http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Wellington-c864 Test heads for a draw
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 at Wellington.
The match seems to be headed towards a draw but all three results are still likely.
The Kiwi openers started the day confidently after they survived the five-over spell from the Pakistan bowlers on Monday. Both openers, Brendon McCullum and Martin Guptill played steadily and did not lose any wicket in the morning session.
New Zealand had scored 106 runs until lunch and McCullum was expected to explode in the second session. He was batting at 58 runs when the post lunch session started. However, he could not score big and was dismissed soon.
Trying to speed-up the pace of the game, McCullum mistimed one shot and was caught at long-off. He tried to repeat the six he had earlier hit off Abdur Rehman but failed to connect. He was dismissed after scoring 64 runs.
Kane Williamson did not last long and was the second man to be dismissed in the day. He was caught by wicketkeeper Adnan Akmal who took six catches in the first innings.
Guptill had reached his fifty and was batting very well before he was struck on his pads in front of the stumps to be given out leg-before-wicket. He scored a steady 73 runs off 178 balls.
Three quick wickets brought Ross http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Taylor-c92915 and Jesse Ryder at the crease and both the batsmen played out the remaining overs before the tea session. Taylor was unbeaten on 4 whereas Ryder had made 11 before the session was called-off.
Spin was again damaging for the Kiwi batsman as Rehman took two wickets in the innings until tea. The other wicket to fall was taken by medium-fast bowler Tanvir Ahmed.
The home team did not score the runs quickly enough which means that they will have to play out all the overs on day four and possibly a few in the first session of day five. If that happens, the match may end up in a draw.
Pakistan team will also be sniffing a chance of a victory after they got three quick wickets. If the bowlers do some damage in the last session and run into the tail, the visitors may have a chance of chasing down the total on the last day and win the match.
However, the current situation suggests a drawn match and that will mean a series win for Pakistan.
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