Australia bowled New Zealand out for a very poor 148 in response to its mammoth 467 in the first innings of the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne before going on to stretch the lead taken to 456 until stumps on Day 3 with still six wickets left. 

Pat Cummins was the star of the show as he picked up yet another five-fer (5/28) with major support from James Pattinson (3/34) and Mitchell Starc (2/30); only opener Tom Latham showed some fight for the Kiwis, scoring a resolute half-century (50) while the rest struggled badly. 

The Aussies then came out to bat with hopes of taking the game forward quickly and so they did with David Warner (38) and Joe Burns (39) stitching a 62-run opening stand. And even though Warner and Burns got out soon thereafter and even Marnus Labuschagne (19) and Steve Smith (7) had rare failures, the lead still went past 400 as Matthew Wade (15*) and Travis Head (12*) took their team through to the end of play. 

Once again, Neil Wagner (2/39) looked the most likely Kiwi bowler to get the breakthroughs while the others didn't. 

With two full days of play left in the Test match, the Aussies have a great chance to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series, having won the first game in Perth by a massive margin. 

Brief Scores: 

Australia 467 & 137/4 (David Warner 38; Neil Wagner 2/39) lead New Zealand 148 (Tom Latham 50; Pat Cummins 5/28) by 456 runs until stumps on Day 3