New Zealand was mounting a fightback on a rain-affected opening day of the second test against England, recovering from being reduced to 2-2 by James Anderson (in pic) as the paceman passed the 400-wicket barrier in Tests.
The tourists, who need a victory at Headingley to square the two-test series, were 123-3 at tea with opener Tom latham on 51. Anderson became the 12th player — and first from England - to go past 400 wickets when he removed Martin Guptill and Kane Williamson for ducks in the space of three balls in his second over.
Ross Taylor was trapped lbw — playing no stroke to Stuart Broad — for 20 to leave captain Brendon McCullum (41) with latham. The start of play was delayed by 2½ hours because of rain and there have been two short breaks for passing showers on a chilly day in northern England.
The loss of its early wickets hasn’t made New Zealand rethink its trademark aggressive approach. McCullum, coming to the middle with the Black Caps rocking at 68-3, struck a six over extra cover on his first delivery faced and has also hit six fours in his entertaining 27-ball knock.
Anderson’s fiery opening spell accounted for two of New Zealand’s most dangerous batsmen and took him to 401 wickets in his 104th test. It was the latest milestone for the 32-year-old seam bowler, who passed Ian Botham’s national record of 383 test wickets in the recent series against West Indies in the Caribbean.
The fourth-wicket stand between latham and McCullum moved to 55 runs by tea.