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Australia 467
New Zealand 44/2 (Tom Latham 9*, Ross Taylor 2*)
STUMPS - Great day for the hosts who are firmly in the driver's seat at the MCG. Click here for a full wrap.
18th over - This may well be the final over of the day from Lyon. Taylor drives for a single, and that will do us for day two.
17th over - Pattinson again, hunting a third late wicket to close. Latham plays nicely off the hip behind square for two.
16th over - Nathan Lyon into the attack. Latham plays late for one.
15th over - Pattinson strikes Taylor on the pads right in front, huge shout and a quickly raised finger from the umpire. Taylor calls for a review and ball tracker reveals it was boxing high over leg. Huge reprieve for NZ.
14th over - Taylor off the mark. Cummins beats Latham all ends up.
13th over - Williamson with a pretty cover drive off Pattinson, won't reach the rope but they'll run four.
OUT - Williamson tries to hook across the line but the length is too full, skies it behind the stumps for Paine to run around and take a comfortable catch. Huge error from the skipper and a massive blow to NZ's hopes.
Kane Williamson c Paine b Pattinson 9 (14)
11th over - Latham single off the Pattinson over.
9th over - Local lad James Pattinson into the attack. Williamson finds a single past gully. Single down leg from Latham to close.
8th over - Cummins beats Latham past the inside edge. Maiden over.
7th over - Williamson slashes at one from Starc, straight to gully. Ducks under a bouncer. Digs out a searing yorker well. One off the over.
6th over - Blundell gets his first look at Cummins.
OUT - Blundell looks to drive one but the late movement gets him, edges straight to Paine.
Tom Blundell c Paine b Cummins 15 (19)
Williamson off the mark immediately, plays one late to third man for three.
5th over - Blundell with another lovely square cut off the back foot against Starc, three runs taken.
4th over - Latham sturdy in defence against Cummins.
3rd over - Blundell stands tall and drives square off the back foot for the first boundary of the innings. Starc's ball hits something odd and skies over the keeper's head for four byes. Blundell leg glances a poor ball for four off the final ball. He's looking assured so far.
2nd over - Cummins now. Latham balloons one off his gloves, falls safely. Maiden over.
1st over - Starc ready to steam in. Latham with a quick single off the no ball from the first delivery. Blundell off the mark with a confident shot off the pads for two. Replicates that shot the next delivery for two more. Leg byes for two. Beats Blundell on the final ball.
Here we go, the new NZ opening combination of Tom Blundell and Tom Latham make their way out to the middle.
INNINGS BREAK
156th over - OUT - Lyon pulls Southee straight to fine leg and Boult takes a sharp catch. The Kiwis are finally off the field. Three wickets for Southee.
154th over - OUT - Slower ball from Southee and Cummins spoons it straight to Tom Latham at mid wicket.
Pat Cummins c Latham b Southee 0 (5)
153rd over - OUT - Head slices a full toss high and right to mid wicket to end a fantastic knock. Wagner shakes his victim's hand as he departs, his fourth wicket.
Travis Head c Santner b Wagner 114 (234)
151st over - Another huge shout from Wagner as Head is struck jumping across his stumps. Williamson wants another look, ball hitting is hitting leg, but not enough of the ball. Not out.
The orders are clear here - time to chase some quick runs. Head blasts consecutive boundaries.
150th over - OUT - Starc immediately goes after Southee and skies one off the toe to Williamson at mid-off.
Mitchell Starc c Williamson b Southee 0 (3)
There it is! A hard-fought century is up for Travis Head. Battled at times, but that was impressive. Comes off 222 balls with 10 fours.
149th over - OUT - Wagner strikes Paine on the front foot, huge shout goes up. Umpire not interested but Williamson happy to review, ball tracker reveals that it was hitting the top of off stump and the confused captain makes his march. Head remains on 99...
Tim Paine lbw b Wagner 79 (138)
148th over - Head quickly back on strike as Santner gets us started. Steals a single to move to 99. 150 partnership rolls over.
Back for the final session of the day...
TEA - It was all Australia in that session. Head and Paine the latest Aussie batsmen to share a big partnership, this one worth 147 runs so far.
147th over - Last over before tea. Boult throws down a maiden to keep Head two runs shy of his 100.
145th over - Boult still charging in. Disheartening wide B2B a straight drive for four. Head to 96 now.
143rd over - Williamson goes back to Boult. Fizzes one past Head's head. One off the over.
139th over - Wagner to the crease as we edge towards tea. Four leg byes off the over.
138th over - Two runs off the Santner over.
136th over - Misfield in the deep gifts Head a boundary off Santner. Single brings up 400 for the Aussies, they are positively cruising.
134th over - One run off the Santner over.
133rd over - Wagner back into the attack. Head lofts him over slips for four.
131st over - Paine edgy against Santner, steals another boundary. The skipper can do no wrong.
130th over - De Grandhomme hustles in. Paine drives for four.
127th over - Better over from Santner, just one from it.
125th over - Fittingly enough, Paine pulls a shoddy Southee delivery for four to bring up his half century off just 72 balls, with seven boundaries.
123rd over - Paine skies a hook shot to fine leg for four. Cuts a poor ball from Southee for three. The runs are flowing.
121st over - Paine pulls superbly for four off Southee. He's (relatively) raced to 40 off just 59 balls.
120th over - One run off the Blundell over.
118th over - Tom Blundell will get us started after lunch with his mild form of off-spin. Head greets him with a pull for four.
Seccond session underway...
LUNCH - Check out a full wrap here.
115th over - Santner into the attack for the first time today. One run off the over.
112th over - Two runs of de Grandhomme's over.
111st over - Four runs from Paine, an edge through the slips, seven off the over.
110th over - Just the one off the Colin de Grandhomme over.
109th over - A maiden over from Wagner, a short nasty over, Paine looking to attack him here.
108th over - Lovely shot from Paine, shot of the day, a controlled drive through the covers for four, follows it up with a flick into the leg side for three. Finishes with a four over the covers.
107th over - Wagner looks very likely to get another wicket here.. mark my words, it's coming - five off the over.
106th over - Two off the over, two singles, nice bowling from Boult.
105th over - WICKET! Superb bowling, short and at Smith's neck, it comes off the shoulder of the bat and Nicholls takes a lovely catch, out stretched and over his head and one hander.
Steve Smith c Nicholls b Wagner 85 (242b)
104th over - LBW appeal on the final ball of the over, but umpire sas no, hitting Head just outside off stump by the looks, no review - that's drinks.
103rd over - Wagner is peppering both batsmen with his trademark short stuff, two runs off the over.
102nd over - Short and wide from Boult, Head cuts it away for four, lovely shot, five off the over.
101st over - Another over with just one off it, the last ball is short from Wagner, hits Smith on the chest and nearly falls onto the stumps.
100th over - Just one wide off that over.
99th over - Another single, Wagner bowling very well.
98th over - Just the one off that over - lots of swing from the Kiwis, no real chances yet.
97th over - Maiden over from Wagner.
96th over - Head gets onto a short ball from Southee and pulls it away for three.
95th over - Smith scurrys through for a single after a leading edge into the off side.
94th over - Just one off that over, Smith worked one into the leg side.
93rd over - Back foot punch from Travis Head, goes down the ground for two runs.
92nd over - Just four byes off the over, very full from Southee and Smith is dealing with it, just can't find any gaps.
91st over - First ball of the day and Smith gets onto the front foot and drives Boult through the covers for three.
TAB Odds at start of day two: Australia $1.18 Draw $6.00 New Zealand $11.50
Kia ora, good aftenoon and welcome to Newshub's live coverage of day two of the second test between the Blackcaps and Australia from the MCG.
After owning day one, Australia will look to build on their lead through batsman Steve Smith who will start day two on 77*.
Day one wrap: Steve Smith anchors Australia on day one of Boxing Day test
Steve Smith has conquered his short-ball issues to hit his first half-century of the summer and help Australia to 4-257 on Boxing Day against New Zealand.
Smith went to stumps unbeaten on 77 after a gripping day of test cricket, where Australia claimed the honours in front of a bumper crowd of 80,473 after being sent in to bat.
The right-hander took himself into the top 10 of all-time Australian run-scorers, having played less tests than all above him.
After a low key opening half of the test summer by his lofty standards, Thursday's knock was a return to Smith at his best as he played with great control.
Out to bumpers and New Zealand's legside field twice in Perth, Smith wore several balls on the body and ducked his way out of others at the MCG.
Fighting hard, he rarely pulled the quicks and when he did he hit them along the ground.
He also drove tremendously; at one stage he hit spinner Mitchell Santner back over his head for six.
If Smith reaches triple figures on Friday, he will become the first player to score centuries in five straight tests at the MCG.
Travis Head will start day two alongside Smith, getting through a tough period against the second new ball to go to stumps unbeaten on 25.
It came after Marnus Labuschagne chalked up a half-century for the fifth innings in a row before being bowled for 63.
Already the leading run-scorer for 2019, Labuschagne is yet to be dismissed for less than 50 this summer and has passed the milestone in nine of his past 12 innings.
His 83-run third-wicket partnership with Smith was crucial in giving Australia control, after they found themselves in dangerous waters early as the Kiwis grabbed two wickets before lunch.
However, Labuschagne was unfortunate in his dismissal as he left a ball from Colin de Grandhomme (2-48) that hit his elbow and fell onto the top of his off stump.
After tongue-in-cheek claims of bodyline in Perth, where Australia's top six fell to short balls in the second innings, no Aussies were out to bouncers on Thursday.
But the Blackcaps still troubled the hosts with the kind of movement that has been missing from the MCG in recent years.
Left-armer Trent Boult (1-60) produced an absolute peach to bowl Joe Burns for a golden duck in the first over, swinging it in at the right-hander and nipping the ball back between bat and pad.
David Warner edged Neil Wagner (1-40) in the opening session with his feet stuck on the crease, allowing Tim Southee to take a one-handed stunner at second slip.
Matthew Wade also edged behind, nicking one from de Grandhomme that swung in at him and cut away from the medium-pacer.
The wickets brought the MCG to life with thousands of Black Caps fans rejoicing and enjoying their team's first Boxing Day test in 32 years.
