Vettori stormed into the referee's room during the break in innings, after his side was asked to follow on in the first Test against Australia at Wellington's Basin Reserve.

Australia claimed 11 wickets to have the Kiwis at 5-187, needing another 115 runs to make Australia bat a second time with two days of play remaining.

Doug Bollinger's 5-28 off 13 overs helped Australia skittle the Kiwis for 157, giving the tourists a first-innings lead of 302.

Ricky Ponting enforced the follow-on and the Black Caps stumbled again, although opener Tim McIntosh managed 83.

But the Kiwis were furious at several controversial decisions including the dismissal of Tim Southee. The tailender was last man out in the first innings for five when replays seemed to show no contact with the ball through to wicketkeeper Brad Haddin off Mitchell Johnson's bowling.

Match referee Javagal Srinath was unavailable after play, although he said through a spokesman he had a ''casual conversation'' with Vettori at the innings break shortly before lunch.

New Zealand coach Mark Greatbatch initially was ''unsure'' about Vettori's approach to Srinath.

''It's fair to say the system at the moment, it's a little inconsistent,'' Greatbatch said of the umpire decision review system.

''We just asked the question whether the system in place at the moment is consistent? The match referee said yes, so we'll get on with it.''

The Kiwis also had wicketkeeper-batsman Brendon McCullum given out lbw for a duck in the first innings yesterday and after the batsman called for a review of the decision, it was found that bowler Ryan Harris had overstepped the mark and it was a no-ball.

AAP