Back to the familiar opening theme

The India hangover didn't make it to a third day. Australia drank away 35 years of frustration with their series win last month, but in celebration there were no lands except Bangladesh left to conquer. Revisiting the same territory is often challenging and rarely as fun.

Australia expect their pesky Trans-Tasman rivals to morph every time they meet, but their start to a series that concludes in less than two weeks was worryingly sluggish. As the first Test venue, the Gabba is a ground where rust is shaken off, but the Baggy Greens have been together for most of six weeks.

Catches were dropped and overthrows conceded on day one, and the opening bowlers took only one wicket in an innings that allowed 147 for the last three combinations. Australia spent most of the second day struggling for parity. By stumps they were two wickets away from an almighty fight.

The Berocca tablets and raw-eggs breakfast finally kicked in through Michael Clarke and Adam Gilchrist. Their bouncing, high-energy display returned Australia's attacking spirit and the summer's opening style was restored, allowing the traditional thunderstorm alerts to arrive on cue.

Horizontal bat shots as hard as the wicket flooded the ground once Clarke and Gilchrist exploded. Clarke, nicknamed pup, overshadowed his vice-captain in a 216-run partnership that was a sixth-wicket record between the teams. Once Clarke departed Gilchrist held the stadium's attention for his 12th Test century and the New Zealanders had the headaches with muffed catches and haemorrhaged lower-order runs.

Stephen Fleming's only break came in the morning when he moved a loose man in the cordon to leg gully, opening up Damien Martyn's favourite region. Next ball Martyn lifted a short ball from Chris Martin and Craig McMillan barely needed to steady himself at third man. It was a small victory on a day of heavy losses.

Worse came for Fleming when Glenn McGrath and Jason Gillespie pushed the score past 500 before setting about 550 and personal bests. A slog-swept McGrath six sent the dressing room into fits of shock and laughter, and the pair knocked back offers of the light. McGrath's 62-ball fifty was scarcely believable on the ground or the dressing-room - Darren Lehmann cheered so hard he threatened to re-injure his hamstring.

Fleming remained stern and kept striding around as he wondered how the day, the match, and probably the series had turned. New Zealand were in with a shout in the morning but instead had shaken and stirred Australia into action.