Aussies strangle Kiwis with more runs

At close on day three, Australia were 57 for no loss and had built their lead to 381 runs with Justin Langer on 31 and Matthew Hayden on 21.

Captain Ricky Ponting opted against enforcing the follow-on armed with a crushing 324-run innings lead as Australia set New Zealand up for the knockout punch in the second cricket Test at Adelaide Oval on Sunday.

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The ruthless Australians, who declared their first innings at 575 for eight, bowled the Kiwis out for 251 on Sunday - 124 runs adrift of the follow-on - and instead of sending the battered Black Caps back in to bat, Ponting searched for even more runs.

At the close, Australia were 57 without loss and had built their overall lead to 381 runs with Justin Langer on 31 and Matthew Hayden on 21.

When Hayden reached 10 he became the first batsman to score 1,000 Test runs in four consecutive calendar years.