Aussies rue late drop as NZ fight back through Henry's seven

After Marnus Labuschagne fell despairingly short of his first century of the summer, New Zealand came roaring back into the second Test to finish day two on the back of Matt Henry's bowling brilliance and a late lapse from Australia in the field.

The Black Caps resume tomorrow 2-134 and holding an overall lead of 40 with opener Tom Latham a key figure on 65 not out and fellow left-hander Rachin Ravindra unbeaten on 11.

As history had foreshadowed, the menace in the Hagley Oval pitch began to dissipate amid the clatter of Australia wickets in the first half of day two, and by the time NZ set about their second innings it was near unrecognisable from a day earlier.

It didn't help opener Will Young who fell for one in the third over, but barely brought a raised eyebrow from Latham and Kane Williamson who forged a 105-run stand from 215 deliveries for the second wicket to carry the Black Caps into the lead.

With little on offer for the seamers who tore through NZ a day earlier, and Nathan Lyon posing little threat when introduced, Australia went to the short-ball plan via Cameron Green during the final session which only served to accelerate the home team's scoring rate

But with the skies darkening and the floodlights flicked on, Williamson on 51 aimed a flat-footed drive at Pat Cummins and dragged the ball back on to his stumps, at which point a number of the sell-out crowd who had hoped for a century in his 100th Test packed up their deck chairs and headed home.

And Australia might have celebrated a double strike had Alex Carey gloved a low chance diving in front of Usman Khawaja at slip off first-innings destroyer Josh Hazlewood shortly before stumps when Latham was on 59.

Labuschagne's best Test knock since his match-saving hundred at Old Trafford that ensured Australia retained the Ashes appeared set to deliver a deserved hundred until Glenn Phillips intervened on what proved the last ball before lunch.

Stationed at gully, Phillips flung himself to his right and parallel to the turf to hold the sole chance of Labuschagne's almost four-hour innings and clung on to the ball as he crashed back to the earth.

It not only robbed the Australia number three – playing his 50th Test – of a milestone moment, but it also ensured NZ's diligent bowling (led by strike weapon Matt Henry) kept the disparity between the teams' first innings to less than 100.

Henry's 7-67 was the best return by a NZ bowler against Australia since Sir Richard Hadlee's legendary 9-52 at the Gabba in 1985.

But remarkably, it was also the second-best figures of the 32-year-old's injury interrupted career behind the 7-23 he claimed against South Africa in 2022 on his home patch at Hagley Oval, where he has also scored three of his four Test half-centuries to date.

Henry's second five-wicket bag in as many Tests further exposed Australia's top-order batting woes as – for a sixth consecutive innings – their first six wickets tumbled for a combined total below 200.

Only once in their past four and half outings have the reigning World Test Champions reached 300 in a completed innings, and that came at Basin Reserve last week solely because Cameron Green contributed an unbeaten 174 while no other batter reached 50.

But despite their day-two resurgence, the Black Caps will carry the weight of history as they look to land their first Test win over Australia on home soil since 1993, and their first in Christchurch since their maiden win over their trans-Tasman rivals at the now-levelled Lancaster Park 50 years ago.

The members of that still-celebrated team were honoured at a cocktail function on match eve at Hagley Oval, where once since it became the city's new Test venue in 2014 has a first innings deficit been turned into a victory.

And that came in 2020, when NZ overcame India's advantage of just seven runs which is decidedly different to the 94-run lead Australia claimed today.

Speaking after stumps yesterday when Australia were 4-124 and still 38 runs in deficit, Hazlewood noted that if the ball continued to seam around on the Hagley Oval surface then a first innings lead of more than 100 "would be unreal".

However, he added that should the surface play true to character and gradually flatten out to a more benign batting strip then Australia would need every run beyond that triple-figure advantage heading into the third innings.

Both those scenarios went out the window in another bowler-dominated session to start day two, as NZ overcame a forgettable start to snare four vital wickets culminating in the scalp of Labuschagne to a piece of fielding brilliance on the dot of lunch.

Phillips' stunning grab at gully provided a stark counterpoint to the Black Caps' lacklustre fielding in the preceding T20I series and earlier in the Test campaign including another missed opportunity in the second over today.

Nightwatcher Lyon had not added to his overnight score when he aimed a back-foot punch against Tim Southee that flew above head height to first slip where Daryl Mitchell turfed the chance to the clear displeasure of the bowler.

Southee's annoyance was compounded by having squandered his team's penultimate review in the first over with Labuschagne hit on the pads by Henry's fourth delivery of the day, which was shown to have made impact outside off stump and with the batter more than 3m down the track.

In a bid to negate the considerable movement NZ's seamers were still extracting from the pitch, Labuschagne had taken to batting well beyond his crease and habitually walked a few steps further down after each shot.

The ploy caught the attention of umpires Marais Erasmus (standing in his final Test) and Nitin Menon who spoke at length with Labuschagne and warned him against wandering into the 'danger area' immediately in front of the stumps.

But it wasn't until keeper Tom Blundell came up to the stumps for Southee's bowling shortly before lunch that the Australia batter was compelled to stay within his crease, a factor that contributed to his dismissal within sight of a 12th Test hundred.

Anchored near his stumps, Labuschagne tried to find an inventive way of piercing the field with Southee banging away back of a length and he felt he'd got one through the ring of fielders on the off-side before Phillips launched himself lengthways.

It was Southee's only wicket of the innings as his recent lean spell continued into his 100th Test, although his shortfall has been more than picked up by Henry whose 15 wickets at 11.5 across the first three bowling innings of this series contrast starkly to the four at 110 in his first three Tests against Australia.

He resumed where he had finished on Friday evening (when he collected three of the four Australia wickets to fall) by eventually having Lyon safely caught at slip by Mitchell in a near replay of his earlier fumble.

In his next over, Henry showed there was still much help for the seamers in the Hagley surface as he got a ball to nip past the inside edge of Mitchell Marsh's bat and Southee's belated decision to gamble his team's last remaining review paid a huge dividend.

With their last specialist batter sent back without scoring and the lead just four, 'keeper Carey's knock assumed even greater importance after he succumbed to identical dismissals for low scores at Wellington.

It was therefore a serious setback to his individual, and the team's collective cause when he fell for 14 from 24 balls to the second ball sent down by fellow 'keeper-turned spin bowler Phillips.

Carey aimed a premeditated sweep at Phillips which bounced more than the left-hander expected, and took the toe of the bat before limply landing in Latham's hands at mid-on.

Australia's hope of pushing their lead past 100 then rested with Labuschagne if he could enlist sufficient help from the fast bowlers, and the 32 he added with Starc carried the advantage to 59 before Phillips single-handedly ended their stand.

After Starc nicked off soon after lunch, it took a spectacular counter-attack from Cummins who clubbed three boundaries and a six off consecutive balls from debutant fast bowler Ben Sears before he became Henry's seventh victim with the lead marginally shy of the three-figures Australia had eyed.

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February 29 – March 4: Australia won the first Test by 172 runs

March 8-12: Second Test, Christchurch, 9am AEDT

Australia Test squad: Pat Cummins (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Michael Neser, Matthew Renshaw, Steve Smith (vc), Mitchell Starc

New Zealand Test squad: Tim Southee (c), Tom Blundell (wk), Matt Henry, Scott Kuggeleijn, Tom Latham, Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, Rachin Ravindra, Mitchell Santner, Ben Sears, Kane Williamson, Will Young.