Cricket: Neil Wagner and Black Caps plot day-two fightback against England

Neil Wagner fist bumps Harry Brook after striking the England batsman. Photo / Getty

Neil Wagner and the Black Caps knew England’s declaration was coming in the final session on day one of the first test.

That knowledge, however, assisted only so much once the pink ball started moving around last night in favourable conditions under lights at Bay Oval.

After Wagner and his fellow bowlers had taken their chances to prevent the tourists from blasting their way out of sight, some of that good work was undone in a testing 18-over spell before stumps.

Wagner had become the fifth New Zealander to take 250 test wickets as he happily accepted what was offered by a free-swinging England lower order, finishing with 4-82 as Ben Stokes called a close to the innings with his side on 325-9.

The declaration, like much of what England have accomplished under Brendon McCullum, was historic. Only one team - Pakistan in 1974 - had made a first-innings declaration having faced fewer deliveries, and that was owing to an uncovered pitch.

England’s decision was bold but also logical: why not, they figured, have a crack at their opposition in the best bowling conditions available.

On 298-5, they could have slowed their scoring - eventually finishing the innings with a run rate of 5.57 - and batted safely through to day two. But the Black Caps were never counting on that.

“We expected it,” Wagner said of the declaration. “We thought after that dinner break they might come out a little bit harder, really up the ante and get to the point where they could try to get us in there.

“They play a positive brand, and they way they started, if you’d have given us that score, I guess we would have taken it.”

What New Zealand wouldn’t have taken was the loss of three wickets before stumps.

Tom Latham fell to Ollie Robinson’s second delivery before Kane Williamson became James Anderson’s 676th test wicket. No 677 came in Anderson’s following over as he found the edge of Henry Nicholls, leaving Devon Conway and nightwatchman Wagner to begin this afternoon.

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Not only had England enjoyed the conventional advantages of bowling with a pink ball under lights, their cause was also aided by a lack of wind, with that factor having blunted the Black Caps’ earlier attempts to generate swing.

“Everyone knows that with a pink ball it’s tough under lights and does a little bit more,” Wagner said. “Conditions really got favourable for England in the end when the wind stopped blowing and there was a bit more assistance. Under lights, with no wind, it’s going to swing around, and they made full use of that and put us under pressure.”

But, as Wagner explained, there is now a clear blueprint for the Black Caps to follow.

The pitch was good for batting on day one, as England showed by collecting 246 runs in boundaries, more than 75 per cent of their total. With Daryl Mitchell, Tom Blundell and Michael Bracewell to come before the bowlers, New Zealand can be content even in batting for only for two-and-a-half sessions, then seeing how England cope under the bright lights.

“If we can do the same tomorrow, try to build partnerships and get though that day and bowl under lights, we can find ourselves in a similar sort of position,” Wagner said.