The Basin Reserve Test sparked into life on a third day filled with twists, turns and decisive shifts in momentum, with both sides inadvertently pushing the opponent to swap game-plans several times through the course of play. Pakistan began with unimaginative bowling at unacceptable over-rates, spread-out fields, and sloppy fielding. New Zealand cashed in, with their openers putting up an enterprising 120-run partnership. Just as they began to assume control, Pakistan snapped out of their mediocrity, and their spinners rallied them back into the contest. With their backs to the wall, New Zealand turned to Ross Taylor for the second time in the match, and he responded with a fine hand to leave them slightly ahead, despite an inspired sortie from Umar Gul before stumps.
Brendon McCullum and Martin Guptill began the day aggressively and were helped along by Pakistan's seamers who were too inconsistent to trouble them. Abdur Rehman came on soon, and New Zealand were anxious not to get stuck against him. Rehman attacked the rough with a slip, silly point and short leg, with Adnan Akmal imploring him to bowl the 'magic ball'. One boundary from Guptill, a crunched back-foot cover drive, was enough for silly point to be removed. An over later, the magic ball came, stopping and turning sharply from leg stump to take Guptill's edge before landing in the now vacant silly point region. Pakistan had paid for their complete lack of proactivity.
McCullum's eagerness to dominate was counterbalanced by the state of the match and New Zealand's recent batting woes. Rehman tossed them up, inviting the drive over mid-off, with men waiting close in for the edge. McCullum resisted, lunging forward to the flight, and working the odd arm-ball off the backfoot to the leg side. Rehman almost broke through, getting McCullum to prod with hard hands, but Asad Shafiq dropped the chance, again at silly point. McCullum ran down the track to the next ball and clattered a flat six over long-off, before pulling a short ball for four more. Pakistan's best bowler had been negated, with some luck, but he was not done for the day.
Worried by the prodigal opening session, Pakistan came out with a plan in the second. Gul harried Guptill with bounce and movement, clunking his helmet with a bouncer in the first over after the break, and getting him to edge a legcutter in his second, but Adnan spilled the opportunity. Guptill altered his approach, hanging back in the crease, but resisting the impulse to pull.
Rehman eventually found a way past McCullum, luring him to miscue to long-off after beating him in the flight. The run-rate dropped and Pakistan finally found their voice as Guptill got into a tangle against some well-directed bouncers from Wahab Riaz, the biggest culprit in the day's no-ball stakes. Guptill barely survived the spell, venting his impatience against Rehman, slicing an off-drive past a diving Tanvir Ahmed at mid-off, and teeing off down the ground for six. Rehman was not to be denied, though, and he eventually pinned Guptill in front with a skidder, an over after Kane Williamson perished to an ungainly drive against Tanvir.
Jesse Ryder avoided a third successive first-ball duck but was bowled by Mohammad Hafeez off the first ball following a brief rain interruption. New Zealand suddenly found themselves in some strife, at what was effectively 172 for 4. For a brief while, Hafeez transformed into Muttiah Muralitharan, producing a few unplayable deliveries that had New Zealand befuddled and Pakistan worried. Taylor survived one that turned in a mile, and James Franklin wasn't good enough to edge another than turned across him and jumped over his stumps. He didn't last long, nicking Hafeez to Younis Khan at slip before Shafiq dropped another crucial chance, lunging late from short leg as Reece Young poked nervously.
Having taken a close look at Hafeez's unplayable fare, Taylor dug deep to reverse the momentum once again. He negated the spinners with assured feet, late shots and soft hands, frustrating them into drifting onto his legs. When they did, he moved his front pad decisively across to flick and sweep into his favourite scoring areas. His first boundary came after 45 balls of caution, in which time his obduracy tired Rehman into errors. Hafeez also lost his sting, and Taylor asserted himself with a trademark slog-sweep over midwicket. Young held his own with a straight bat and a steady head for the second time in the game, and the 60-run stand turned the tide once again in New Zealand's favour, but the day had some more surprise in store.
Azhar Ali took a blinder close in to end Young's effort before Gul charged in with an 86-overs-old ball and resorted to his most loyal weapon - reverse swing. He struck Taylor in front with an inducker before rearranging a shuffling Daniel Vettori's stumps with a yorker. Brent Arnel came and went first ball, barely seeing a laser beam that pinged his toes. Chris Martin got the wildest applause of the day when he kept out the hat-trick ball, and Tim Southee connected with a couple of swings before becoming Gul's fourth scalp as New Zealand were bowled out. Despite their late flourish, Pakistan are behind in the game, but they will take heart from the fact that seven years back, they successfully chased the exact same score at this very ground.
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