Australia batsman Steve Smith hoping to score more freely with the red ball when it returns for Boxing Day Test

Australian batsman Steve Smith hopes he can score more freely against the red ball after New Zealand restricted him to just 43 from 164 balls in the first Test at Optus Stadium yesterday.

Smith and centurion Marnus Labuschagne starred for Australia, putting on 130 for the third wicket before Smith pulled a Neil Wagner delivery to leg gully in the final session of the day.

Despite the clear tactics from the Black Caps to try to get the number four out caught close on the leg side, Smith was not blaming anyone but himself for the dismissal.

“We have seen what he does, he goes through those periods sometimes when he (Wagner) just goes short,” Smith told SEN today.

“I let quite a few go, but it got to a point where I had the urge to hit him, which was an error on my behalf.

“I took it on and paid the price.

“We will see how it goes when the red ball comes back which is completely different to the pink one.”

Australia scored at just 2.75 runs an over on the first day, with Smith believing the pink ball felt like a tennis ball when coming off the bat.

“It got soft pretty quickly,” he said.

“It didn’t feel like you could punch the ball through gaps as easily as some other times. You sort of felt like you had to hit it.

“I had to absorb a fair amount of pressure, they bowled pretty well to me and stay as patient as I could.”

Smith said he expected Australia’s plan would be to bat deep into the day before having a bowl at New Zealand with the new ball under lights.

“When the ball is harder and under lights, that’s I think where you can do a bit of damage,” he said.