Summary New Zealand reached 153-2 at lunch on the fourth day against England when rain interrupted play.
WELLINGTON (AFP) - Rain interrupted play in the second Test between New Zealand and England at the Basin Reserve on Sunday, with New Zealand 153 for two in their second innings at lunch on the fourth day.
Kane Williamson is on 51 and Ross Taylor 36 as New Zealand trail England by 58 runs.
The covers were placed on the pitch when rain started during the lunch adjournment, and showers are forecast in Wellington for the remainder of the match.
New Zealand continued its dogged battle to save the second cricket test against England on Sunday, losing an early wicket then grafting to reach 153-2 at lunch on the fourth day, still 58 runs in deficit after following on.
Peter Fulton was out for 45 in only the fourth over of the day, but Kane Williamson, 51, and Ross Taylor, 36, carried New Zealand to lunch without further loss in a partnership that yielded 72 runs by the break.
New Zealand resumed its second innings Sunday at 77-1, still trailing England by 134 runs. It was out in its first innings for 254 in reply to England s 465, just 11 runs short of its follow-on target but facing a huge task to save the match with two full days remaining.
Opener Hamish Rutherford was out for 15 before stumps Saturday but Williamson and Fulton carried New Zealand to the close of play in relative comfort.
The home team might still have joined New Zealand farmers in praying for rain with so much of the match remaining and England so firmly in control.
New Zealand s North Island is in the grip of its longest dry spell since 1947, and though passing showers are forecast in Wellington on each of the last two days, they are unlikely to be either drought-breaking nor game-saving.
New Zealand will need more of the stoic batting it has showed in the last two sessions to save the match and prevent England taking a 1-0 lead into the last match of the three-test series in Auckland.
Fulton batted with notable patience and care to reach 45, sticking at the crease for two and a half hours before he fell to the first rash shot of his innings. He flashed at a short delivery from James Anderson, well wide of off-stump and edged a simple catch to Alastair Cook at second slip.
Fulton and Williamson had added 56 in just under two hours for the second wicket, providing an example of the sort of fighting stand New Zealand will need to keep the match and series alive.
Williamson and Taylor continued the battle, reaching their 50-run partnership from 117 balls. The key battle of the morning was between the New Zealand batsmen and England spinner Monty Panesar, who began to find turn from scuffing and footmarks left in the first three days.
Panesar was thought likely to be a major player in the match after New Zealand left-arm spinner Bruce Martin found turn and took four wickets during England s first innings. But the Englishman struggled to settle into a productive line and length.
He chose to bowl over the wicket to the right-handers, pitching outside leg stump and removing the possibility of an lbw.
Panesar had 1-40 at lunch, while Anderson, who claimed the only wicket of the first session, had 1-27.
