There is a blamelessness to Perth afternoons. Australia were reduced to 46 for two.
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Taylor raised his 250 with a slash over gully and a terrific cover drive from Starc for a couple of boundaries, then took three from a Hazlewood over with a lovely straight drive and two unlovely straight slaps.
Ross Taylor (26) was batting at the other end with New Zealand 419 runs behind and still needing another 220 to avoid the ignominy of the follow-on.
For nearly every occasion when he has got in and gone on to get a big score there has been an ill-advised early swipe at a wide ball that has given the slip cordon catching practice.
Although the match appeared set to be a draw on a lifeless wicket which has offered little assistance to the bowlers over the first four days, Australia will hope to declare on the final day and dismiss the Kiwis cheaply.
In his past 10 first-class matches on his home patch, he’s piled on more than 1200 runs, registering 10 scores of 50-plus in the process.
Starc was clearly the best of the Australian bowlers and finished with 4 for 119.
Resuming on 235 in Perth, Taylor made the third-highest score by a New Zealand batsman.
Taylor’s individual score is a record against Australia and the best by any touring batsman in a test at the WACA.
Taylor was horribly out of form in the first Test loss to Australia at the Gabba, with his lack of foot work evident during his seven-ball duck in the first innings.
Cricket: Brendan Julian and Stuart MacGill analyse day three of the Second Test between Australia and New Zealand. The Kiwis made an imposing 624 to lead by 65 runs on the first innings.
The left-hander strained his left hamstring in the field during the second Test against New Zealand and admitted it was a tough blow, having been plagued by hamstring and knee problems in recent years.
It was also the 24 fastest double ton in Tests.
New Zealand 6/510 after 129 overs.
However, Williamson played down the comparisons.
Ross Taylor fell for 290 and helped New Zealand post 624. The Australian team doctor rushed to the middle and looked at Smith.
Anything but an Australian victory and unassailable 2-0 series lead looked highly unlikely after the hosts racked up 416-2 on the opening day on their way to 559-9 declared.
“I heard from Hogan leading into the test match”. Left-handed Khawaja is likely to be available for the second Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) which will start on Boxing Day.
From that point he collected boundaries regularly and moved along at a good clip in union with Smith, bringing up his fourth half-century from as many Tests and sharing a century stand with his skipper.
“To have the Shield season that I had (in 2014-15) and then to get rewarded on the back of that performance to now be in the position that I am, I probably didn’t think would happen”. He was almost faultless throughout but was dropped on 96 when wicketkeeper BJ Watling missed a catching opportunity diving down the leg side.
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“We played at Bellerive a few weeks ago when Mitchell Johnson was bowling fast and it was bouncing twice to the wicketkeeper three times an over”, Langer said.
