Australia off to solid start against New Zealand at lunch on Day 1

Australian openers in the form of David Warner and Joe Burns put up the opening 100-run stand as Australia looked strong against New Zealand on Day 1 in the first of the three-match Test series at The Gabba in Brisbane on Thursday.

Australian openers in the form of David Warner and Joe Burns put up the opening 100-run stand as Australia looked strong against New Zealand on Day 1 in the first of the three-match Test series at The Gabba in Brisbane on Thursday. Earlier, Australia skipper Steven Smith won the toss and elected to bat first as he brought in pacer Josh Hazlewood for Peter Siddle. New Zealand, on the other hand, too fielded a strong squad with five bowlers. The Australian openers in the form of David Warner and Joe Burns were off to a slow start in the opening five overs. Also, it was Burns, who survived a close shave from Tim Southee within the phase. LIVE SCORECARD: Australia vs New Zealand 2015, 1st Test at Brisbane

However, the interesting phase started following the end of the fifth over as it was then the Australian openers started to become aggressive, especially in the form of Warner, who started smashing the ball all over the park all of a sudden and interestingly, the ball too lost it’s shine and was unable to swing, earlier than expected. Warner’s quickfire innings brought the opening 5-run stand between the two as Warner also scored his 20th half-century in Test cricket, that came off 69 deliveries, including seven boundaries and a six. LIVE UPDATES: Australia vs New Zealand 2015, 1st Test at Brisbane, Day 1

There was also a scare for Warner just prior to his half-century when a leg-before call was turned down by the umpire, as the New Zealand skipper went upstaairs for the review, but the ball had pitched outside leg, thus saving Warner from having Australia suffered an early setback, as both the opebers also brought up the opening 100-run stand and went for the lunch break.

Brief scores:

Australia 100 for 0 (David Warner 54, Joe Burns 43; James Neesham 0 for 8) vs New Zealand.

Full Scorecard

(Ayush Gupta is a reporter at CricketCountry. A passionate supporter of Manchester United, he idolises Roger Federer and is also a World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) maniac. He can be followed on Twitter @Ayush24x7)

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