Chris Cairns: A moral victory is won already

New Zealand to lead on the first innings of the first Test versus Australia? Hmmm, fanciful to say the least, would be the call from the public.

But from within the camp, within the nucleus of the playing 11 and the support staff involved, there would be no talk of such pessimism. The team would be thinking this is still a two-horse race, regardless of the pedigree up against them on the field.

They were all called to arms on Monday where they begun an intensive two-day preparation at the high-performance centre in Christchurch. Out went the coloured training gear and in came the whites. Not only to be worn for the match but also for practice! A rather extreme step but behind the madness lay method and it was felt a disciplined and structured routine would be required if the Black Caps were to present any form of resistance in this test series.

When new players are brought in, having strict guidelines to operate within can often be good. Simple game plans are formulated and the players buy in to what is laid out as the team philosophy.

That philosophy would have taken a major boost when the Australian team-sheet that Ponting handed over to Fleming didn't contain the name B. Lee.

The nemesis of the one-day series had been left out because of a policy of it's harder to get in the Aussie team than get out of it. The trio of McGrath, Gillespie and Kasprowicz had done nothing wrong and it ain't broke so why fix it? But, in Lee's case, he is currently in another class.

So Ponting won the toss and fielded and the Aussies looked rather rusty and were kept at bay by a professional display of Black Cap batting. Cumming and Astle played beautifully and then Marshall showed us all why he's one of the most exciting batting talents in world cricket. Beautifully balanced off both front and back foot, he oozed class from the beginning and the only way he could be dismissed by was some old fashioned Warne magic.

McGrath also showed his class and, in the second turn at bat for New Zealand, it's the McGrath and Warne combo who will have to be watched if we are to set any type of target to bowl at.

The bowling effort saw Vettori come into his own and lead from the front again. Since the elevation to vice captain, the spin king has produced memorable performances and let's hope that his batsmen can give him a target that means he can have a chance to bowl out Australia. 200 won't be enough, nor will 250. Anything over 270 will give us a chance but will there be enough time for New Zealand to score that amount of runs?

Hanging over the heads of the Black Caps will also be the recent second innings blues.

A pattern has emerged where the game is in the balance but our second turn at bat doesn't yield enough runs to keep the opposition from winning the match.

Day four looms large but there's a chance of winning and that, in itself, is a great feat.