Pakistan chip away but BJ Watling's half-century keeps New Zealand in front

Tea New Zealand 388 for 7 (Watling 59*, Southee 0*, Afridi 3-80) vs Pakistan

Pakistan's bowlers strove hard to chip their way into the lower order even as New Zealand pushed towards 400 on day two of the first Test at Mount Maunganui. With the pitch drying out, losing much of its green tinge and offering significantly less seam movement than on day one, the first two sessions of day two were largely about how long Pakistan could hold their discipline. They did, for most part, but the hosts remained in front with BJ Watling and Kyle Jamieson adding 66 for the seventh wicket to build on the efforts of the upper middle order, in particular Kane Williamson who completed his 23rd Test hundred earlier in the day.

Their partnership, which spanned 22 overs, came to an end in the third over before tea, when Mohammad Abbas extracted bounce and an unusual amount of seam movement in the corridor to get Jamieson to nick off. It was one of a handful of deliveries that had moved as much all day, and it brought Abbas a much-deserved first wicket in his 29th over of the innings.

Until then, the tiny-and-towering pair of Watling and Jamieson had looked mostly untroubled against all of Pakistan's bowlers, save for a brief period early in the partnership when Yasir Shah was engaged in a cat-and-mouse contest against Jamieson. The legspinner dared Jamieson to hit over the top with a series of loopy tempters - there were two towering sixes, but also a wild slog and miss - and wrong-footed him on a couple of occasions with his quicker skidder, with an inside edge saving the crease-bound batsman from a possible lbw on one occasion.

Other than that, though, Jamieson showed the same gifts of technique and composure that had brought him scores of 44, 49, 51* and 20 in his four previous Test innings, and got into good positions to defend the faster bowlers in particular. At the other end, Watling was typically compact in defence while cashing in quickly whenever there was width on offer. He was also adept in getting off strike against Yasir, waiting for the line to drift either side of the stumps to get down on one knee and sweep.

Abbas' dismissal of Jamieson was the second wicket of the session. Faheem Ashraf had taken the first, breaking a 36-run partnership between Watling and Mitchell Santner in the eighth over after lunch, capitalising on Santner's tendency to play angled-bat shots to rising balls in the corridor.

At that point, New Zealand were 317 for 6, and Pakistan may have believed they had had the better of the day so far, especially considering how much the pitch seemed to have eased out since day one.

Abbas and Shaheen Afridi began the day with a seven-over-old ball, but neither found any swing, and what seam movement there was was minimal.

Their lines, as a result, were more defensive than earlier, wider outside off in an attempt to play on the batsmen's patience. Neither of the overnight batsmen lacked that quality, and Williamson, on 94 overnight, waited until his 14th ball of the morning to add to his score.

Pakistan made their first bowling change in the eighth over of the morning, and that gave Williamson the opportunity to bring up his hundred, with Naseem Shah overpitching and allowing him to unfurl the most pleasing of drives to bisect extra-cover and mid-off. This was Williamson's first Test hundred in his hometown, and having brought it up he immediately switched gears, having sussed out that there was little in the pitch to threaten him.

He began driving balls that weren't quite half-volleys, picking up two off-side fours in this manner off successive balls from Abbas, and then beat mid-off to his left with a back-foot punch off Naseem, finishing with left elbow high and both feet off the ground. Having taken 261 balls to bring up his hundred - his slowest in Test cricket - Williamson had scored 20 off his next 20.

But Pakistan clawed their way back, with a bit of luck finally going their way with the dismissal of Henry Nicholls, after he had extended his overnight partnership with Williamson from 89 to 133. Pakistan had been trying to attack Nicholls with the short ball, and Naseem produced a loud caught-behind shout when he hurried the batsman through a hook from around the wicket. It was given out, perhaps because there seemed to be two noises, and Nicholls, after a lengthy consultation with his partner, declined to review, only for replays to show the ball had brushed both his forearms without hitting bat or glove.

Then Pakistan brought on Yasir in the 18th over of the day, and the legspinner struck with his third ball, drawing Williamson forward with his flight, and finding the edge of his defensive bat with dip, turn and bounce. As with most Williamson edges, the ball barely carried, but Haris Sohail took a sharp one-handed catch diving to his right - it was referred upstairs by the on-field umpires, who made a soft signal of not-out, but replays showed that Sohail had got his fingers underneath the ball as he fell.