Tuffey - It's good to be back

Black Caps paceman bags two wickets on Test return

Last updated: 3rd December 2009   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Tuffey - It's good to be back

Tuffey: Test re-emergence

Once I got the first spell out of the way I was back into the groove and it feels good to be back.

Daryl Tuffey
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New Zealand seamer Daryl Tuffey overcame some early nerves to take two wickets on his return to the Test arena after a five-and-a-half year absence.

Tuffey was recalled by the Black Caps for the second Test against Pakistan in Wellington as a replacement for the injured Shane Bond.

And he recorded figures of 2-32 from 16 overs as Pakistan closed at 161-6 on a day which featured just 58 overs, starting late due to a wet outfield and being brought to a premature close by bad light.

"I was feeling really happy after the first 10 overs," Tuffey said.

"I was happy with the way I was progressing because I was nervous going into the game because I hadn't played a Test for a while.

Groove

"Once I got the first spell out of the way I was back into the groove and it feels good to be back.

"It was disappointing to have my good mate Shane Bond out injured - I would have loved to play a game with him - but his demise is my opportunity to play."

Tuffey made his first breakthrough in the 46th over of the day with the wicket of Umar Akmal, who edged onto his stumps four runs shy of a half-century.

"I haven't taken a Test wicket since the second Test in England in 2004," he added.

"When I saw the bails flick off it was a great relief to get one.

"I thought I'd been bowling quite well leading up to that but obviously there's a big job to do bowling into the wind with Dan (Vettori)."

Tuffey added that New Zealand's aim on the second day would be to restrict Pakistan to under 200.

"We can do that by keeping pretty disciplined tomorrow," he said.

Pressure

"It's obviously a big job for the guys bowling into the wind but it's an even bigger job for guys bowling down wind to not release the pressure and get carried away.

"We're at the start of the tail now (Mohammad) Aamer's in and Umar Gul is coming in but you have to still bowl sensibly because these guys can get away. We've seen the shots they do play. We want to restrict them."

Pakistan opener Imran Farhat, who was one of three wickets for left-arm spinner Vettori, felt Pakistan were still in a reasonable position.

"The score at the moment is not bad if you look at the conditions," Farhat said.

"If we score another 100 runs it will be good because our bowling side is very good.

"We're still positive. We have to keep fighting. We believe that we have a good bowling attack in (Mohammad) Asif, Gul, Aamer and we've got (leg-spinner) Danish Kaneria playing as well and there will be a lot for him here."