Cricket: What you may have missed from day two of the first test between the Black Caps and Australia

Tom Latham was dismissed second ball under lights by Mitchell Starc. Photo / Photosport

Couldn't stay up to watch all of day two of the Black Caps' day-night test against Australia? Niall Anderson covers off the moments you may have missed from the day's play.

Australia's cunning plan

One of the quirks of day-night test cricket made an appearance last night, as Australia purposely batted slowly and safely in their quest to take the new ball under lights in the third session.

Bowling with the pink ball under lights has a significant advantage in day-nighters – with some batsmen previously complaining about how it's harder to see the seam. So when Tim Paine and Pat Cummins put on the brakes after lunch, it was all done with a plan in mind.

That plan was later admitted by Australian bowling coach Andrew McDonald, who said his side didn't want to get bowled out before the lights took effect. So a go-slow it was for Paine and Cummins, before the tail order then hit out as tea loomed, throwing away cheap wickets with some wild hitting, content to go into the third session with the new pink ball in hand.

Sure enough, Black Caps openers Tom Latham and Jeet Raval couldn't handle Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood under lights, and though Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor lasted longer, they too were lucky to survive the initial new ball salvo.

Mitchell Starc of Australia celebrates a plan well executed. Photo / Getty

Eventually, the Black Caps lost five wickets in the session, reigniting the debate over whether a team bowling with the new ball under lights has an unfair advantage in the day-night test. It's a point worth considering when weighing up the future of the concept, though in this case, it likely would have been hard to deny the Australian seamers in any conditions.

Injury woes

With Lockie Ferguson in a moon boot - unable to bowl in this test after suffering a muscle-tendon strain in his right calf - it seems unlikely that he will be fit to play in Melbourne on Boxing Day, leading to questions about whether the Black Caps need to fly over another fast bowler. However, with Matt Henry in the wings, and Trent Boult likely to be recovered from his side strain, there should still be four seamers available to pick from for the test at the MCG.

A much bigger concern would be what would happen if the Black Caps suffered another bowling injury, a scare which briefly set in when Tim Southee briefly departed the field. With Colin de Grandhomme curiously only bowling six overs and not looking overly animated in the field, one began to wonder whether Neil Wagner would have to bowl even longer spells than his nine overs on the trot to start the day.

I'm sure Wagner would bowl from both ends if he was allowed to, but with the Black Caps now looking at a major first-innings deficit, it's unlikely that they will be spending too long in the field in their second innings.

Jeet Raval: Specialist bowler

Tim Southee and BJ Watling celebrate with Jeet Raval after his first test wicket. Photo / Photosport

If they do, they can at least lump some of the extra workload onto Jeet Raval, who looked surprisingly lively with his part-time legspin. For a man with just 20 first-class wickets, Raval looked up to the task as he churned out 10 consecutive overs, and claimed his first test wicket – Cummins, bowled around his legs.

Given his awful run with the bat continued by being bowled for just one, Raval's bowling proved more useful than his batting, with some wondering whether he could be the reverse Mark Richardson – turning himself from an opening batsman into a lower-order legspinner.

To truly commit to becoming the reverse Mark Richardson, Raval would also have to prepare to share controversial left-wing views on breakfast television 10 years from now. Or would they have to be uncontroversial left-wing views? I'm confused. Maybe he should just work on his batting instead.

Rare scenes

Josh Hazlewood celebrates the wicket of Jeet Raval, before he had to limp off the park. Photo / Photosport

If Hazlewood doesn't return to the bowling crease after suffering a left hamstring strain, he will end the test with the rather curious figures of 1.2-1-0-1. Hazlewood removed Raval with a 140km/h inswinger, but then broke down during his second over, and walked off looking rather dejected.

Much like Ferguson before him, it would be unlikely to see him bowl again this test – especially with how his fellow bowlers have fared – and Hazlewood's absence also created an even rarer oddity: Matthew Wade bowling in the eighth over of a test match.

Yes, as we all expected - a former wicketkeeper, with eight first-class wickets in 145 matches, coming on in the eighth over. Of course.

Who's on top?

The answer was always going to be Australia, even though Taylor and Williamson would have made it a bit more interesting had they stayed together until stumps. Now, BJ Watling, de Grandhomme and Mitchell Santner will have to replicate their efforts from the first test against England, or Taylor will have to replicate his last innings in Perth, if the Black Caps are to drag themselves back into this test.