Tim Southee happy to be among the wickets again

Tim Southee likes playing at the Seddon Park. He has 32 Test wickets at the home of his domestic side Northern Districts at an average of 18.90 - a far cry from his career average of 32.13.

The swing bowler picked up five wickets in New Zealand's defeat of Pakistan in Christchurch. He went one better in Hamilton on Sunday (November 27), taking 6 for 80 on a rain-interrupted day to give New Zealand a crucial 55-run first-innings lead. Southee registered his second-best career figures and his best at home as Pakistan were bowled out for 216 in response to the hosts' 271 on Day 3 of the Test. The seamer was only happy to contribute in what he called a collective effort from the bowling unit.

"It's always nice to pick up wickets," Southee, who has been plagued by injury troubles in the last year or so, having recently missed the Test series in India with an ankle injury, said. "It was just nice to contribute to the bowling performance. I've obviously had a few niggles over the last wee while, and the body feels pretty good and [I'm] back into playing some consistent cricket, which is nice."

Southee was particularly effective in using the wind at Seddon Park, that blows from the North-West of the ground to add bite to his stock delivery - the outswinger. It was this delivery that accounted for both Azhar Ali and Younis Khan late on the second evening. "I play a lot here, and it's always nice because it's one of the few grounds in the world where the wind actually assists a right-arm outswing bowler," Southee explained.

"Each bowler has different strengths, and those are things that have worked for me in the past. The new ball period was crucial for us. We knew if we took wickets with the new ball it put pressure back on them. You have plans for certain batsmen, and it's nice when they do come off," he added.

For all his heroics, Southee had a sub-par start to the day's play when he was hit out of the attack by a counter-attacking Sarfraz Ahmed. Pakistan's wicketkeeper shared a 74-run stand with Babar Azam (90*), sparking hopes of a Pakistan revival. But the pacer came back admirably to account for Sohail Khan (37) and tail-enders Mohammad Amir and Imran Khan to cap off a fine bowling effort by the hosts.

"Personally, I was a little bit off in that first spell," Southee said. "It showed if you have positive intent and the bowlers are a little bit off, you can score. There's a little bit in there [the surface] with the new ball, but then once the ball gets older obviously, it gets a little bit easier to bat.

"We just needed to gain a little bit of control back again, hit our areas. As a group, we bowled pretty well. Matt Henry didn't get a wicket but I think he bowled exceptionally well throughout, most of it was into the wind, and he did a great job, and he probably deserves a lot more credit than what his figures show."

Southee reiterated that New Zealand will not allow complacency to set in despite their position of control in the Test match as they look to seal a first series win against Pakistan since 1985.

"In no way do we think the job's done, or anywhere near done," he said. "Taking a 50-odd run lead into the second innings after losing the toss on that wicket, I think we're pretty happy with how the situation sits at the moment.

"We know that they've got some quality bowlers in their lineup, and with a wicket that's still offering a little bit with the new ball, we know that we're going to have to come out and bat well if we want to get into a decent position in this game going forward."