wagner quickly in to check on him. No hard feelings, either way.
59th over - Wade plays Wagner off his hips and the ball falls agonisingly short of Southee at leg slip.
58th over - Smith gets away with another edge, four more off Southee. Skids along the deck and past an outstretched Latham at first slip, a ball that deserved much better.
56th over - Southee does the honours. Smith right back where he left off with a sumptuous straight drive for four. Much edgier on the next delivery, but he steals four more through gully. Steals a single to bring up his 50.
Final session underway at the MCG.
TEA - The hosts took the ascendency through that session, NZ with just one fairly fortuitous wicket to show for it. Join us here shortly for the end of day one.
55th over - Nice little battle developing here between Wagner and Wade. Both never shy of a word. Wagner catches Wade on the shoulder of his bat, then just misses the top of off stump on a leave.
53rd over - Wagner back to the bowling crease. Straight into the short stuff, two well placed bouncers produce dots and a maiden over.
51st over - Wade off the mark. The Kiwi fans inside the MCG have found their voices again.
50th over - OUT - Labuschagne looks to leave a fairly inoccuous delivery from De Grandhomme but manages to get an elbow to the ball to send it ricoheting into the stumps. The Kiwi really needed that, and Labuschagne is understandably fuming. Maybe try leaving the ball normally?
Marnus Labuschagne b De Grandhomme 63 (149)
49th over - Smith gives a poor short ball from Boult what it deserves, pulled for four runs.
47th over - Runs starting to flow now under the Victorian sun. Smith drives Boult square for two. Labuschagne follows with a well-timed cut shot to the fence.
45th over - Big shout from Boult as he hits Labuschagne on the pads. Looked to be too high, umpire agrees. Williamson declines the review. The Aussie brings up his half-century the next ball.
43rd over - Boult back into the attack. Two runs off his over.
42nd over - 50 partnership up for these two. Putting Australia in an excellent position.
41st over - Labuschagne pulls Santner over the midwicket boundary for the first six of the day. Smith takes inspiration and lunaches one of his own, lofting one straight back over the bowler's head.
40th over - One run off the CDG over as Aussie edge towards 100.
38th over - De Grandhomme with a harmless maiden.
36th over - Tight double taken off De Grandhomme, Wagner runs in and throws down the stumps from distance at fine leg. Thid Umpire reveals Labuschagne was fairly comfortably home.
35th over - NZ with two under the helmet now for Wagner, aggression ramping up as Williamson hunts another wicket. Labuschagne pulls for three.
34th over - Southee keeps things tight with another maiden. Half-hearted LBW shout to close.
33rd over - Maiden from Wagner.
32nd over - Labuschagne left at sea as Smith sends him back on the run call, miles gone if Williamson can throw down the stumps but the skipper can't hit. Huge let-off there for the hosts.
30th over - Labuschagne works Southee behind square leg for three.
28th over - Smith with a lovely straight drive off Southee for four. Pulls a poor shortball off the final delivery to the fence.
27th over - Santner into the attack, strikes Labuschagne on his pads with his first delivery and a huge shout goes up. No dice from the umpire, Williamson opts not to review. Ball tracker shows it was comfortably high. Nice start from the spinner, maiden over.
LUNCH - Absorbing opening session at the MCG. Atmosphere has been sensational and the contest out in the middle has delivered on the occasion. Click here for a full summary of events so far.
25th over - Smith digs out a gem of a slower ball from Wagner. Smith braces to let a short ball bounce off his back, attempts a run. Umpire waves it off, dead ball. Wagner with another short one that Smith struggles to cope with, deflects off his gloves and to safety. Great way to send us to lunch.
24th over - Wagner steaming in, short ball catches a flailing Smith right on the handle and the crowd gasps. Wagner holds the stare. Labuschagne edges through vacant third slip for four.
23rd over - Smith gets off the mark in a tight Boult over.
22nd over - OUT - Southee takes a brilliant catch at second slip off the bowling of Wagner to send the dangerman packing.
David Warner - c Southee b Wagner 41 (64)
21st over - Boult nips one off the seam and it strikees Warner flush in the chest. that one tickled.
20th over - A David Warner four brings up the 50-run partnership. The big-hitting Aussie is closing in on 50 runs himself.
19th over - The hosts are closing in on the 50-run partnership. A couple of singles from the Wagner over.
18th over - De Grandhomme with some outswingers that Warner leaves. No edges with well bowled by the Kiwi all-rounder.
17th over - Wagner completes his first maiden over of the match. He's bowling with great line and length.
16th over - Colin de Grandhomme changes ends. He gives up three singles, and Australia are 43-1.
15th over - And Wagner does comes in for his first over. Wagner's first ball doesn't go well, as it's nearly hit for four, and more great fielding stops the ball from going all the way. The over ends much better though.
14th over - After four great balls, the over ends in disappointment as Aussie get six runs on the board, with a four and then a double. Looks like Neil Wagner is starting to warm up and he'll come in for the next over.
13th over - Things have dulled down since the first over when Boult claimed the wicket of Burns. It ends in a maiden over and now times for a drinks break.
12th over - Just witness a fielding shocker as a Warner shot beats both de Grandhomme and Wagner in the field for two runs. Those were the only runs scored in the over.
11th over - Colin de Grandhomme comes into the attack for the first time today. Just the one run from the over when Warner flicked the ball wide of midwicket.
10th over - Williamson comes up with another heroic dive on the boundary ropes to prevent another four for the hosts.
Ninth over - A better over from New Zealand, once again just one run from it.
Eighth over - Southee to resume. Just one run from the over.
Seventh over - David Warner plays a lovely shot down the ground, and the ball beats Boult and looks like it's going for four, but captain Kane saves the day and beats the ball to the rope. Two leg byes also in the over. The over ends with a four and that was a big over for the Aussies.
Sixth over - Southee started the over with a beauty. Looked like Labuschagne nicked the ball. nit maybe it clipped the back leg? Southee ends the over with another maiden.
Fifth over - We looked set for back-to-back maiden overs, but Warner hits his first boundary of the match with a four through the off side.
Fourth over - The Blackcaps get close to claiming Marnus Labuschangne. He edges Southee's ball to the slips, but it doesn't carry to the fielder. Southee completes a maiden over.
Third over - Trent Boult to resume from the members end. A pair of twos off Boult's over. Australia 10-1.
Second over - Tim Southee bowling his first over of the day. A great over from Southee, but Marnus Labuschangne hits a four from the final ball of the over which delights the Aussie fans.
First over - WICKET: Wow what a start for the Blackcaps, as Trent Boult gets a wicket with the fourth ball of the test. He claims the scalp of Joe Burns. Boult bowls full and straight to Burns. The ball shapes back into the right hander and smashes the middle stump.
J Burns b Boult 0 (1b) SR: 0.00
Earlier, David Warner got on the board with a single. What a great over.
12:22pm - Both teams are out on the field for the National Anthems.
12:08pm - Here is what Paine said after the toss.
"I'm pretty happy we lost the toss to be honest. I wasn't too sure what to do. One thing we've spoken about since the Ashes was being a side that can execute in any conditions," he said.
"The toss is a bit irrelevant to us. The wicket is a bit of an unknown. The weather is going to be pretty good the next few days so get through the first couple of hours and hopefully the top order can do the job as they have done in the last few test matches.
"James Pattinson comes in. We're lucky to have someone of his quality to come in infront of his home crowd."
12:05pm - Here is what Williamson said after winning the toss
"There's a lot of grass on the wicket and some overhead conditions as well so we'll use it first up," he said. "With our bowlers if we can get a bit of movement out of it first up that will be good. Two changes for us, Trent Boult and Tom Blundell are in."
12:00pm - The Blackcaps have won the toss and are bowling first. Kane Williamson says overcast conditions and some grass on the pitch was behind his decision to bowl first. Aussie captain Tim Paine says he was happy to lose the saying, as he was unsure what he would have done.
Kia ora, good morning and welcome to Newshub's live coverage of the Boxing Day test between the Blackcaps and Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG).
Australia will look to lock away the trans-Tasman trophy with victory at the MCG, having won the first test by 296 runs earlier this month.
This match will mark the first time the Blackcaps have played in the Boxing Day test at the MCG since 1987. Just five of New Zealand's squad were born when the team last graced the MCG on Boxing Day.
Play will start at 12:30pm, with more than 75,000 fans expected to be in attendance.
Lineups
New Zealand: Tom Latham, Tom Blundell, Kane Williamson (c), Ross Taylor, Henry Nicholls, BJ Watling (wk), Daryl Mitchell, Mitchell Santner, Tim Southee, Neil Wagner, Trent Boult
Australia: David Warner, Joe Burns, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Matthew Wade, Travis Head, Tim Paine (c), Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, James Pattinson.
Umpires: Marais Erasmus, Nigel Long
TV Umpire: Aleem Dar
Reserve umpire: Gerard Abood
Match Referee: Sir Richie Richardson
Pre-match banter: Patience key for New Zealand in Boxing Day test
Blackcaps paceman Trent Boult's stint watching on the sidelines during the first test against Australia hasn't provided him with any insight on how to stop Marnus Labuschagne.
The Australian batsman continued his red-hot summer with a first-innings century and a second-innings 50, as the home team romped to a 296-run win over New Zealand in Perth.
After missing the test with a side strain, Boult is set to return to the Kiwis' attack for the Boxing Day test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
The Optus Stadium clash was New Zealand's first sighting of the 25-year-old Labuschagne and Boult admitted there were no apparent weaknesses in the Queenslander's game.
Good old-fashioned patience and consistency will be the left-armer's weapons, if he's cleared to take on Australia from December 26.
"Obviously, he's got some pretty special numbers behind him from a dozen or so test matches," Boult said.
"Basically, I think the same rules apply to a lot of batsmen. If you can be patient and outlast them, and try to put some pressure on them to draw the error, then that would be the starting point.
"He looks a pretty classy player and, obviously, it looks like a good wicket, which we're going to have to be spot on with our areas."
The 30-year-old was intrigued to watch, as his New Zealand colleagues peppered the Australian batsmen with a barrage of short-pitched bowling in the second innings in Perth.
Australia's top six fell to short balls in the second dig, including Labuschagne, but Boult didn't see any issue with continuing the tactic in Melbourne.
"It's just hard test cricket is what I'd put it down to," he said. "At both ends, it's a way of intimidating and trying to get up in the batsmen and it worked very well for them.
"I've read a little bit that there will be a bit more this series, so it'll be exciting to see."
