Cricket: Henry Nicholls century puts Black Caps on top after first day of Test 2 against West Indies

You are not in danger of winning any beauty pageants, but Henry Nicholls’ sixth century trial will go down as one of the most valuable moments of your career.

Without a 50 in his last 12 full test innings, Nicholls survived and then thrived to finish day 117 without losing, leading his team to 294-6 and what already feels like a win total.

In association with Will Young (43), BJ Watling (30) and Daryl Mitchell (42), Nicholls established a position that didn’t seem likely when they were three down before lunch and the ball nibbling.

Even considering the fact that he needs luck in tough conditions, Nicholls should never have gotten there, not even close. He will know, but so will the West Indies. He skipped a messy hook shot that somehow fell to the grass unprotected when only two, fell close at 21, saw another top edge hook clearing a fielder who shouldn’t have at 29, and incredibly Darren dropped it twice at 47 Bravo, both easy chances.

There is a local Wellington brewery here called Fortune Favors; Nicholls could do worse than go down after the test for a couple of colds.

Staying at that would be unbalanced. Nicholls’ journey from 50 to his score overnight was very impressive. He did hit some hard shots, but it was a hip thrust that ran to four that signaled he was back in rhythm.

For the West Indies, it was another day of wasted opportunity.

They won the raffle. They inserted. It was all Jason Holder could do on a field that looked more like a Wimbledon court from the first week. From a purely cricket perspective, it was exactly what the series needed.

Holder had been tough on his higher order, deservedly, in the immediate aftermath of the Seddon Park massacre and doubled down on those twin edicts of patience and guts and also reiterated that bowlers had played their part in Hamilton.

The free pass for the rhythm attack felt like a stretch. Kane Williamson’s technique was a hindrance to the bowlers’ ambitions, but as a group they were half a meter tall and, apart from the first wicket, they could not prevent associations from forming.

Here they were greeted with an equally bucolic green stripe, but accompanied by a north-sloping pohutakawa, the kind of wind not often associated with summer in Bridgetown, Port of Spain or Kingston.

When the New Zealand starters broke through and worked their way nicely during the first overs, it must have felt, in Yogi Berra’s words, like déjà vu again.

Then something clicked, or rather someone. Shannon Gabriel is built like a prototype muscular bowler. Its stock in the trade is the cliche heavy ball, the splicing rattle. When asked to go fuller, it takes a little time to recalibrate. When he did that, he was on the verge of inability to play.

He made a backhand between the bat and Tom Blundell’s pad and had Ross Taylor in a world of pain before inducing a push off with his lead feet.

Among the debutants, Chemar Holder and goalkeeper Joshua da Silva combined to eliminate the stoic Tom Latham.

At 82-3 at lunch, the test was finely balanced with Young looking nice enough but far from permanent at 26 and Nicholls at two.

The couple came under pressure in different ways. Young’s was more marked: when he hits for the first time for New Zealand these days great things are expected. There was also a failure in his first test innings, albeit as a starter.

The pressure Nicholls was under was less obvious, but probably more revealing. However, Nicholls, an established player, had endured a lean period dating back to when he scored a century against Bangladesh on this ground in early 2019.

With fit hitters across the country desperate for a chance, he would have realized that there is no longer an infinite patience selection policy. Injury or illness aside, there is no danger of missing Pakistan’s two assignments on either side of the new year.

The 70s they put on were hard to see at times, but it gave the entrances the strength they needed so Watling and Mitchell could come in and put some meat on those bones.

Young struggled to find some hitting rhythm, often looking caught between front and rear foot, but compared to his hitting partner, he could consider himself lucky. Approaching a half-century maiden, he stepped forward, built a thick lead, and watched as Jason Holder dove to his right on the second slide to take what players these days like to call a special.

Something had to stay.