Daniel Vettori helped steady New Zealand's innings at 176-5 after Australia's inexperienced bowling attack had earlier threatened to skittle the tourists on the rain-curtailed opening day of the first Test Thursday. Injury-hit Australia handed debuts to pacemen Mitchell Starc and James Pattinson as well as opening batsman David Warner and all three played integral roles as the hosts reduced New Zealand to 96-5 in the first over after lunch. Former captain Vettori, one of Test cricket's most prolific tailend batsmen, launched a fight-back with a battling 45 in an unbeaten partnership of 80 with Dean Brownlie (32) to rescue the innings before bad weather halted play just before tea. The Blacks Caps, who had come into the match confident they could end their 26-year wait for a Test win in Australia, won the toss and elected to bat, with opener Brendon McCullum taking the game to the hosts in typically aggressive fashion. The 30-year-old hammered 12 runs off Pattinson's first over to give the quick a rude welcome to Test cricket and drove his side to 44 without loss before his partner Martin Guptill was caught behind off the bowling of Peter Siddle for 13. Starc, who finished with 2-52, grabbed the first of his two wickets on the final ball of his fifth over to remove McCullum for 34, tempting the former wicketkeeper into an attempted cut which left Warner with an easy catch at point. The final four days of the first of two Tests between the trans-Tasman rivals will start half an hour earlier (2330 GMT) in an attempt to make up for the lost session.
