Mills rescues New Zealand

Kyle Mills demonstrated he is no mug with the bat with a gritty fifty © Getty Images

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New Zealand needed the unlikely source of Kyle Mills to ensure they set Essex a testing target in their tour match at Chelmsford.

The loss of four wickets before lunch in swinging conditions heightened talk of the Black Caps' top-order problems, and it was principally thanks to Mills (53no) in a seventh-wicket stand of 58 with Aaron Redmond, that they mustered a second-innings 195.

Essex were left needing 293 for victory and by stumps the county had moved quickly to 45 for one, setting up the prospect of a genuine contest on the final day, weather permitting.

Both New Zealand openers went in the first half-hour of the new ball, after the tourists had quickly seen off last man Maurice Chambers to finish off Essex’s first innings for 258.

A predictable but short-lived counter-attack was launched by stand-in captain Brendon McCullum - and it was soon down to Mills and Redmond to come to the rescue.

Without them, New Zealand would have been very vulnerable - especially with injured captain Daniel Vettori unable to bat and in doubt for the first Test at Lord’s in ten days.

Jamie How’s was the first wicket to fall, to a useful delivery from Tony Palladino which shaped away from short of a length and was edged behind.

First-innings centurion James Marshall was opening in place of Redmond, off the field with a minor injury on Saturday.

It was a switch which did not work out for Marshall, who departed an over after How when his full-blooded cut at Alex Tudor was well-caught low down in the gully by James Middlebrook.

Indian Premier League combatants Ross Taylor and McCullum tried to bully their way out of bother.

But Taylor was undone by low bounce which saw him edging on to leg stump to give Chambers his first wicket in first-class cricket for three years.

Maurice Chambers

McCullum’s muscular hitting and willingness to advance to the seamers succeeded in forcing a rapid rethink from Essex.

But the introduction of Ravi Bopara’s medium-pace immediately did for the wicketkeeper-batsman, who edged a swinging delivery floated up outside off stump only to slip shortly before lunch.

Daniel Flynn did not last long into the afternoon, cutting Chambers (3-37) tamely to gully, and then Palladino took an outstanding catch at mid-on to see off Jacob Oram - diving to his right to collect one-handed off Bopara.

Redmond had tried to come in before Oram but was sent back by the umpires, who insisted he had not yet served his time.

When he did make it to the middle he provided a sensible foil to the more adventurous Mills, who usually bats number nine or ten for the Kiwis, but has a first-class century to his name.

It seemed another wicket was surely on its way as swing kept beating the bat.

But the nearest Essex came for the next 25 overs was a confident lbw appeal when Bopara’s late inswing from round the wicket beat Redmond on the crease on 15, and then a return catch dropped by Middlebrook to reprieve the same batsman on 20.

Mills had one anxious moment, on 27, when he turned Middlebrook’s off-spin off his hip to backward short-leg - where Bopara could not hang on.

Otherwise - even with Redmond gone when he shouldered arms to Palladino and was bowled off-stump - Mills was in control.

He hit five fours and twice cleared long-on for six off Middlebrook in a 104-ball fifty to give himself and the remainder of the Kiwi attack a useful score to bowl at.

They will need to step up a gear with the ball, particularly after allowing Essex’s England opener Alastair Cook a life on nought when Taylor spilled a regulation chance at slip off Iain O’Brien.

The departure of Cook’s opening partner Jason Gallian, edging O’Brien into the slips with the last shot of the day, left the contest perfectly-balanced.