Black Caps in late fightback

Hooray for Henry. A counterattacking maiden test century by Henry Nicholls and some late bowling strikes gave New Zealand hope, after a rollicking first day of the second cricket test against South Africa.

Day one at the Basin Reserve is rarely dull, and 12 wickets tumbled on a Wellington stunner where New Zealand wobbled badly but didn’t lay down.

South Africa will resume 24-2 in reply to New Zealand’s 268, still with the upper hand given the Basin’s propensity to be a batsman’s dream on days two and three, but the hosts will at least return with some spring in their legs.

Without their injured guns Ross Taylor and Trent Boult it was a lot better than it promised to be.

Tim Southee and his surprise new ball partner Colin de Grandhomme got it to swing and struck once each before stumps. Dangerman Dean Elgar was the big one, nicked off by de Grandhomme and New Zealand were in business.

But it was Nicholls’ day as the 25-year-old in his 13th test took charge with 118, before spin proved their unlikely downfall via JP Duminy (4-47) and Keshav Maharaj (2-47).

The last time five wickets fell to spin on day one at the Basin was in 1946, via Australian tweaker Bill O’reilly.

Both teams arrived with a wary eye on the Basin Reserve pitch, which had less green grass than previous years but had spent four days under cover till Monday night.

The expectation of hidden moisture and seam movement, combined with a warm, still Wellington day which usually aids swing meant it was a bowl first day. It wasn’t Kane Williamson’s.

For a seventh successive match, Williamson flipped the coin and it fell South Africa’s way. Skipper Faf du Plessis almost licked his lips at the chance to ‘‘get into that batting lineup’’.

Without Taylor it was a mammoth task. New Zealand stacked their batting with de Grandhomme at eight. They picked just two frontline quicks in Boult’s absence, omitted Mitchell Santner and Matt Henry and handed offspinner Jeetan Patel his first Basin test, 11 years after his debut.

At 21-3, cricketing calamity loomed.

Opener Tom Latham hasn’t passed 10 in seven international innings now, just two months on from his 177 against Bangladesh. The experiment to hand him the ODI wicketkeeper’s job snowballed this slump, as Latham (8) prodded at one that seamed and bounced from Morne Morkel.

Williamson’s shoulders carried more weight from Taylor’s absence.

Kagiso Rabada was a menacing first change. He angled one in to Williamson (2) and the pace and bounce was too much.

Williamson challenged what looked a good lbw decision, angling to leg, but his luck really wasn’t in. Some mud flicked up by Rabada’s boot interfered with the ball tracker reading and meant Kumar Dharmasena’s decision stood.

After 136 first-class matches and 30 ODIS, debutant Neil Broom walked into a cauldron and lasted just four balls. Rabada squared him up with another that nipped and Quinton de Kock grabbed a one-handed stunner.

In such a dire situation, Nicholls arrived with purpose and poise.

With Jeet Raval (36) they blunted South Africa’s quicks. Nicholls got going with some upper cuts off the bouncy Morkel then used his feet superbly to Maharaj’s spin, waiting back to cut then dancing down to raise a 66-ball 50 over his head.

Oddly, spin then proved New Zealand’s undoing as the pitch flattened out and part-timer Duminy snared his best test figures.

Some hard New Zealand toil was ended by soft dismissals. Jimmy Neesham (15) stretched too far on a regulation shot and was stumped, a poor way to go.

Nicholls and BJ Watling, who arrived with a 50-plus average at the Basin, added 116 crucial runs.