'It staggers me': Shane Warne's shock mid-match swipe at Nathan Lyon

Shane Warne was less than impressed with what he saw from Nathan Lyon on day four in Perth, despite the spinner taking four wickets as Australia thumped New Zealand.

Australia landed an emphatic blow on New Zealand and took a 1-0 lead in the Trans-Tasman Trophy with a 296-run flogging of the tourists.

‘BIT HARSH’: Mitchell Starc's brutal sledge as Aussies humiliate New Zealand

Reduced to just three front-line bowlers through injury to Josh Hazlewood, Australia rolled New Zealand for just 171 on Sunday chasing 468 for victory.

It helped complete a win inside four days against the world's No.2 team, as their record in Australia slumped to just one win in their last 23 Tests.

After Marnus Labuschagne helped set up Australia's advantage with 144 in their first-innings 416, Mitchell Starc and Nathan Lyon did the job with the ball.

Shane Warne and Nathan Lyon, pictured here during Australia's win over New Zealand.
Shane Warne didn't like what he saw from Nathan Lyon. Image: Getty

Lyon finished with 4-63, getting plenty of turn out of a wicket with cracks offering plenty of movement for both the quicks and spinners.

However despite the starring performance he still came in for some criticism from Warne.

The King of Spin was gobsmacked that Lyon and captain Tim Paine didn’t have more men around the bat early in the day on Sunday.

“It staggers me why Lyon continues to bowl without a bat pad on either side to both Left and Right handers - especially with conditions in his favour,” Warne tweeted on Sunday night.

“Also, isn’t the whole reason Aust batted so long (468 run lead) is to to keep aggressive fields for a long time.”

Lyon makes Warne eat his words

Lyon’s first ball on Sunday was arguably his best, ripping and turning out of the footmarks to catch Kane Williamson's gloves and go straight to short leg on 14.

He later had Tom Latham lbw for 22, removed Henry Nicholls (21) off the final ball before dinner at bat pad and nicked off Tim Southee for four to finish the match.

Starc claimed 4-45 to go with his first-innings 5-52, taking his record with the pink ball to 42 scalps in just seven day-night Tests.

He got the key wicket of Ross Taylor on Sunday, removing the star batsman when he under-edged on through to Paine behind the stumps.

Nathan Lyon, pictured here in action against New Zealand in Perth.
Nathan Lyon starred on day four against New Zealand. (Photo by Paul Kane - CA/Cricket Australia via Getty Images)

In a poor Sunday for the Black Caps, only BJ Watling reached 40 as one of the world's best batting line-ups succumbed for just 337 runs across their two innings.

"It's not so much focusing on bouncing back, it's just focusing on playing better in all areas," captain Williamson said.

"To be able to move past it and learn from all parts."

The only concern for Australia will be the way they handled New Zealand's short-pitch bowling ahead of the next two Tests.

While Sydney and Melbourne's pitches will likely offer far less assistance to the quicks, each of Australia's top six fell to shorter balls in the second innings.

with AAP