Colin de Grandhomme makes grand debut

Christchurch: Late bloomer Colin de Grandhomme celebrated his first international call-up with record New Zealand debut bowling figures of 6-41 as Pakistan crumbled in their first innings of the opening cricket Test, here on Friday.
After the 30-year-old de Grandhomme engineered Pakistan's collapse to be all out for 133 at Hagley Oval, New Zealand's other debutant Jeet Raval put them in a strong position to be 104-3 in reply at stumps.

New Zealand made a rocky start to their reply when the experienced Tom Latham, Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor — with 158 Tests between them — could muster only 16 runs in total. But the novice Raval (55 not out) and Henry Nicholls (not out 29 in his eighth Test) have added 64 for the fourth wicket to put New Zealand in charge.

On what was effectively the first day of a now four-day Test, after rain washed out the scheduled Thursday start, the honours lay with de Grandhomme. The Harare-born, former Zimbabwe under-19 representative is more renowned as a big-hitting batsman but was picked for the all-rounder role ahead of the more experienced Jimmy Neesham in the swing-friendly conditions. Only seven other New Zealand bowlers have taken five or more wickets on debut, with the previous best figures belonging to Tim Southee at five for 55. The previous best six-wicket haul was Alex Moir's six for 155 against England 65 years ago.

Although conditions appeared ripe for bowling when Williamson won the toss his strike pair Southee and Trent Boult strayed too much to seriously trouble Pakistan openers Sami Aslam and Azhar Ali in the first hour. But it was all change when Williamson overlooked Neil Wagner as his first-change bowler and flicked the ball to de Grandhomme. Misbah offered stubborn resistance in a near three-hour innings, reaching 31 off 108 balls.   

Brief scores: Pakistan 133 (Misbah-ul-Haq 31, Grandhomme 6/41) vs New Zealand 104/3 in 36 novers (Raval 55)