Kiwis to retain nice guy tag for WACA Test

First the Kiwis copped it from David Warner, then paceman Tim Southee copped it from the crowd.

Southee was on the receiving end of a stream of abuse during one of NZ's worst ever days of Test cricket.

A small number of unruly fans were reportedly dealt with by WACA officials after Southee complained of low-brow sledging.

NZ bowling coach Dimitri Mascarenhas did his best to play down the incident after stumps on day one.

"Obviously we're expecting a bit of abuse from the crowd," Mascarenhas said.

"And when you're 1-400, you're going to expect some. I don't think it was too much."

Warner scored an unbeaten 244 as Australia finished the day at 2-416.

It was NZ's worst start to a Test match since conceding 5-418 against England in Christchurch in 1932/33.

Mascarenhas conceded his bowling unit bowled poorly around 85 per cent of the time.

And he knows they'll need to shape up on Saturday or risk more pain at the hands of Warner.

"We've tried a few plans and they're definitely not working at the moment," Mascarenhas said.

"We're just going to have to reassess tonight and see where we need to bowl to him.

"It is tough. He'll go through spells where he'll hit 20 ones in a row, and then all of a sudden he'll hit 20 off an over. He is pretty phenomenal at the moment."First the Kiwis copped it from David Warner, then paceman Tim Southee copped it from the crowd.

Southee was on the receiving end of a stream of abuse during one of NZ's worst ever days of Test cricket.

A small number of unruly fans were reportedly dealt with by WACA officials after Southee complained of low-brow sledging.

NZ bowling coach Dimitri Mascarenhas did his best to play down the incident after stumps on day one.

"Obviously we're expecting a bit of abuse from the crowd," Mascarenhas said.

"And when you're 1-400, you're going to expect some. I don't think it was too much."

Warner scored an unbeaten 244 as Australia finished the day at 2-416.

It was NZ's worst start to a Test match since conceding 5-418 against England in Christchurch in 1932/33.

Mascarenhas conceded his bowling unit bowled poorly around 85 per cent of the time.

And he knows they'll need to shape up on Saturday or risk more pain at the hands of Warner.

"We've tried a few plans and they're definitely not working at the moment," Mascarenhas said.

"We're just going to have to reassess tonight and see where we need to bowl to him.

"It is tough. He'll go through spells where he'll hit 20 ones in a row, and then all of a sudden he'll hit 20 off an over. He is pretty phenomenal at the moment."