Yousuf helps Pakistan claim lead

Pakistan 223 and 347 for 4 (Yousuf 89, Faisal 67, Butt 66, Farhat 61) lead New Zealand 471 by 99 runs.

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This chameleon game changed character yet again late on the fourth day. Mohammad Yousuf was serenely moving towards what seemed an inevitable hundred when he fell to crack open the game to several thrilling possibilities. New Zealand hold the advantage and are the frontrunners to pull off something special in Napier, but with its frail batting line-up pitted against the mercurial Pakistan bowling, who knows what can happen if the target is around 200.

On a stop-start day, interrupted constantly by rain, Pakistan had threatened to shoot themselves in the foot by gifting wickets to Martin Guptill, before they rallied through a 128-run stand between Yousuf and Faisal Iqbal. The sun kept peeping in and out of the clouds, Faisal alternated between nervous edginess and flamboyance, but Yousuf draped an elegantly solid hue on proceedings. His innings appeared to have seemingly pushed Pakistan towards safety when he fell to make matters more interesting.

Though the morning's play was filled with drama it was freakish in nature, and it was in the afternoon that the real contest between bat and ball began. Iain O'Brien and Daniel Vettori bowled as well as they could on a flat pitch but Yousuf stood firm. The caressed square-drives on a stretched front foot, the stylish flicks and the authoritative punches off the back foot were all showcased against the seamers but it was his battle with Vettori that stood out.

There was one piece of action which perfectly caught the spirit of the contest between the two: Yousuf came down the track but Vettori cleverly slowed the pace and shortened the length. However, Yousuf waited to adjust to the lack of pace, and though he couldn't reach the pitch of the ball, he didn't panic or lunge out; instead he almost nonchalantly wafted through the line and found enough power and timing to lift it over long-on. Vettori used the crease well, varied his pace and utilised the arm-ball intelligently but Yousuf handled him with aplomb. He moved forward or back as the length demanded and picked the arm ball on most occasions.

Faisal was nowhere near as solid as Yousuf but he fought on to score a valuable fifty. His iffy footwork meant he was caught on the crease a few times and was forward when he should have been back, but he soldiered on. He was even dropped on 48 when he edged O'Brien straight to Ross Taylor, but he punctuated his nervy shots with a few extravagant cover drives. It was an innings in which he delighted and frustrated equally before he fell, guiding Martin to Taylor, who held on this time.

Umar Akmal walked in and played a breezy innings filled with cuts, pulls and a few plays and misses.It also contained the most audacious shot of the day - a delightfully flamboyant and whippy bottom-hand-powered six over long-on off Darryl Tuffey. The afternoon, though, was a calm affair when compared with the events that preceded it.

If the English fast bowler Fred Trueman were alive and commentating on the game this morning, we would surely have heard his legendary phrase: "I just don't know what's going off out there". Nothing Pakistan do shocks anyone any more but even their die-hard followers would have raised their eyebrows when Guptill, who had not bowled a ball before this game in Test cricket and has just a solitary first-class wicket, removed the openers in quick succession to leave Pakistan wobbling.

It was a bizarre and fascinating little first session of play. What made Vettori open the bowling with Guptill? More importantly, what were Pakistan's openers thinking? Not much, if you go on the available evidence. When Guptill tossed the third delivery of the day outside off stump, there wasn't anything deceptive in its trajectory. It was a gentle, perhaps a bit loopy, delivery that floated harmlessly outside off but Salman Butt scooped it back to the bowler. The bottom-hand had kicked in too much and he couldn't keep the off drive down.

Batsmen do make mistakes and irregular bowlers do pick up lucky wickets, but surely Guptill couldn't do it again? Wrong. He flighted, nay floated, a full toss in the seventh over of the day. Farhat, who seemed muddled after Butt's dismissal, moved down the track to try to snap out of the nightmarish start to the day but ended up patting the full toss straight back to Guptill. Surprisingly, there was no visible reaction from Guptill when he took the catch. Perhaps he was too shocked to be merely surprised.

It was a day that had everything: a comically manic start from the most unlikely source, a calm hand from a veteran, an edgy attempt to save a career, a cocky kid, and a lingering suspense about what tomorrow might bring.

Butt and Farhat halve large NZ lead

Pakistan 128 for 0 (Butt 66*, Farhat 55*) and 223 trail New Zealand 471 (Vettori 134, Tuffey 80*, Tuffey 76*, Kaneria 7-168) by 120 runs.

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If Pakistan's batsmen had applied themselves in the first innings the way they did in the second, a draw would have been the most likely result of the Napier Test. As it stands now, Pakistan are still trailing by 120 runs with two days remaining, though a determined performance from their openers cut the first-innings deficit by more than half.

And don't shake your head in disbelief when you look at the scorecard. Daryl Tuffey, whose previous best was 35, nearly reached his maiden Test hundred as New Zealand gained control of the decider. However, their vice-like grip on the contest - they led by 248 runs when the innings ended after lunch - had loosened at stumps with Salman Butt and Imran Farhat reaching half-centuries during a 128-run association.

The second and third sessions made for fascinating watching. New Zealand's rudimentary plan A appeared to be heavily influenced by Pakistan's terrible first-innings effort. They bowled outside off stump to the left-hand openers, who normally are crease-bound, hoping they would reach out and commit mistakes. To Butt, who tends to fall over on his front foot, they occasionally brought the ball back in to try force an lbw, and for Farhat they had a short mid-off in place and waited for the airy drive.

Plan A didn't work, though, for the openers were determined not to chase anything they didn't have to and also because there was not much help from the pitch. Slowly, the batsmen began to play square and cover drives and New Zealand started to bowl with more imagination in the second session. The seamers attacked the stumps more, slipped in the odd delivery outside off and Vettori as usual was on target. However, Butt and Farhat continued to be patient and reaped the benefits.

Both batsmen stayed adjacent to the line of the ball and generally favoured the off side more with their drives, bottom-hand punches and cuts. The disciplined effort was in stark contrast to the extravagance in the first innings but they might have learnt hard lessons from watching Vettori and Tuffey thrive when New Zealand batted.

Tuffey's innings showed how good the Napier pitch was for batting. It also said much about Pakistan's listless bowling display and highlighted the mess they dragged themselves into due to a poor first-innings performance. As you would expect from a third-day track, Danish Kaneria found some spin and completed his five-for but the morning belonged to Vettori and Tuffey.

Vettori cruised along, using his bottom hand to flash length deliveries through cover and carve short-of-a-length balls through cover point, and continued to improvise without much risk. Like he did so effectively last evening, Vettori teased Pakistan with his calculated shuffles. He moved towards off to flick to square-leg and would create more room for his cuts by arching back. Pakistan didn't have anyone with pace to hurry Vettori into making mistakes and it took a stunning fielding effort to dismiss him. Vettori drove one well to the left of short extra cover where Umar Akmal flung himself to hold on to the catch.

Tuffey had a few problems against Kaneria - he was dropped, on 32, by Umar Gul at long-leg off an attempted sweep and survived couple of appeals for lbw - but he was solid against the fast bowlers. He handled the short ball without problems and cut at every opportunity. He brought up the fifty partnership with Vettori and his half-century with cut shots, and dispatched Kaneria over long-on. Tuffey's best, though, was an on drive that bisected long-on and long-off. He leaned forward to a flighted legbreak, took his front leg out of the way and drove through the line, past the startled bowler.

It was a shot that a top-order batsman would have been proud of, and it not only reflected his confidence but also said much about Pakistan's state of mind. By the day's close, however, Pakistan's openers had redressed the imbalance and left it open to several results.

Daniel Vettori century stretches NZ lead

New Zealand 346 for 6 (Vettori 100*, McCullum 89, McIntosh 74, Kaneria 4-119) lead Pakistan 223 by 123 runs.

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The Test was evenly balanced at tea. New Zealand were trailing by 57 runs with only five wickets in hand, Brendon McCullum and Daniel Vettori were yet to settle in, Danish Kaneria was in hot form having run through the middle order and the second new ball wasn't far away. Either team could have grabbed the ascendancy. It was Vettori and McCullum who broke the shackles of the first two sessions with a combination of intelligence and exhilarating strokeplay, and seized control of the game.

McCullum was explosive, improvising constantly, while Vettori combined inventiveness with solidity to rapidly change the character of the game. New Zealand's nervous approach of the first two sessions - the defensive, perhaps over-cautious, batsmen struggling to survive Kaneria as several close catchers hovered around the bat - gave way to a thrilling evening. Runs came quickly and New Zealand swiftly took a sizeable first-innings lead.

New Zealand's jail-break was assisted by the Pakistan fast bowlers, who have caused batsmen the most problems this series with seam, swing and tight lines and lengths. Not today though. Umar Gul and the rest offered width with their short-of-a-length deliveries and Vettori kept picking boundaries with his favourite short-arm cuts and deflections. McCullum attacked Kaneria by playing the sweep and suddenly the floodgates were flung open.

At times McCullum placed his bat outside off, with his back foot in line with off stump, and started to create his own angles. Even the skillful Mohammad Asif lost his poise and sprayed the ball around. The shot of the evening was an imperiously-pulled six from outside off stump against Asif. McCullum startled the bowler again when he charged out to crash a length delivery over cover.

Pakistan seemed to have run out of ideas when, against the run of play, Gul got the ball to burst off the pitch towards the throat of McCullum, who fended it straight to gully. Pakistan also had an opportunity to get rid of Vettori, but Kaneria dropped a straightforward return catch off him on 97.

Until Kaneria's lapse, though, Vettori, who has marvellous self-awareness of the limitations of his game and thrives within them, had played a chanceless innings. He arched his back to cut short-of-a-length deliveries from the line of the stumps without making it appear risky, he walked across to work perfectly acceptable deliveries to fine leg and frustrated bowlers with his short-arm pulls and nudges. Once in a while, Vettori increased pressure on the bowlers with calculated big hits: he lifted Kaneria for a straight six, and swept him and pulled Asif for more fours.

New Zealand's 123-run lead at the end of day two, however, might not have been possible without the patience Tim McIntosh showed during the first session. The defining image of his half-century was not a shot but the military snap with which he shouldered arms. He left 57 balls alone and played 151 dot balls as he defended passionately. McIntosh's batting has almost an anaesthetic air about it but today's stone-walling effort wasn't dull or boring. He laid the platform and allowed McCullum and Vettori to express themselves later on.

McIntosh's defiance was the primary feature of the morning session, but Kaneria eventually broke his resistance and that of several others after lunch. Kaneria was allowed to settle into a rhythm because of New Zealand's defensive approach and it was his googly that caused batsmen the most trouble. Unlike in the past, when he has been guilty of overusing it at times, Kaneria was more prudent in deploying the wrong 'un today. He concentrated on building pressure with his bouncing legbreaks and sliders, and bowled a variety of deliveries that slowly suffocated the batsmen.

It was the wicket of Ross Taylor, who top-edged a slog sweep, that got Kaneria going. He bowled a few loopy deliveries on the leg side to McIntosh who suddenly began playing the sweep before top-edging one as well. Kaneria then turned his attention to Daniel Flynn, spinning a few legbreaks into the left-hand batsman before slipping in a googly that caught the edge. The appeal for caught-behind was turned down, but the decision was reversed after a review. It may have been the right decision, for Flynn seemed to walk as soon as the review was asked for, but video evidence wasn't conclusive.

New Zealand were 145 for 5 at that stage, having lost three wickets for 27 runs, and Vettori and McCullum had just come together for a partnership that would give New Zealand the upper hand in the deciding Test.

O'Brien and openers lift New Zealand

New Zealand 47 for 0 trail Pakistan 223 (Farhat 117*, O'Brien 4-35, Tuffey 4-52) by 176 runs.

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Don't be fooled by the score. It was a flat track in Napier but Iain O'Brien was on a mission to make his last Test memorable and Pakistan's top order, as ever, was in a self-destructive mood. Imran Farhat lifted Pakistan from the depths of 59 for 5 and resuscitated his career with a fighting century but New Zealand will be more than pleased with their efforts, especially after a dogged batting display from the openers, on the first day of the final Test.

Until Farhat produced his hundred it was all O'Brien. At one point his figures read: 4.2-4-3-3. He was hostile throughout his spell, consistently bowling over 140 kmph, and was always accurate but, even so, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that even he would have been slightly surprised by the results.

On a flat pitch, Pakistan's top order contrived to implode yet again by playing poor cricket. Only one batsman, Misbah-ul-Haq, was taken out by a difficult delivery; the rest were simply not good enough. Tim Southee claimed the initial breakthrough when Salman Butt left a gaping gap between bat and pad to lose his middle stump, after which O'Brien took over. And how.

O'Brien sussed out quickly that Faisal Iqbal was a sitting target because of his awkward feet movement and aimed one at his throat, forcing an ugly fend to the slip cordon. He tied up Yousuf with his disciplined lines and lengths before hurling one short of a length outside off stump. Yousuf thought it would be the ideal chance to break the shackles but was done in by the extra bounce and edged it to second slip.

It was the recurring theme of a bizarre morning. O'Brien tied up edgy batsmen with his discipline before delivering the knock-out blow with some thing extra. Misbah got a gem early in his innings: The ball held its line outside off and Misbah couldn't help edging it behind.

Pakistan's debacle was exemplified by Umar Akmal's dismissal. It was a short-of-length delivery that straightened well outside off stump. It could have been left alone or cut to the point boundary but Umar, the best of the Pakistan batsman in this series, just hung his bat out and guided it straight to gully.

Fortunately for Pakistan, though, Farhat couldn't have chosen a better moment to resuscitate his career. It would be churlish to dismiss Farhat's effort as streaky, though there were several play and misses and a couple of curious slogs which would have raised blood-pressure levels in the dressing room, but that's how he seems to play. There were spurts where Farhat seemed to lose concentration and went for pressure-reliving big hits and there were phases where he looked to be in control. Or something resembling it at least.

The fact that the last century by a Pakistan opener outside the subcontinent was Salman Butt's effort in Sydney way back in 2005 would make fans overlook Farhat's iffy patches and remember the good things from the knock. Amid nervous slashes, Farhat played a couple of off drives - the one in the seventh over against Chris Martin being the shot of the day - and a few well-timed cover drives. There was a flamboyant square drive too, on a bent knee for added effect, a crunchy pull shot and he definitely got better in the second session, during which he seemed surer of where his off stump was. He grew increasingly bolder and played big shots against Daniel Vettori to reach his hundred. Farhat found support in Mohammad Aamer in the afternoon and proceeded to lead Pakistan out of shambles.

Farhat's knock, and perhaps more importantly Aamer's defiance, revealed two truths: The pitch was a true, firm surface that did offer bounce but not much movement, and the other Pakistan batsmen didn't apply themselves. Luckily for them, Farhat refused to fade away without a fight. He added 69 runs with Aamer and 35 with Umar Gul before Daryl Tuffey hastened the end with a triple strike post tea. Tuffey terminated Gul's defiance and removed Mohammad Asif for a first-ball duck before he took out the enterprising Danish Kaneria. However, till Farhat did his thing, it was O'Brien who owned the morning and Ian Smith was moved enough to say on air: "Someone offer his wife a job here ... we don't wanna miss this fella!"

The icing on the cake for New Zealand was the performance from their openers; McIntosh, who has been lbw a few times in this series, took care not to get the front leg in line and BJ Watling didn't embarrass himself on debut. Their 47-run opening stand, the best for New Zealand in the series, capped a near-perfect day for the hosts.

Asif and Kaneria help level series

Pakistan 264 (Kamran Akmal 70, Vettori 4-53, Tuffey 4-64) and 239 (Yousuf 83, Umar Akmal 52, Martin 4-52, O'Brien 4-66) beat New Zealand 99 (Asif 4-40, Kaneria 3-6) and 263 (Taylor 97, Asif 5-67, Kaneria 3-74) by 141 runs.

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If Pakistan are not to go another three years and 12 Tests without a win, much will rest, as it has always, on their bowling. The very shape and variety of this attack, the threat of wickets alive in each of them, did for New Zealand at the Basin Reserve in Wellington, taking Pakistan to an ultimately comfortable 141-run win to level the series, going into Napier. Mohammad Asif and Danish Kaneria were the heavies this innings, but at all times Mohammad Aamer and a luckless Umar Gul were chomping at the bit behind them.

Typically, the route to victory was a convoluted one, for dismissing 16 batsmen - they dropped six catches blind penguins wouldn't have let go in the second innings - is clearly more fun than just ten. Little, however, could be done about a breathtaking counter from Ross Taylor, who left Pakistan dazed and confused and briefly raised hopes of an audacious steal; only after he fell half an hour before lunch, in the nineties for the second Test running, could Pakistan afford to hang a little looser.

A dull morning had promised much for them, as Aamer and Kaneria struck early, reward for the batsmen's own sins more than anything. If only New Zealand had a few more Taylors they would have walked this one. He was the only man standing, cigar in mouth, chest and guns out and willing to chest-bump Pakistan around, as he has through the series. The gulf between him and some of New Zealand's batsmen is as wide as that of Mexico.

He had started a dull morning like a man on speed. Quick hands and feet helped him drive easily through covers but an ugly slog across the line for six off Asif unleashed something even more in him. Adrenaline and heart, rather than just head, carried him through an exhilarating high-risk, high-octane bouncer battle with Gul where words were exchanged as freely as were blows and boundaries.

The hooks weren't always textbooks though when were textbooks last any good? Eyes came off the ball regularly, but intent takes a batsman a long way these days. He took care to mix in some more dapper strokeplay as well, a whippy cut through point and a couple of fine sweeps off Kaneria that easily carried for six. Before you knew it, he had put on fifty with Brendon McCullum, though it was more monopoly than collusion really.

Some control came back Pakistan's way with the return of Aamer and the nearing of Taylor's hundred, a spell before lunch where run-scoring calmed down a little. Pakistan lost what little they had gained as Gul dropped a sitter at point from McCullum: what he was doing at a position made famous by men such as Jonty Rhodes will take some answering. Yesterday's drops, dollies each one of them, were suddenly looking a little less funny. And when McCullum was rightly reprieved two overs later by the review system - hitting the ball rarely makes a good case for leg-before - things seemed to be not going as much Pakistan's way as they would have liked.

But the impressive Aamer persisted from round the stumps, no doubt furthering comparisons with you-know-who. Taylor's nerves - hidden so well for so long - reappeared as he chased one and finally, as hell froze over, a Pakistani slip catch was held onto. Straight after lunch, Kaneria shut the door temporarily on the spin debate in Pakistan, reminding all of the innate beauty of his art. McCullum was done in by a delicious legbreak, and the googly that got Daryl Tuffey would have - and has - gotten rid of better men.

Iain O'Brien, in his last home Test, smiled and slogged his way to a highest Test score but that was pretty much that, time left only for a couple of confirmations. One, that Daniel Vettori is not only the most dependable batsmen in his side, he is among the most irritating to bowl to the world over. And two, that even if this bowling attack remains intact for Pakistan, they might need to shoot a few of their fielders if they are to continue winning.

Asif and Kaneria make it Pakistan's day

Pakistan 264 (Kamran Akmal 70, Vettori 4-58, Tuffey 4-64) and 64 for 2 lead New Zealand 99 (Asif 4-40, Kaneria 3-6) by 229 runs.

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It's a venue that Pakistan's bowlers have enjoyed more than those from any other side over the last two decades, and they celebrated the Basin Reserve's fiftieth Test in fitting style, destroying New Zealand's top order with another clinical performance that left them superbly placed to level the series. After extending their first innings to 264, thanks largely to Kamran Akmal's enterprising 70, the bowlers immediately got down to business, exploiting the conditions and the huge flaws in the techniques of the New Zealand batsmen, bundling them out for 99 and taking their overall lead to 229 by stumps.

Save for a brief four-over period when New Zealand took the last three Pakistan wickets and a spell just before close of play, the day belonged entirely to the visitors. Mohammad Aamer did his now customary trick of taking a wicket in his first over - is he the new first-over specialist after Daryl Tuffey? - and consistently bowled in the mid-140s, Mohammad Asif operated in his usual channel around off and seamed the ball both ways, Umar Gul was the perfect first-change bowler offering New Zealand no respite, while Danish Kaneria befuddled the lower order with his bag of tricks.

While the four-pronged bowling attack gave little away, New Zealand put in yet another shambolic batting display, as their poor defensive techniques and shot selection were ruthlessly exposed. None of their batsmen came to terms with the ball seaming around in both directions, and they made it worse for themselves with some poor strokeplay. None was more guilty than Brendon McCullum, who chased his first ball - a wide one - and edged to second slip when New Zealand had already lost five wickets with little on the board.

From the moment Aamer started his first over, it was clear New Zealand would have their hands full. His fourth ball to Guptill swung back and rapped him on the pads; the next one left him, clipped the edge, and New Zealand's opening pair had failed to last the first over for the third time in three innings.

That was one of two overs Pakistan bowled before lunch and the slide continued after the break. Asif flummoxed Tim McIntosh and forced an inside edge to short leg, and should have had Daniel Flynn in similar fashion had Salman Butt not dropped a regulation catch. Ross Taylor was the only batsman to play with confidence - he raced to 30 from 40 balls, showing decisive footwork and driving confidently through the off side off the fast bowlers. His judgement failed him, though, when Gul slipped in an indipper that took the off stump after Taylor left it alone.

Peter Fulton was a walking wicket once again, shuffling indecisively to a straight and full one on the stumps, but New Zealand really crumbled after tea, going from 85 for 4 to 99 all out in the space of six overs. It's a fate that has often befallen New Zealand sides of the past against Pakistan, and this time it was Asif who started the slide. Flynn's painstaking knock ended when he was trapped in front of off by one that straightened - the review failed to save him - and when McCullum fell next ball, Asif was on a hat-trick. Vettori averted it, but was, for once, unable to lead another rearguard effort as Kaneria snuffed out the tail in a trice. More than just the three wickets he got, what would have worried Vetorri was the amount of turn he extracted from the second-day pitch.

Apart from Taylor, the one batsman who was comfortable batting on the surface was Kamran Akmal, who showed plenty of skill and aggressive intent in his 70. His 64-run stand with Gul - the largest of the innings - kept New Zealand in the field much longer than they would have liked in the opening session. Both batsmen went after the bowling, with Kamran lacing drives confidently through the covers to bring up his second half-century of the series. When New Zealand did get Rudi Koertzen to raise the finger against Kamran, the lbw decision was overturned on review, with replays suggesting it would have gone over the top of the stumps.

Throughout the day, the bounce on the track kept the bowlers interested: the last 30 minutes was a huge test for Pakistan's batsmen, with O'Brien, who bowled an inspired spell, exceeding 140 kph, peppering the batsmen with plenty of short deliveries, and getting Butt with one such delivery that had him all tangled up and gloving to Taylor in the slips.

Imran Farhat was consumed by the pace and movement too but, despite that lion-hearted effort, the story of the day remained New Zealand's abject collapse. In their last two Tests at this ground, Pakistan have had one bowler winning them the match - it was Wasim Akram in 1994 and Shoaib Akhtar in 2003. The spoils were shared this time around, but the end result could be just as emphatic for Pakistan.

Bond and O'Brien outdo Umar's heroics

New Zealand 429 (Vettori 99, Taylor 94, McCullum 78, Asif 4-108) and 153 (Taylor 59, Asif 4-43, Gul 3-41) beat Pakistan 332 (Umar Akmal 129, Kamran Akmal 82, Bond 5-107) and 218 (Umar Akmal 75, Bond 3-46, O'Brien 3-63) by 32 runs.

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How they were out

Umar Akmal was seven years old when Shane Bond made his first-class debut. Twelve years later they met - Bond returning to Test cricket after a two-year exile, and Umar playing his first Test - and tried their darnedest to lead their teams to victory in one of the best Tests of 2009. In the end the 34-year-old fast bowler ended the 19-year-old batsman's dream and set up New Zealand's first win in more than a year.

With Pakistan chasing 251, Umar came in to bat at 24 for 3, and belied a man making his debut. Having already scored a counterattacking century in the first innings, he stood between New Zealand and victory for close to two sessions before Bond came up with one last desperate piece of brilliance. Walking back with his team 56 away from victory, Umar could not belie a broken heart.

Pakistan started the final session needing 86 runs with five wickets in hand and both the Akmals in the middle. Kamran knocked off three quick boundaries and it started to look like an easy home stretch before Bond and Iain O'Brien, reversing the ball appreciably, dried up the runs. During a eight-over spell, Bond kept taking the ball away from the batsmen and beat them outside off. In the sixth over of that spell, he brought one in to Umar, one of the few that came in, and latched onto his second caught-and-bowled of the match.

O'Brien, having endured an ordinary Test and playing almost for his place, had an equal part in the turnaround. He followed up Umar's wicket with those of Kamran, with a sharp in-ducker, and Umar Gul. Three wickets had fallen for eight runs, and Pakistan still needed 48 runs and there were 24 overs to survive.

The last three batsmen fought determinedly for nine overs, but the difficult task was made harder by smart bowling from Daniel Vettori, O'Brien and Chris Martin.

It was Martin who had started New Zealand's first comeback, in the middle session. Umar and Mohammad Yousuf had serenely added 71 for the fourth wicket, Bond's second spell had been seen off without trouble, and New Zealand were on the defensive and waiting for mistakes. Then Martin bowled a ripper out of nowhere. From short of a length, the ball kicked up and jagged in towards Yousuf, who did everything right - took his head out of the way and dropped his wrists - but the ball tailed in and kissed the glove.

By then Umar had reached 40 and was playing a completely different innings from his first. This half-century was no runaway blitz; he was a man who seemed to have grown years in age over the last two days. In the first innings, Umar didn't have time to contemplate consequences. This time Vettori gave him all the time in the world to think. Evidently smarting from the first innings, Vettori looked to play on the kid's patience and temperament. There was a deep point in place soon as he walked out. The support seamers bowled length and didn't go looking desperately for wickets. When Vettori brought himself on just before lunch, he bowled with five men on the boundary, just giving away free singles.

Umar wasn't fazed by this ploy to dry up the boundaries. By lunch, quietly but surely he moved to 15 off 62 balls. Bond came back post lunch for another dig. For the first time Umar was challenged to go for the pull, the shot that scarred all the three seamers in the first innings. This time he weighed in the situation, and started ducking into them. Bond couldn't find the pace of the first innings, and Umar just waited for him to finish his spell, by which time both batsmen had sauntered into their 40s.

There was brief drama between Yousuf's wicket and Umar's. An uneasy partnership between Umar and Shoaib Malik kept the game on the edge. Malik scratched around for six runs, but by then Umar had become the 14th batsman to score a century and a fifty on debut. Vettori looked innocuous at that time, and went to Grant Elliott.

Elliott came within one clean grab of being a truly inspirational bowling change. In his first over, he dropped an easy offering from Malik, after which a floodgate opened. Malik drove handsomely and guided purposefully through the third-man area. Vettori came back and started bowling over the wicket to Umar. Forty-three runs came in the next 8.5 overs before O'Brien produced a lifter that followed Malik and took an edge, in the last over before tea.

The hard work that New Zealand had to put in for the last seven wickets was in complete contrast to how easily the first five wickets fell in the morning session. Gul took out the last two New Zealanders for just six runs. And Khurram Manzoor, Imran Farhat and Fawad Alam showed they were too loose to form the top order of a Test side.

Vettori dominates rain-hit day

New Zealand 404 for 8 (Vettori 99, McCullum 78, Gul 2-115) v Pakistan.

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How they were out

Daniel Vettori and Brendon McCullum punished Pakistan on a day on which only 36 overs of play were possible due to rain and bad light in Dunedin. When Vettori bunted Saeed Ajmal for a single minutes into the second session, he beat Shane Warne as the highest run-getter at No. 8. While Warne's 2005 runs came at an average of 19.09 in 91 Tests, Vettori got there in less than half the number of matches with an average of 43.86. Vettori, however, missed becoming the first No. 8 to score back-to-back Tests hundreds by one run.

The pitch seemed to have eased out on the second day, Pakistan went on the defensive too early, and Vettori and McCullum applied themselves remarkably during their 164-run seventh-wicket partnership. The seam bowlers did create a couple of chances, both against McCullum. The first was in the second over of the day when Mohammad Asif induced an outside edge that flew through third slip, a fielding position that was left vacant in order to have a deep point. McCullum had added one to his overnight 25 by then. In the 12th over, Umar Gul got a leading edge that flew over midwicket. Mohammad Aamer and Asif hit the bodies of McCullum and Vettori once each with bouncers. And that's all Pakistan had to cheer about.

All the cheer was in the New Zealand camp with their captain, statistically their best batsman in recent years, leading from the front. Vettori had trouble against the bouncer but anything loose was punished with certainty. Both versions of the cut were on view; the full-blooded one to the left of point, the late one to the right. And when Vettori received one bouncer too many, he upper-cut Aamer over slips.

While Vettori was doing what came naturally to him - good eyes, smart batting, big heart - McCullum had to continue curbing his natural attacking game. He did that just fine in the last hour on the first evening, and improved on the second morning. After that edge early in the day, he tightened his game further. He negated Asif effectively, covering all stumps, taking the lbw and bowled out of the equation by getting outside the line, and using soft hands when playing outside off. The odd over-pitched delivery was driven down the ground mercilessly.

Once Aamer and Asif were played out, with 41 runs added in 10 overs and both batsmen through to their fifties, it became more about accumulation against Saeed Ajmal and Gul. Vettori was involved in a seventh-wicket 100-run partnership for the sixth time but, just when it seemed the duo was close to inflicting irreversible damage, Gul produced - out of nowhere - a yorker in the last over before lunch to send McCullum back.

After the break, though, persistent rain sent the players in and they returned with hands in pockets deep into the final session. In the 4.5 overs possible before bad light ended play for good, Vettori drove nicely through covers, was again dropped at first slip, before missing out on a century. On 99, Vettori looked to cut a full delivery from Gul, and an edge finally went to hand, making sure Gul remained the only centurion in the match. The catcher in this case, Kamran Akmal, was the record-holder along with Vettori for most centuries for a No. 8, three.