The Senate convened on Monday morning, its first session on New Year's Eve in four decades, and the House followed shortly afterwards.

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With the morning session lost to the weather, New Zealand abandoned hopes of scoring quick runs.

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The hosts had to recover after a morning session when Ntini struck twice with the new ball before returning ahead of lunch for two more wickets in the space of three balls.

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But the morning session was by no means straightforward for England, who would have been keen to quickly wrap up New Zealand's innings.

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He and Ornstein did not get much time to talk during the abbreviated session, as much of the morning was eaten up by senators' duelling statements over what these new hearings mean.

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