Ponting was on 67 when bad light brought an early end to
proceedings alongside his successor as skipper Michael Clarke, who was
fortunate to reach 28 after being bowled by Doug Bracewell only for the umpire
to call him back for a no-ball.
The 36-year-old Ponting had steadied the innings with
Khawaja after the cheap loss of both openers but hared off for an
ill-considered single on the first ball after tea and Kane Williamson accepted
the gift with an athletic underarm throw.
Khawaja departed for 38 with a glower on his face leaving
Ponting, who is looking to end a 21-month wait for his 40th Test century, to
progress to his 58th half century, his second in consecutive Tests.
"Ricky's one of the legends of this game, he's awesome
and hopefully he can go on and get a big one tomorrow," said Australia
finger spinner Nathan Lyon, who took 4-69.
"There's going to be a lot of hard work for us
tomorrow, particularly in the first couple of hours. The game's certainly in
the balance." A run-out also figured large in New Zealand's innings with
Daniel Vettori throwing away his wicket just four runs short of his seventh Test
century to trigger a collapse from 254-5 to 295 all out shortly before lunch.
Australia's openers had just two overs to negotiate before
the break and debutant David Warner hit a crisp three off Vettori for his first
Test runs in the first.
Tim Southee, however, brought an early end to his outing
with his first ball, a short delivery that caught the 25-year-old on the gloves
and left wicketkeeper Reece Young with an easy catch.
His fellow opener Hughes (10) fell victim to peach of a ball
from Chris Martin and a low catch from Martin Guptill but the quality of the
delivery will not reduce the pressure on the 22-year-old after another failure
left Australia wobbling on 25-2.
New Zealand had resumed in the morning on 176-5 with Vettori
and Dean Brownlie assiduously extending their sixth-wicket partnership to 158
before the former captain was run out.
Vettori had just smacked a neat four to move onto 96 when he
drove a Nathan Lyon delivery to mid-off and set off optimistically for a run.
Mike Hussey gathered the ball and the accuracy of his throw
made Vettori's despairing dive academic and sent the 32-year-old trudging back
to the pavilion.
Young (two) lasted less than an over and Bracewell soon
followed for a duck with Tim Southee (17) and Chris Martin (one) also failing
to keep company with Brownlie, who finished with an impressive unbeaten 77 in
his second Test.
Lyon, playing his first match at a ground, which traditionally
offers little for spinners, took three of the last four New Zealand wickets to
fall.
