Younis Khan and Misbah-ul-Haq quelled a threatening spell of reverse swing early on the third morning before dictating terms against New Zealand's seamers who wasted the second new ball,
as the winds subsided for the first time at the Basin Reserve. Chris Martin began promisingly for New Zealand, making smart use of bounce and movement to hustle out Azhar Ali, but Younis and Misbah gradually took charge as the sun came out, with a partnership of 142 runs. Daniel Vettori's removal of Younis Khan at the stroke of tea - the second time he had struck at the end of a session - lifted his side's spirits with Pakistan still trailing by 70.New Zealand seemed subdued for most of the day, barring a lively opening burst from Martin. His first ball of the day was a swerving bouncer that started well outside off before tailing in viciously towards Azhar who had to weave away and drop his wrists in a hurry. Thereafter, Martin kept challenging the edgy Azhar with almost compulsive variations in length.
Of the next ten balls he bowled at Azhar, five were full, most often swinging in sharply. The seeds of doubt had been sowed in Azhar's mind and he began to make a conscious effort to come forward to negate the movement. He was there for the taking when Martin outwitted him in his third over of the day, with another sharp bouncer that reared up from a touch outside off. Azhar had to arrest the forward thrust late, leaving him with little time to pull the bat out of the way and he fended the lifter straight into the slips.
Younis Khan quickly made the adjustment in his footwork to deal with the reverse. Pressing forward to counter the swing, he released the pressure by dispatching Martin's searching lengths for a couple of impressive boundaries on either side of the wicket, off the front foot.
With the sun making its first appearance in the day, Martin began to lose his sting as Misbah checked in with a sparkling cover drive. Daniel Vettori brought himself on and, as on the second evening, his main weapon was late drift and extra bounce. Misbah dealt with the former by lunging forward instead of across and defending from inside the line. The ball, deemed to be out of shape, was replaced at the stroke of the first hour and reverse swing immediately became conspicuous by its absence.
Younis cashed in as the attack tired, punching a short delivery from Tim Southee square and driving one that was too straight through wide long-on for boundaries. At the other end, Misbah attacked his opposite number in his last couple of overs before lunch, pulling out a slog sweep and a lofted on-drive as Pakistan moved past 200.
The new ball was taken as soon as it was due, two overs after the interval, but surprisingly Martin was not handed it straight away. Instead, Brent Arnel ran in for a friendly over that began with a wayward loosener outside off, and included a misdirected bouncer down the leg side. In his second over, Misbah guided him twice through the cordon for boundaries. Martin was brought on for the 85th over, and got his inswingers going, but the horse seemed to have bolted by then. The force was with Pakistan when Younis punched him twice down the ground, the first bringing up his half-century and the second, the 100-run stand.
Southee worked up a lively rhythm at the other end, getting legcutters to nip away from the right-handers. Despite being beaten on a couple of occasions, Misbah had the presence of mind to play with soft hands, and his obduracy frustrated Southee who got into a verbal duel with him. Misbah responded with the bat, calmly stroking him twice through the covers to bring up his fifth successive half-century, and his fifth in six innings since taking over as captain.
Vettori was running out of ideas, and brought James Franklin on, seemingly with the intention of creating a rough outside the right-hander's off stump. Franklin promptly got a warning for running on the pitch, but Vettori began to pose some riddles from the other end. He eventually got past Younis, thanks to drift and another dodgy umpiring call - the seventh in this match - but Misbah looked in increasingly ominous touch going into the break.
