Cricket Update: New Zealand’s McCullum satisfied with the target set for Pakistan
Brendon McCullum, the destructive opening batsman for New Zealand, has said that he is satisfied with his team’s performance on the fourth day of the ongoing second Test match against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755, at the Basin Reserve Stadium.
Considering the nature of the pitch, the home side has set Pakistan a competitive score of 274 runs to win. The visitors will have a complete final day to have a go at the target.
The Kiwis started the penultimate day at 9 for no loss. The openers put up determined batting performance and in doing so, they mustered a brilliant 120-run partnership in order to lay a solid foundation for the middle order.
At stumps, the hosts racked up 293 for all-out. The http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Taylor-c92915 scored half centuries. In the action, the home team was sailing nicely at 268 for 5, but all of a sudden the old ball started to reverse
and a collapse happened. As a result, they lost their last five wickets in a space of just 35 runs.
McCullum said, “It’s set up for what could be a great day of Test cricket. A target of 270 was what we were looking at, in a day anyway, so regardless of whether we were bowled out or not it's probably around the score we wanted."
The right-hand batsman was pleased with his own effort. He dominated the show with his aggressive 64-run innings. Also, he set the tone for a massive New Zealand total, which wasn’t to be in the end, as Umar Gul was firing all cylinders, picking up four
wickets to finish the innings.
The Kiwi batsmen added, "I guess the other option could have been if we had been able to continue at the top of the order and gone on to get 350 in a real hurry. Maybe if Martin, myself or Ross had been able to bat a bit longer, we might have been able
to score a bit quicker, but in the end 280 runs in the day sets up tomorrow quite nicely."
Currently, the visitors are leading the two-match Test series by an unassailable margin of 1-0. New Zealand’s push for victory entirely depends on their approach tomorrow. The wicket has deteriorated and there is a significant amount of help for the spin
bowlers. In addition, the track in http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Wellington-c864 will assist the reverse swing.
Daniel Vettori, who picked up four wickets in the first innings, will be a crucial link in the Kiwi bowling attack. And, Chris Martin will have to lead the way for New Zealand’s new ball attack.
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