6.18pm Australia 558 for 8 dec (Langer 123, Hayden 91, Ponting 157*, Warne 70, Vettori 5-138); bad light stopped play Brett Lee was approaching his second half-century of the series when he ballooned one out to the cow-corner boundary, where he was caught by Craig McMillan for 41. It was a fifth wicket for the persistent Daniel Vettori.

That made it 558 for 8, and Steve Waugh immediately declared, leaving hometown hero Ricky Ponting undefeated with a sparkling, chanceless 157, which included 20 fours and a six.

New Zealand, who will need to amass 359 to avoid the follow-on, would have had eight overs to survive tonight - but before they could start, the umpires decreed that the light was too poor, much to Waugh's chagrin.

6pm Australia 550 for 7 (Ponting 153*, Lee 37*)

There might have been a five-hour delay for rain, but Australia hadn't forgotten the script when they resumed on the second day of the second Test at Hobart. First Ricky Ponting hustled his way to the second 150 of his Test career, shortly after he passed 3000 runs in Test cricket with a sweet pull for six off a Shane Bond bouncer.

Then Brett Lee weighed in with a couple of sixes of his own – one another of his trademark cuts over point (he did the same at Brisbane), and the other an agricultural mow over midwicket off Daniel Vettori. But the pair posted yet another fifty partnership, and brought up 550 from the last ball of the 122nd over, to maintain their remarkable run rate of 4.5 an over.

Play will continue for another hour tonight, weather permitting, and an extra hour will be tagged on to each of the remaining days. Play will start half-an-hour earlier tomorrow, at 10.30am local time, and will finish 30 minutes later than usual at 6.30.

5.20pm Australia 488 for 7 (Ponting 127*, Lee 1*)

After a five-hour rain delay at Hobart play finally got under way again at 5.20, with 25 overs remaining to be bowled today. Australia didn't declare: instead Ricky Ponting and Brett Lee resumed the onslaught on the New Zealand bowlers.

3.30pm Australia 488 for 7 (Ponting 127*, Lee 1*): rain stopped play

As the scheduled time for the tea interval drew closer, steady rain ensured that the covers remained on the pitch at Hobart's Bellerive Oval. With clouds massing behind the ground, and a brisk wind springing from what the locals called the "wrong" area, prospects for a quick resumption looked bleak.

2.15pm Australia 488 for 7 (Ponting 127*, Lee 1*): rain stopped play

A frustrating afternoon continued when the umpires and players stepped onto the Bellerive Oval at Hobart for a resumption in play at 2.15pm after a rain delay - whereupon it rained again and they all trooped back to the dressing-rooms.

New Zealand relished the chance to escape from under the Australian cosh, and must be thinking back to the first Test, when they eventually came close to victory from a similar situation after an exchange of declarations.

1.30pm Australia 488 for 7 (Ponting 127*, Lee 1*): rain stopped play

The players were all set to resume at 1.30 after an early lunch - but it started raining again just as the groundstaff had removed all the covers, and they had to replace them again. It was only light drizzle, but it was enough to prevent a restart.

12.16pm Australia 488 for 7 (Ponting 127*, Lee 1*): rain stopped play

The rain, which had been threatening for most of the morning, set in shortly after Shane Warne's dismissal, and the players left the field at Hobart. The groundstaff zoomed the covers on, and an early lunch looked likely.

Australia had added 77 runs in 20 overs on the second morning – slightly below their breakneck first-day rate, but not by much.

12.10pm Australia 481 for 7 (Ponting 121*, Lee 0*)

Drinks claimed their traditional wicket when Shane Warne fell to the last ball of the first over after the mini-break. He had made 70, and his partnership with Ricky Ponting was worth 145.

The bowler was Nathan Astle, having his first trundle of the long innings. Just as he had at Brisbane, he struck in his first over – and Stephen Fleming may be regretting not giving him a go yesterday.

New Zealand's travails may not be over just yet. The new batsman, Brett Lee, hit 61 in the first Test at Brisbane.

12 noon Australia 478 for 6 (Ponting 118*, Warne 70*)

Australia continued as before on the second morning at Hobart, scoring almost at will against some undistinguished New Zealand bowling. In 16 overs in the first hour's play, Ricky Ponting and Shane Warne added 67 more runs without being separated, and took their seventh-wicket partnership to 142.

Ponting reached his ninth Test century – his first at Hobart – early on, but it was Warne who was doing the bulk of the scoring, almost exclusively square or behind the wicket as the New Zealanders persisted in dropping it short to him. He brought up a rare Test fifty – his fifth in Tests – with his eighth four, a savage cut off Daryl Tuffey, and by the drinks interval was closing in on his highest Test innings of 86, a score he made twice in 1999-2000.

New Zealand's best hope seemed to lie in the clouds. Although play started in bright sunshine, some ominous cumulo-nimbus was massing. There was a brief spell of drizzle, but play continued through it until the sun broke through again.

11.15am Australia 431 for 6 (Ponting 100*, Warne 43*)

In the fourth over of the day Ricky Ponting completed his century by running Shane Bond down between slips and gully for four, the 15th of his chanceless innings. It was Ponting's ninth Test hundred, but his first against New Zealand and his first in front of his appreciative home Hobart fans.

Ponting and Shane Warne were within five runs of posting a hundred partnership for the seventh wicket. But they have a long way to go to break the Australian Test record against New Zealand – Doug Walters and Gary Gilmour added 217 at Christchurch in 1976-77.

11am Australia 411 for 6 (Ponting 92*, Warne 25*)

Play started on time on the second day of the second Test at Hobart's Bellerive Oval. It was a sunny day – brighter than most of the first day – as Australia resumed their run-feast.

Ricky Ponting resumed on 92, within sight of his ninth Test century. It would be his first in front of his home crowd at Hobart.

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