Rousing spells from Mohammad Aamer and Mohammad Asif evoked New Zealand's famous second-innings collapses against Pakistan, and the visitors held the momentum going into the final four sessions of the Test. Aamer bowled two superb spells of swing bowling, the conventional variety leaving New Zealand at 0 for 2, and the reverse leaving the middle order befuddled even if it didn't get him a wicket. Asif took 2 for 2 in his spell before tea, which very nearly could have been three. When rain forced an early break New Zealand led by 212 with four wickets in hand.
Pakistan improved in previously slack areas: fielding and reviews. Khurram Manzoor hit the only stump he could see from square leg and ran out Ross Taylor, the only man who looked like he could score runs. Asif successfully challenged an lbw decision to dismiss Tim McIntosh, and nearly got another against Grant Elliott overturned in unique circumstances. New Zealand were 113 for 5 when a reversing delivery caught Elliott in front, but Asif couldn't get the decision from Billy Doctrove. The replays revealed a marginal no-ball, a minute part of his heel landing behind the line and then sliding onto it. If this was unique, Peter Fulton - low on form and confidence - did the bizarre. Suspecting an inside edge when given lbw off Umar Gul, he walked back unimpressed, holding his bat upside-down, but was only reminded of the existence of reviews by his team-mates when he was about to cross the rope.
Fulton was the fourth man out, with the score on 91, minutes after Taylor's attempt at arresting the all-too-familiar slide was ended in a misunderstanding. Yes, no, yes, no, and he was run out for 59 out of the 87 runs scored in the day. He was edgy, uncomfortable, and fortunate at times but still battled and scored quickly. Playing and missing against Aamer, getting hit twice on the body, edging to short of slip twice, Taylor even resorted to slogging Gul out of the ground. But just when he looked comfortable in the middle, having crossed 50 in just 69 balls, the run-out happened.
That doesn't take away, though, from the quality of bowling on display. Martin Guptill, on a warmer, stiller day, kept McIntosh - on a king pair - away from Aamer and took strike. But because it was warmer, Aamer got the ball to swing for the first time in the match. Four balls into the innings, New Zealand were 0 for 1 for the second time, the ball swinging in enough to take the inside edge onto the stumps. Daniel Flynn continued his horror Test - eight runs and a crucial dropped catch in the first innings - when he played across the line to a straight delivery, and was caught dead in front.
After the wickets of Taylor and Fulton, Aamer came back for a spell of reverse-swing that evoked Wasim Akram. From round the wicket he angled the ball into Elliott, and got it to move away repeatedly. Not just by fluke. McIntosh, who avoided the pair but didn't care much about scoring, survived twice shouldering arms to deliveries that jagged back in. After a spell of 4-2-2-0 from Aamer, Asif took over and did that extra bit to get the wickets.
The McIntosh one pitched just within the stumps and straightened a touch, and the confidence and awareness showed in the review. Moments after the other review fiasco, he ended Brendon McCullum's painstaking stay with a beauty, pitching one just short of a length, just outside off, and getting it to move away a touch. Rain, then, was a relief for New Zealand who had scored just eight runs in their last 13 overs. It was down to Daniel Vettori to dig New Zealand out of that hole. Again.
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