[Live commentary has finished]
New Zealand 63/0 (Tom Latham 26, Tom Blundell 34)
Australia 454 (Marnus Labuschagne 215, Steve Smith 63)
Stumps Day 2.
29th over - Nathan Lyon will bowl the last over of the day.
Latham has a single around the corner.
Blundell defends the final two balls and that's a session won for NZ.
28th over - Manus Labuschagne will have a bowl.
Latham has a single to mid-wicket.
27th over - Nathan Lyon is back - 0/12 from 6 overs.
Maiden from Lyon to Blundell.
26th over - Starc continues - 0/17 from 6 overs.
Just a Blundell single from the over.
25th over - Cummins continues.
Over-pitched from Cummins and Blundell drives superbly through the offside field for four.
24th over - Starc continues - getting a bit of reverse swing.
Starc finds the outside edge of Blundell's bat but he guides it wide of gully along the ground for two.
23rd over - Cummins continues.
Just a single from the over.
22nd over - Mitchell Starc is back - 0/12 from 4 overs.
Latham flicks through mid-wicket for a couple. NZ fifty up.
21st over - Cummins will bowl his 7th over - 0/12.
Blundell drives and misses and the Aussies are up and confident but not out says umpire Dar. DRS says not out ... there looked to be something very tiny on hot spot but no snicko.
Blundell drives again and has four off the edge down to third man.
Blundelll defends and edges along the ground down to third man for four.
20th over - Lyon continues.
Blundelll whips off the back foot for a couple.
19th over - Cummins continues.
Blundell pulls Cummins for a single to deep square-leg.
18th over - Nathan Lyon continues - 0/6 from 4 overs.
Blundell whips Lyon through mid-wicket for three.
17th over - Pat Cummins is back - 0/2 from 4 overs.
Just a single off the over.
16th over - Lyon continues.
Blundell plays back and it keeps low and hits him in front .... not out says Erasmus and that was a good decision as it hit him just outside off.
15th over - Pattinson continues - 0/8 from 3 overs.
Latham drives through the covers for a couple.
Drinks
14th over - Lyon getting a ton of turn continues.
Maiden from Lyon.
13th over - Pattinson continues - 0/4 from 2.
Over-pitched from Pattinson and Latham has a couple square on the onside.
12th over - Lyon continues.
Blundell down the wicket and drives superbly through the covers for four.
11th over - Pattinson continues.
Latham flashes and edges but he squeezes it past Warner at gully for four.
10th over - Nathan Lyon into the attack - this should be fun.
Maiden from Lyon.
9th over - James Pattinson replaces Starc.
Maiden over from the big right-armer.
8th over - Cummins 0/0 from 3 overs continues.
Blundell off the mark with a pull for two through square leg.
7th over - Starc continues.
Over-pitched frim Starc and Latham drives down the ground for four.
6th over - Cummins continues .... he's been on the money so far.
Another maiden from Cummins to Blundell.
5th over - Starc continues.
Latham drives through the covers for a couple.
Two for Latham to mid-wicket.
4th over - Cummins continues.
Second maiden on the bounce for Cummins...he's all over Blundell.
3rd over - Starc continues.
Latham has another two square on the onside.
2nd over - The world's best test bowler Pat Cummins will open up alongside Starc.
A testing maiden from Cummins .... has Blundell fishing for bat on ball.
1st over - Mitchell Starc to bowl ..... Tom Latham on strike.
Latham away with two to square leg.
Third session
That will be tea.
151st over - Wagner to bowl.
WICKET! Straight from Wagner, Starc misses and it cannons into the top of middle stump.
Starc b Wagner 22
150th over - Astle will bowl.
A half chance for the Blackcaps, but Kyle Jamieson can't get down to it.
A huge shot from Starc, gets on the front foot and slogs Astle for six - huge.
149th over - Wagner to bowl.
Lots of slower balls from Wagner this over.
A couple of balls aren't bouncing very high this over - lots of signs this pitch is quickly getting worse, great signs.... for Aussie bowlers.
148th over - Astle to bowl.
These two batsmen are ticking through quite easily at the mo.
Five off the over.
147th over - Wagner to bowl.
One single off the over - please declare soon, this is a punish.
146th over - Astle to bowl.
Three singles off that over.
145th over - Wagner will continue.
One run off that over.
144th over - Astle will bowl now.
WICKET! Lovely from Astle, and Cummins can't do anything but defend it straight to Phillips who does well to take it.
Cummins b Astle c Phillips 8.
A swepp from Lyon off the last ball and it goes for four - decent shot.
143rd over - Wagner to bowl.
WICKET! What a weird old wicket, a short ball from Wagner, Pattinson loses sight of it, it comes off his shoulder and the back of his bat and then hits the wickets - oh no, how embarrising.
Pattinson b Wagner 2.
Four runs off the first ball from Starc, lovely down the ground.
142nd over - Astle to bowl.
Lots of spin from that over - three off it.
141st over - Somerville to bowl now.
Maiden over there from Somerville.
140th over - Astle to bowl.
WICKET! He deserved a wicket and he's got his man, Labuschagne tries to go down the ground over the bowler, but he can't get it over Astle, great catch .
Labuschagne c & b Astle 215.
139th over - CDG will bowl.
Three singles from the over - will Aussie declare before tea? My guess, highly unlikely.
138th over - Astle to bowl.
Three singles off the over.
137th over - CDG to bowl.
WICKET! Great ball from Colin here, a false shot from Paine and it goes in between bat and pad and it takes the top of off. Great ball.
Paine b de Grandhomme 35.
136th over - Astle to bowl.
Labuschagne goes over the field, doesn't time it, but there is nobody back.
Six off the over.
135th over - CDG to bowl.
An outside edge from Labuschagne and it flies through the vacant slip region and goes for four to bring up his maiden test double century.
134th over - Astle to continue.
Four off the last, a short ball from Astle and Paine cuts it away for four - Labuschagne has six balls to make his double ton.
133rd over - Henry will continue.
A single off the fifth ball from Paine.
132nd over - Astle to continue.
Single off the last there, starves Labuschagne of the strike on 199.
131st over - Henry to bowl.
Single off the over.
130th over - Astle to bowl.
A single from Labuschagne and it brings him to 199.
129th over - Henry to continue.
A pull shot from Labuschagne goes into the leg side for one.
Lovely cover drive off the back foot from Paine, goes for three.
Five off the over.
128th over - Somerville to bowl.
Lovely four through the off side and Labuschagne moves to 195.
127th over - Henry to bowl.
Maiden over.
126th over - Somerville to bowl.
A late cut from Paine gives him two runs.
125th over - Henry to return.
Outiside edge, no slip, four runs.
Pull shot into the leg side for a single to bring up 190.
Another Paine single.
124th over - Somerville to bowl.
Just one single off that over - and an LBW shout - not out.
123rd over - Wagner to bowl.
Good bowling from Wagz - two singles.
122nd over - Somerville to bowl.
Great over from Somerville, one just passed the bat, two singles.
121st over - Wagner to continue.
Just a single off that over.
120th over - Somerville to bowl.
Just two singles off the of the first four balls - good signs for Lyon though, as a ball doesn't really bounce at all.
The last ball of the over gets driven to the boundary for four, nice shot.
119th over - Wagner to bowl.
Maiden over.
Back from the break and are moments away now.
118th over - CDG to bowl.
That will be lunch, Aussie's session.
117th over - Astle to bowl.
Four off the over.
116th over - CDG to bowl.
All but one ball that over were on the leg side, not great bowling - three off the over.
115th over - Astle to bowl.
Much better bowling from the leggy - five off the over, but it was a better line.
114th over - Colin de Grandhomme to bowl.
Just one single.
113th over - Astle to bowl.
Big LBW shout from the Kiwis therem umpire says no, Latham reviews and it's a horrible review, it's hit the bat. No reviews left.
Bad ball from Astle and Paine gets on the back foot and cuts it for four.
112th over - Henry to continue.
On the pads from Henry and Labuschagne flicks it down to fine leg for two.
111th over - Astle to bowl.
Two runs from there from Labuschagne, an outside edge just beats first slip.
110th over - Henry to bowl.
WICKET! Good line and length from Henry and Head tried to cut him through the point region and takes the edge to Watling.
Head c Watling b Henry 10
Wicket maiden.
109th over - Somerville to continue.
Lovely four off the first ball of the over - lofted over mid off.
108th over - Henry to bowl.
Just a single from Henry's over - good over, great lines.
107th over - Somerville to bowl.
Not a great over from Somerville, too loose with line and length - just three off it.
106th over - Henry to bowl.
Just the one single off that over.
105th over - Another tough over for the Blackcaps. Time for a drinks break.
104th over - Australia putting the foot down now. Adding runs for fun now.
103rd over - Six runs from the Somerville over. It ends with another four to Labuschagne.
102nd over - Latest news is that Jeet Raval is off the field with the flu. That's four players now. Matt Henry to bowl his first over of the day. The over ends with Marnus Labuschagne bringing up his 150.
101st over - A couple more singles in the over. But NZ's fielding seems to be all over the place right now.
100th over - The hosts bring up the 300 mark in the over, with a double to Labuschagne. Aussie end the over on 302/4.
99th over - Another over, another single.
98th over - Just one single from the Wagner over.
97th over - Travis Head gets his first boundary of the match. Then five dots to end the over.
96th over - Labuschagne is getting close to that 150, adds two more runs in the over.
95th over - Two singles scored in the over. Both were scored from misfields.
94th over - Another over and another maiden. The last ball of the over hit Labuschagne's ankle and that hurt him.
93rd over - Somerville bowling to new batsman Travis Head. The Kiwis are trying to target the new batter. It's another maiden - Somerville's first - and there was an LBW shout in the over.
92nd over - Neil Wagner to bowl from the other end, and it's a maiden - his seventh in 22 overs.
91st over - WICKET - Will Somerville strikes with the last ball of the over and the Blackcaps have an early breakhrough. The ball didn't even spin and it beats Wade and he's bowled.
M Wade b Somerville 22 (32b 2x4 1x6) SR: 68.75
Earlier in the over, Labuschagne hit a four.
12:17pm - BREAKING - An X-ray last night confirmed Matt Henry has broken his left thumb following a blow on day one. It has been strapped and placed in a splint. Henry will continue to bowl in the test with his batting match dependent.
12:15pm - While it's bright and reasonably right now, the forecast suggests the smoke haze could impact things during the day.
The umpires are in charge of whether play needs to be suspended although Cricket Australia medical staff will be involved in monitoring conditions.
12:08pm - Nathan Lyon has said the Aussie bowlers will donate $1000 for every wicket they take in the test, aiming to take 20 wickets in the test. Mitchell Starc said they're "quietly confident" they'll achieve that total.
11:40am - Clear skies in Sydney right now, although it's nearing 30C which is very hot.
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Kia ora, good afternoon and welcome to Newshub's live coverage of the New Year's test between the Blackcaps and Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG).
The Blackcaps are playing for pride, having lost the first two trans-Tasman tests by 296 and 247 runs respectively, while Australia is looking for a dominant series sweep.
But the Kiwis have lots of work to do after a century to Marnus Labuschagne helped the hosts finish day one on 283/3.
The Blackcaps are fielding an unusual lineup with illness and injury forcing five changes. With Kane Williamson out, Tom Latham is captaining the Kiwis. Jeet Raval, Todd Astle, Will Somerville all recalled, joining debutant Glenn Phillips in the starting side.
Conditions are set to play their part in Sydney, due to the devastating Australian bushfires, with smoke clouding the city.
On top of that, rain is expected on days four and five of the test, which is good news with numerous fires raging around Australia.
Lineups
New Zealand: Tom Latham (c), Tom Blundell, Jeet Raval, Ross Taylor, Glenn Phillips, BJ Watling (wk), Colin de Grandhomme, Todd Astle, Will Somerville, Matt Henry, Neil Wagner
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: Aleem Dar, Marais Erasmus
TV Umpire: Nigel Llong
Reserve umpire: Shawn Craig
Match Referee: Sir Richie Richardson
