BRISBANE, Nov 19: Australia's spin-king Shane Warne said he didn't expect to be punished after an exchange with Pakistan umpire Aleem Dar during the first Test against New Zealand here on Friday.

The leading Test wicket-taker was called for two wides which Dar interpreted as 'negative bowling' as he attempted to stifle Kiwi century-maker Jacob Oram's scoring with deliveries down the leg-side.

The Kiwi all-rounder topscored with a blistering unbeaten 126 in his team's first innings of 353 to put the Aussies under pressure on the second day. "I was trying to bowl a slow top-spinner wide of leg-stump so he (Oram) could top-edge a sweep, because he likes to sweep and the umpire said it was negative bowling so he 'wided' me," Warne said.

"I thought the first one was a little bit wide but the second one I didn't think it was a wide so I asked him 'is that negative, is it?' and he said 'you look after your job and I'll worry about mine', so I said 'no problem.'"

Warne said he was disappointed to be called for the wides and he didn't expect any official sanction to be taken against him for the exchange with Dar. Warne praised Stephen Fleming for getting the best out of his New Zealand team.

Warne, who added four more wickets to take his world record wicket-taking tally to 545, paid tribute to the leadership skills of Fleming, who was in doubt in the lead-up Test with a delibitating virus he picked up during the Kiwis' recent tour to Bangladesh.

"We always rate the Kiwis highly, they always are, no matter what you guys (media) say," Warne said. "They always seem to lift and play well against Australia and one of the reasons is how well they are led by Stephen Fleming.

"I think he's one of the best captains going around and he just gets the best out of his team.... that's a sign of a good captain and to get the best out of each individual playing and he has that ability. "New Zealand always fight and they'll keep fighting and they did plenty well with the bat and the ball, but hopefully day three will be a different day for Australia." - AFP