Updated on
Summary
New Zealand has scored 246 runs for the loss of 6 wickets in their first innings of the second Test Match between New Zealand and Pakistan.Ross Taylor showed caution and enterprise to outlast his top-order colleagues, who succumbed to exemplary spells from Umar Gul and Tanvir Ahmed, with the wind behind them, on either side of lunch. Gul and Tanvir struck twice apiece in the course of their respective hour-long stints as New Zealand's innings threatened to stall. But Taylor kept them ticking with his eleventh Test half-century, while James Franklin promised the sort of solidity that his side has lacked in recent times, taking New Zealand to tea at 147 for 4. Pakistan had done their homework for one of the trickiest grounds in the game: the plan was for a lead fast bowler to settle into a long spell from the Vance End, while the support cast would hold things up bowling into the wind. Resisting the natural urge to crank up the pace when aided by a breeze, Gul relied on subtle sleight of hand and a high release to settle into a testing spell with the new ball. Gul also threatened to dislodge Taylor early, beating his outside edge and inducing an inside edge within his first three deliveries. His spell was, however, coming to an end, and Taylor faced fewer challenges from Wahab Riaz, who took over proceedings from the favoured end. Fresh from picking a million-dollar pay cheque at the IPL auctions, Taylor approached the situation with freedom. Every time Riaz offered him width Taylor attacked through the off side, driving square and through the covers, and cutting for boundaries.
