KEY POINTS:
It took Tim Southee just 11 balls to announce his arrival as an international cricketer and a few more to put the frighteners well and truly up England.
The Northern Districts seamer earned a spot in the team late following the enforced withdrawals of Kyle Mills and Jacob
Oram. But the fact he was making his debut in the most highly-anticipated test in this country for years against a vastly experienced England line-up fazed him not one jot.
In his second over, he trapped England captain Michael Vaughan in front, not plumb but close enough, and then removed the disappointing Andrew Strauss, who drove loosely to Jamie How in the gully.
It's too early to call him a revelation, or to lumber him with ridiculous tags like the next Richard Hadlee, but Southee has done enough to suggest he has the tools to perform at the highest level.
Good judges have suspected that for a while. He was player of the tournament at the under-19 world cup and Dennis Lillee, not a bad bowler himself, at a clinic in Chennai described him as the best 18-year-old he'd seen since Glenn McGrath.
Those sorts of assessments can be double-edged swords but Southee does not seem the sort to get caught up in the hype.
"Not really. You just take it on board," he said. "A lot of people have said a lot of things and unless you perform you don't go anywhere."
The son of Northland farmers Joanne and Murray admitted to nerves but, once Rudi Koertzen's slow finger of death was raised in his second over, they largely dissipated.
"It would be pretty hard to go out there and pretend to be blank. Definitely the noise and the atmosphere were amazing and I just soaked it up," Southee said. "I was very, very nervous at the start but after the first over the nerves settled a bit and things went a lot better.
"I would probably have been happy with anyone but getting Vaughan was quite a good effort.
"There was a little bit there early on but usually it's a pretty good cricket wicket here anyway. I thought we bowled quite well as a unit."
Importantly, he booked himself return flights to England next month.
Southee wasn't the only debutant getting in on the act. South African-born Grant Elliott chipped in with the wicket of Ian Bell and took a simple catch at backward point to get rid of the dangerous Paul Collingwood.
Neither could do anything about Kevin Pietersen until it was too late. Elliott's compatriot waved goodbye to an 11-innings lean trot with a century that owed more to substance than style. Southee finally got him, caught in the gully by How but, by then, Pietersen's 129 had rescued England to the point where they probably feel this is still a test to be won. At 4-3 and 36-4 it was looking anything but.
Daniel Vettori was no doubt ruing the end of his hot streak with the coin when Vaughan chose to bat on what was assumed would be a featherbed.
After Southee ripped through Vaughan and Strauss, Chris Martin bowled Alastair Cook via inside edge and pad.
Elliott came into the attack and surprised those who had never seen him bowl by ambling in off a Nathan Astle-like run-up. Elliott appeals more as a fourth seamer than first change but it didn't matter when he induced Bell to slap a forehand back to him.
Pietersen looked comfortable at one end, sweeping Vettori at will, but Collingwood was a different matter. He looked gone for all money when he tried to pull Martin, appearing to cue-end him through to the keeper but Koertzen saw it otherwise.
Just when he looked set, though, Collingwood uncharacteristically slashed at Jeetan Patel and Elliott was safe.
Patel did nothing to suggest anything other than leaving him out of the Basin Reserve test was pure folly. He was accurate enough that Vettori could set ultra attacking fields and he got his reward when Tim Ambrose, a thorn in the side this summer, edged him to Ross Taylor at second slip.
At 230-7 it was New Zealand's day, in particular Southee's day. If today is their day, too, then they will have their best chance to win a series against England at home since 1984.
That is tantalising.
