Bairstow, Wood rescue England after Southee-Boult show

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For two sessions on the first day of the second and final Test in Christchurch, New Zealand had the upper hand with Tim Southee and Trent Boult calling the shots again. But an unbeaten 97 from Jonny Bairstow and his 95-run stand with Mark Wood for the eighth wicket turned the tide and took England to a competitive 290/8 by close of play at Hagley Oval on Friday 30 March.

The day started with Kane Williamson opting to field first, and Boult found a way past Alastair Cook straight away, exactly as he had done twice over in the first Test. Then, in Auckland, he had got Cook to edge behind for 5 and 2, and this time Cook hardly moved his feet as the ball came in and hit off stump in just the third over, sending the former England captain back for 2 in his 154th Test.

That might have raised visions of a repeat of the first innings at Eden Park, when England folded for 58 in the face of some terrific swing and seam bowling from Boult and Southee, but James Vince joined Mark Stoneman and kept things steady for a while. That was until Southee hit Vince’s pads and the appeal was upheld. Vince reviewed but it went the way of New Zealand, and the No.3 was gone for 18.

England had another decent stand, with Stoneman and Joe Root now holding fort. The two added 55 runs together, but soon after lunch Southee had Root playing an expansive drive and missing by a long way as the ball cannoned into the stumps – the captain gone for 37 and England 93/3.

It got worse for England very quickly, with Boult trapping Dawid Malan lbw for a first-ball duck and Stoneman, after a 111-ball vigil, becoming Southee’s third victim when he nicked one straight to Tom Latham at second slip. Stoneman was dismissed in the 38th over for 35, and England had gone from 70/2 at lunch to 94/5 within 8.2 overs of the second session; three wickets had fallen in three overs.

But Ben Stokes and Bairstow ensured that there was no further damage in the session. With Neil Wagner and Colin de Grandhomme coming on, there was some respite for the batsmen. Though there were a couple of oohs and aahs, Stokes and Bairstow settled in nicely and then started playing their shots, bringing up their 50-run stand soon after and then taking England past 150.

The game turned again immediately after tea when Boult, refreshed after the break, first had Stokes shouldering arms to one that just about missed the stumps and then got the edge off an attempted flick through to BJ Watling behind the stumps. Stokes fell for 25, spanning 65 balls, and the stand got over at 57.

One wicket brought two as Stuart Broad came and went, driving Southee to Ish Sodhi, playing in place of the injured Todd Astle, at mid-off, but Bairstow was still strong, playing some good shots all around the park and then crossing the 50-run mark for the 22nd time in his career with consecutive fours off Wagner.

He might have been gone soon after had Watling managed to hold on to a tough chance off Wagner, and de Grandhomme pinged Bairstow on the helmet soon after, but he stayed firm.

Wood had started playing his shots by then and England were in the middle of yet another good-looking collaboration, the tail-ender backing his instincts and flat-batting Wagner for a six before getting to his best Test score when he got to 33, and then sending Sodhi for three fours in an over.

The partnership frustrated New Zealand, made worse when Wagner dropped a sharp caught-and-bowled chance off Wood, but Wood got to his maiden Test half-century and the total had reached 259 when Southee struck for the fifth time in the innings. He had just returned to the attack for an over with the old ball before getting hold of the new cherry when, after scoring a game-turning 52 – in just 62 balls with seven fours and a six – Wood missed with his drive and lost his stumps.

Ten overs with the new ball were due, but debutant Jack Leach, in the XI as replacement for Moeen Ali, hung in there with Bairstow, facing 33 balls for his 10*, while Bairstow saw the day out having faced 154 balls over the best part of two sessions. Southee ended the day with 5/60, while Boult had 3/79.