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Australia Delivers The Expected Defeat Upon New Zealand

Questionable McCullum Dismissal The Turning Point As Aussies Seal The Victory
BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA - NOVEMBER 09: Mitch Marsh of Australia celebrates the wicket of Brendon McCullum of New Zealand during day five of the First Test match between Australia and New Zealand at The Gabba on November 9, 2015 in Brisbane, Australia. (Photo by Matt Roberts - CA/Cricket Australia/Getty Images)
Matt Roberts - CA via Getty Images
BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA - NOVEMBER 09: Mitch Marsh of Australia celebrates the wicket of Brendon McCullum of New Zealand during day five of the First Test match between Australia and New Zealand at The Gabba on November 9, 2015 in Brisbane, Australia. (Photo by Matt Roberts - CA/Cricket Australia/Getty Images)

Australia has defeated New Zealand by 208 runs at the Gabba in Brisbane in the first Test of the three match series.

As expected, Brendon McCullum let his bat do the talking as soon as play got underway reaching his 50 off just 44 balls.

However, on a day when the New Zealand captain undoubtedly had the expectation of a nation squarely on his shoulders, his team mates could not stick with him at the other end and the Kiwis finished their second innings all out for 295 at the end of an extended morning session.

No doubt debate will emerge over the McCullum dismissal, although he said after the match that it was all part of the game and he thought the umpiring had been of a high standard otherwise.

"A good game. I think Australia were outstanding. They put us under a lot of pressure (and) we weren't quite able to hit our lengths. Australia certainly deserve this Test match win, but there are a few positives for us to take out of it," he said in a post match interview with the Nine Network.

" We had no excuses in terms of our preparations. We came into this game ready and willing to put up a good show," McCullum added.

While Boult and Craig wagged the Kiwi tail slightly adding 46 runs for the final wicket, the earlier loss of four wickets for just sevens runs, in a purple patch by the Australian bowlers, brought about the inevitable result sooner than expected.

For Australia this was a convincing victory by a new team looking to make a statement in the opening Test match of the summer series with both bat and ball.

David Warner was named Man of the Match for his back-to-back centuries and said he was pleased with his performance out of his poor Ashes series mid year.

"Good to put a nice performance on the board and an all-round team effort," he told Channel Nine in the post-match coverage.

The morning's play was action packed as Mitch Marsh found himself bowling for a possible hat-trick at one point and fellow paceman Mitchell Johnson equaled Brett Lee's record as the fourth most prolific wicket taker for Australia with 310 wickets.

The Australian fans may be feeling a small amount of satisfaction for the Rugby World Cup final result as the Trans-Tasman rivalry continues with the series at 1-0 but, in what is a short turnaround for the teams, the second Test will kickoff at the WACA in Perth on Friday where New Zealand will no doubt be aiming to regain some pride.

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