Cricket World

New Zealand Vettori, McCullum to 404 for 8

Daniel Vettori displayed immense character and courage in his innings of 99, as he took New Zealand to a competitive 404 for 8 at the end of a rain-marred day-two of the Dunedin Test.

The resolute Kiwi captain walked in to bat when the scorecard read 211 for 6 and along with Brendon McCullum, forged a resolute fight despite struggling with niggles in his left shoulder and right elbow. The pair added a determined 164 for the seventh wicket before the stumper was cleaned up by an Umer Gul yorker for 78 at the stroke of lunch.

But Vettori carried on his resolve and took the Black Caps to 402, before getting caught behind and presenting Gul with his second success of the innings.

The skipper was unfortunate to fall just one short of an extremely deserved fifth Test century. He lost his wicket in what turned out to be the last over of the day owing to the fading lights. Vettori’s fluent 133-ball knock was punctuated with 14 sparkling hits to the fence.

The post-lunch period was hit by rain which resulted in the loss of three hours of play. The match did resume after the rain-interval but only to be stopped prematurely again by bad lights after six overs.

Pakistan bowling was a mixed-bag, as after the Vettori-McCullum duo survived the early string of bouncers thrown in by Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Aamer, there was no bite in the attack to hurt the Kiwis. Pakistan skipper Mohammad Yousuf missed a trick or two by resorting to a defensive field when the skipper-stumper pair was forging a calm fight-back.


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