Rain falls on Black Caps' parade

BY JONATHAN MILLMOW IN NAPIER

Cricket can be a cruel game.

Having worked themselves to the bone with the ball, New Zealand were denied a certain third test victory against Pakistan by the elements in Napier yesterday.

Just 118 runs shy of a test and series win, persistent drizzle swept over the ground and the two sides had to shake hands. New Zealand returned to their dressing room crestfallen.

The New Zealand players had wanted to send off their great competitor Iain O'Brien on a winning note, but in sport very few get the fairytale finish they so much desire.

O'Brien finished his final series as New Zealand's top wicket-taker with 15 at 29.86 and his final record is 73 wickets in 22 tests at 33.27

The final day was not unlike the previous couple by throwing up surprises. There was nothing to match Daryl Tuffey scoring 80 or Martin Guptill taking two wickets in a matter of minutes but there was Pakistan batsmen venturing down the wicket and leaving their brains behind when their country screamed out for application.

And then, as New Zealand set about their chase for 208 in 43 overs, suddenly a New Zealand opening pair appeared to find their wings.

BJ Watling (60) and Tim McIntosh (23) added 90 in 19 overs. Had the rain stayed away they might have been the first New Zealand pair to put on a century stand since Mark Richardson and Stephen Fleming against England at Trent Bridge in 2004.

After being taken to the cleaners in Wellington, New Zealand produced a sterling effort at McLean Park, wheeling down 193.2 overs on the final two days in search of a rare test series win against a major opponent.

Batsmen's errors kept New Zealand's hopes afloat. Every time the Black Caps looked to be dropping their heads one of the visitors would self-destruct and a home win was back on the cards.

Misbah Ul-Haq spent 78 minutes getting to seven, then had a dirty slog at Daniel Vettori. Game back on. Mohammad Aamer was defending with ease, then swung Vettori into the deep four balls before lunch. Game back on.

The Akmal brothers, Umar (77) and Kamran (56 not out), got Pakistan through to 455, which sounds a lot, but on the most docile of pitches they were not out of the woods. O'Brien got through 40 overs (2-108), Vettori wheeled down 56 (2-93) and wicketkeeper Brendon McCullum set a New Zealand record for dismissals with eight catches and a stumping in the match.

He scrubbed out the old mark of eight jointly held by Ian Smith and Warren Lees.

Vettori was later named man of the match for scoring 134 and taking a couple of wickets.

Vettori gave a backhander to the pitch, noting test pitches should deteriorate over five days, not get better. The record at the ground is now nine tests for just two results, wins by Sri Lanka (1995) and England (2008). "You don't want batting to be at its best on the fourth and fifth days and it's pretty much the case here," Vettori said.

"The way we went out to bat this afternoon showed that. Test match wickets want variable bounce on the fourth and fifth days. You want it to get harder and harder to bat on. This wicket got better and better and it seems every time we come to Napier we probably say the same thing."

SCOREBOARD

Pakistan
First innings 223

New Zealand
First innings 471

Pakistan
Second innings (overnight 347-4)
I Farhat c and b Guptill 61
S Butt c and b Guptill 66
F Iqbal c Taylor b Martin 67
M Yousuf c McCullum b O'Brien 89
U Akmal c McCullum b Southee 77
Misbah-ul-Haq std McCullum b Vettori 7
K Akmal not out 56
M Aamer c Martin b Vettori 7
U Gul c Flynn b O'Brien 0
D Kaneria c McCullum b Southee 11
M Asif lbw b Asif 0
Extras (3b, 2lb, 1w, 3nb, 5pen) 14
Total (193.2 overs) 455

Fall: 128 (Butt), 146 (Farhat), 274 (Iqbal), 333 (Yousuf), 361 (Misbah), 397 (U Akmal), 421 (Aamer), 423 (Gul), 449 (Kaneria), 455 (Asif).

Bowling: C Martin 32-6-82-1 (1w), T Southee 31-8-64-2 (1nb), I O'Brien 40-6-108-2 (1nb), D Tuffey 21-2-61-0 (1nb), D Vettori 56-25-93-2, M Guptill 13.2-2-37-3.

New Zealand
Second innings
T McIntosh not out 23
BJ Watling not out 60
Extras (2b, 1lb, 4nb) 7
Total (for 0 wkts, 19 overs) 90

Bowling: M Asif 5-0-15-0, M Aamer 6-1-27-0 (1nb), D Kaneria 5-0-21-0, U Gul 3-0-24-0 (1nb).

Result: Match drawn, series shared 1-1.

Man of the match: Daniel Vettori (NZ).

- © Fairfax NZ News