The Kivi’s captain maiden five-wicket bag against England, some sharp spells from paceman Chris Martin and a cool finish by the opening pair gave New Zealand fourth day honours in a first test almost certainly headed for a draw.
At stumps New Zealand were 40 without loss in their second innings, a deficit of just two runs after England were dismissed for 319 thanks to captain Michael Vaughan’s 18th test century.
Vettori’s five for 69 was his best innings figures in 15 tests against England and earned him a coveted spot on the Lord’s honours board alongside bowling compatriots Sir Richard Hadlee, Dion Nash and Chris Cairns.
Teammates had already added Vettori’s name to the dressing room board written on white tape by the end of the day’s play.
“It’s five-for but the main thing is, it’s a pleasing day’s cricket. We played really well and most people were predicting England to come out and dominate the day,” Vettori said.
“We didn’t start as well as we could have, but from then on, particularly the way Chris Martin bowled, set up a good day for us.
“For them to be only 40 in front (on the first innings) when both teams batted in contrasting conditions, is a good reward for our guys.”
A confident Jamie How, unbeaten on 26 at the close, led the way in the second innings as New Zealand survived an hour’s batting without incident.
Aaron Redmond was on 14 after avoiding the dreaded pair on debut with a back foot drive for four off Ryan Sidebottom and a few anxious moments against spinner Monty Panesar who looms as an early threat tomorrow.
“The way that Aaron and Jamie handled that was a real confidence builder for the dressing room,” Vettori said.
“If they can go out in the first session and do the same thing then it probably kills the game. Realistically the only way both teams can be brought into it is by us batting poorly.”
England were cruising along at 121 without loss before a mini collapse of three for 31 before lunch, sparked by Martin.
The New Zealand spearhead deserved better than his two wickets, ending with two for 76 off 32 overs after memorable deliveries to nick out Alastair Cook for 61 and Ian Bell for 16.
Jacob Oram chimed in with two key wickets, including opener Andrew Strauss for 63, and Vettori claimed the big scalp of Kevin Pietersen lbw for three before going within centimetres of his first test hat-trick.
He nicked out Paul Collingwood then trapped wicketkeeper Tim Ambrose leg before wicket not offering a shot, first ball.
Stuart Broad somehow survived the hat-trick delivery which slipped past the outside edge.
It was Vettori’s 14th bag of five wickets, and when he had Vaughan caught at deep mid-wicket by James Marshall to end the innings, it brought up 250 test wickets.
England were reeling at 208 for six, still 69 behind New Zealand’s first innings total, before Vaughan warmed to his task.
He added 61 with Broad and 48 with Sidebottom, batting 292 minutes in all, facing 214 deliveries and hitting 11 fours.
It was his sixth test century at Lord’s, thereby equalling the ground record held by Graham Gooch.
Vaughan still felt his bowlers could apply early pressure and conjure a result on day five with fine weather forecast.
“It’s going to take something special on the last day to pull off a victory,” Vaughan said.
“But last day cricket can produce all kinds of funny things. I’d like to see the ball swing, it didn’t swing for us tonight. We’ve certainly got the attack that can cause problems.”
SCOREBOARD:
NEW ZEALAND
First innings 277
Second innings
J How not out 26
A Redmond not out 14
Extras 0
Total (for 0 wkts, 15 overs) 40
Bowling: R Sidebottom 4-2-7-0, J Anderson 2-0-10-0, S Broad 4-0-19-0, M Panesar 5-2-4-0.
ENGLAND
First innings
(89-0 overnight)
A Strauss lbw b Oram 63
A Cook c McCullum b Martin 61
M Vaughan c Marshall b Vettori 106
K Pietersen lbw b Vettori 3
I Bell c McCullum b Martin 16
P Collingwood c Taylor b Vettori 6
T Ambrose lbw b Vettori 0
S Broad b Oram 25
R Sidebottom c Taylor b Mills 16
M Panesar c Flynn b Vettori 0
J Anderson not out 0
Extras (3b, 7lb, 1w, 12nb) 23
Total (111.3 overs) 319
Fall: 121 (Cook), 148 (Strauss), 152 (Pietersen), 180 (Bell), 208 (Collingwood), 208 (Ambrose), 269 (Broad), 317 (Sidebottom), 318 (Panesar), 319 (Vaughan).
Bowling: C Martin 32-8-76-2 (6nb), K Mills 22-3-60-1 (6nb), T Southee 16-2-59-0, J Oram 19-5-45-2 (1w), D Vettori 22.3-4-69-5.
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