Cricket: Vettori eyes chance to beat series jinx

Dan Vettori is surrounded by teammates as he celebrates the wicket of Pakistan's Mohammad Aamer. Photo / Getty Images

New Zealand arrived in Wellington yesterday with the initiative in the three-match series, a seam of confidence and the chance to reflect upon how much more satisfying a test victory is than any dozen Twenty20 or ODI matches can be.

The first-test win by 32 runs at University Oval came at the end of a marvellous day of twists, shifts of balance and nerve-jangly tension as first New Zealand, then Pakistan, and ultimately the home side had the edge.

Chasing 251 for victory, Pakistan were dismissed for 218, New Zealand's tireless bowlers doing the job impressively - and which should have been easier had their batsmen been up to the mark with their particular responsibilities in the second innings.

New Zealand won the first test against England last year in Hamilton, and lost the series 2-1. One awful session in each of the last two tests did for them.

Now they have another opportunity to press on. It can be done; the question is whether they are good enough to see the job through.

The final wicket fell to captain Dan Vettori, capping a match in which - to absolutely no surprise - he was a central figure, although well short of full fitness; his first-innings 99 pulling New Zealand round from a wobbly 211 for six; his four for 115 in the match solid reward for battling a shoulder niggle.

The biggest praise should sit with New Zealand's seamers, the mid-thirties men Shane Bond, Chris Martin and Iain O'Brien, who shared 16 wickets in the match.

Man-of-the-match Bond had a comeback to test cricket he will long remember, taking eight for 153 and giving New Zealand that extra pace which can keep the best batsmen on guard.

Martin produced perhaps the ball of the test to remove Pakistan's best batsman and captain, Mohammad Yousuf, on Saturday, sharp, lifting and following the batsman to touch his gloves.

It came at a point where Yousuf and young hero Umar Akmal, the first-innings century-maker, appeared to be pushing Pakistan towards victory.

They had revived the innings from 24 for three with a 71-run partnership. While Akmal, who made a terrific debut, remained at the crease, Pakistan's flame was alive. He shared important stands with Shoaib Malik and his older brother Kamran.

But when the brothers departed in the space of three runs - the younger man to a second Bond caught and bowled - New Zealand seized the moment. The last five wickets fell for 23 runs.

As for O'Brien, he'd had an ordinary first innings. He needed something special in the second.

Similar to Bond, who had a painful left toe injury, O'Brien had a finger on his right hand dislocated, but plugged on.

His final, gruelling spell of the test was 13-2-35-3, a crucial contribution of wholehearted, aggressive seam bowling. He and Bond shared a rousing 16-over burst after tea, taking a combined three for 40 to push New Zealand to the brink of victory.

Any doubts about O'Brien's place in the XI for the Basin Reserve this week, starting on Thursday - reasonable enough after an average first-innings effort - were dispelled.

"If I didn't come out and bowl well it could have been me done for a while," O'Brien said yesterday. "To come out and bowl well and play a part in a test win, makes me feel better about my job and my role in the team."

Vettori has long been a fan. He reckons the Wellington man has seldom let him down, and the bowler enjoys his skipper's confidence.

"I've always backed 'Obber'. I like the effort and the way he bowls in a game. That spell with him and Shane after tea made a real difference," Vettori added.

He knows that while the celebrations are justified, there remains much to work on.

"I think there's still frustration. We want to control the game better than we did."

The Basin Reserve is regarded as the country's best pitch block. It helps the fast-medium bowlers who roll their sleeves up, has runs in it and gives the spinners a hand late on.

Pakistan must now go on the front foot. Their top-order batting - as well as Bond and Martin in particular bowled with the new ball - was ordinary, their catching of C-grade standard.

Perhaps most of all, captain Yousuf needs to get more pro-active. His field placing was a paint-by-numbers operation for much of the time, most noticeably when New Zealand were 0 for 2 after three overs of their second innings.

It cried out for all-out attack, as Pakistan trailed by 97 on the first innings, but Yousuf sat back with a ring field, missing a major opportunity.

BY THE NUMBERS

*New Zealand's 32-run win in Dunedin was their first test victory since beating Bangladesh at Chittagong in October 2008 - with five draws and five defeats since.

*New Zealand's last win over a major test-playing nation was at Hamilton against England in March 2008, a gap of 16 tests.

*It was their seventh win in 46 tests against Pakistan, against 21 defeats and 18 draws, but their fifth at home out of 25 matches, alongside eight losses and 12 draws.