New Zealand capitulated on the fourth day of the first Test against Australia at the Gabba to hand the home side a nine-wicket victory.

Man of the match, James Pattinson, dismembered the top half of the Kiwi line-up in a 21-ball spell that began with the wicket of Brendon McCullum on Saturday night and culminated with the removal of Doug Bracewell on Sunday morning. Australia had manoeuvred itself into a dominant position in the three days preceding the Victorian's intervention but required just a couple of hours afterwards to wrap up its sixth trans-Tasman success on the trot.

The reality is Australia needed to do very little over the course of a match in which its opposition batted ineptly - twice, bowled without cutting edge and fielded as poorly as any international side could dare without fearing investigation from the ICC Anti Corruption and Security Unit. The myth of New Zealand ‘raising its game' for Australia must surely now be buried, or give a worrying insight into how the Black Caps compete against other nations.

Michael Clarke was the major recipient of New Zealand's generosity in the field, offering the Australian captain three lives on his way to a first innings top score of 139. All Australia's bowlers received first-hand evidence of the famed Kiwi good nature as wickets were thrown away like Rugby World Cups.

Despite the opposition, the victory gives Australia plenty to cheer, especially in the bowling department.

A four-Test series against the best players of spin in the world follows but Nathan Lyon has surely resolved the post-Warne headache for a few years to come. James Pattinson's second-innings performance - revved up and confident - was a sight to behold. Tall, muscular and capable of bowling full swinging deliveries at 150kph, one can only imagine the hype were he a New South Welshman.

Peter Siddle did what Peter Siddle does. He toiled, aggressively, and returned 3/101 from his 40 overs in the match. In victories like this such figures and endeavour can be looked upon favourably. In a losing side they reinforce the view he lacks the killer delivery to make it at the highest level. He has earned the right to bowl at Chris Martin in Hobart.

Mitchell Starc, after impressing on day one, fell away somewhat and looked to have not yet mastered his control of either line or length sufficiently to prosper at this level at this time. He is the obvious makeweight for Pat Cummins, whether he returns in Tasmania or Victoria.

The batting is more problematic.

David Warner faced seven balls in the match, three found the boundary and one, a good one, dismissed him. In that short time he looked the part. He exudes confidence and has that street-fighter's disposition that suits the top of the Australian order. He also fielded with intensity and revealed a leg-spinning action reminiscent of a certain SK Warne. His immediate future will be decided in the second Test. If he outperforms his opening partner with something approaching competence he surely leapfrogs him in the pecking order.

That partner, Phil Hughes, looks desperate. Both his innings ended with catches by the same gully fielder off the bowling of Chris Martin as his inability to deal with the ball angling across him becomes chronic. He has now made just three scores above 37 in his last 26 Test innings. He is a walking wicket, as New Zealand captain, Ross Taylor, explained.

"If Hughes plays again in Tasmania then Chris Martin will be bowling at him and hopefully Martin Guptill takes the third catch as well," Taylor said. "We had a lot of video footage of all the Australian players and how they get out and Hughes got caught at second, third slip and gully a lot in the Ashes and the series against South Africa so that was definitely an area we wanted to target."

About the only thing saving Hughes from the chop is the availability of other openers. The next Test begins on Friday, too soon for Shane Watson or Shaun Marsh. If Ed Cowan, the A-team opener who scored a century against this same opposition, was a serious chance he would have been included in the Brisbane squad. There is a possibility Usman Khawaja could be elevated to open but the likelihood is that Hughes will be given the second Test to prove whether he has what it takes to prosper.

A penny for Simon Katich's thoughts...

Elsewhere, Khawaja looked destined for his first big score before Ricky Ponting ran him out, Michael Clarke excelled and Mike Hussey experienced a rare failure.

The two batsmen under most scrutiny before the game, Ponting and Brad Haddin, both advanced their causes.

Ponting made 78 across two days, the first of which he looked like the Ponting of old, the second an old Ponting. He still has incredible skills but they now come with a disconcerting tendency to fall to the off-side when aiming shots to leg. This is reflected in a worrying number of dismissals LBW with sides now obviously planning such attacking strategies. He has guaranteed his place for the rest of the summer but will need to convince against the Indians to extend his national record much further.

Haddin did what he had to, score runs. A chanceless 80 turned a contest into a cakewalk. It also reinforced the opinion of him as a flat track bully. Fortunately for the wicketkeeper there are lots of flat tracks in world cricket right now and his nearest rival, Tim Paine is injured. If possession is nine-tenths of the law, a score of 80 and the vice-captaincy will likely see Haddin in situ for the rest of the summer.

New Zealand's all-round performance was woeful. Vaunted ‘dangermen,' Brendon McCullum and Jesse Ryder, made Haddin look as responsible as Rahul Dravid. Youngsters with big reputations like Kane Williamson and Doug Bracewell did little to vindicate their press. Daniel Vettori and Dean Brownlie offered some resistance with the bat while Chris Martin, Tim Southee and Vettori meant Australia had to expend some effort in its innings and a smidgen. The less said about the attempted catching, the better.

Australia's second pre-India tune-up begins in Hobart on Friday. Mickey Arthur will be hoping New Zealand brings its ‘A' game to Tasmania or risk his side being undercooked for the summer's main course.