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Match Facts

Thursday, March 11
Start time 1400 (0100 GMT)

The Big Picture

The most important match of the series, as the players described it, went to Australia. They now hold a 2-1 lead with two matches to play and victory in Auckland will ensure they retain the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy that they won at home in December 2007 and retained through a drawn series in Australia last February. Their win on Tuesday in Hamilton was easily their most complete performance of the tour as their bowlers fired early and dismissed New Zealand, before the top-order batsmen clicked and a centurion was found. Michael Clarke’s dash home to see his fiancée didn’t upset their balance and they will be looking to turn the final game in Wellington into a dead rubber.

Daniel Vettori stuck his stiff neck out with a brilliant innings that nearly delivered victory for New Zealand but Ryan Harris chopped him off to end the plucky fight as Australia levelled the series 1-1. There were some very nervous moments for Australia as they let New Zealand recover from 131 for 6 to almost reach their goal of 266 before the visitors’ blushes were saved.

It came down to 13 required from 11 balls when Vettori walked across his stumps and attempted a shot he had used to great effect throughout his innings. However, this time when he tried to flick Harris behind square leg his stumps were rattled, his fightback finished at 70 from 49 balls, and Australia avoided going down 2-0 with three to play.

The Bangladesh top order collapsed timidly, for the second time in the match, leaving New Zealand on the verge of victory at the end of the fourth day in Hamilton. A brilliant spell from Daniel Vettori was supported well by his spinning parter Jeetan Patel, and reduced the tourists to 88 for 5, still 316 runs away from an unlikely victory. The spin pair bowled consecutive wicket-maidens shortly before the close of play, taking the game well and truly away from Bangladesh.

New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori has put off surgery on his bowling shoulder, fearing it could keep him out of cricket for up to 12 months. Vettori suffered a torn labrum in his left shoulder during the ICC World Twenty20 in June but has managed to bowl despite the pain and is currently among the best allrounders in world cricket.

“I can still bowl with it. It sometimes hurts but I can manage it,” Vettori told the Waikato Times. “It’s frustrating, but it’s not stopping me from doing my main parts. Surgery would fix it but that would also mean six months to a year out. That’s something I don’t want to deal with.”

The Test was evenly balanced at tea. New Zealand were trailing by 57 runs with only five wickets in hand, Brendon McCullum and Daniel Vettori were yet to settle in, Danish Kaneria was in hot form having run through the middle order and the second new ball wasn’t far away. Either team could have grabbed the ascendancy. It was Vettori and McCullum who broke the shackles of the first two sessions with a combination of intelligence and exhilarating strokeplay, and seized control of the game.

The weather took time to clear up and New Zealand took time to wake up, but by the end of a shortened, disrupted first day at what was the Basin Reserve’s 50th Test, both had taken firm hold of this match.

Incessant rains over the last few days had forced both sides to practice indoors in the run-in and a wet outfield delayed the start until lunch. Overcast conditions, a pitch only just uncovered and some bounce quickly lulled Daniel Vettori into sending Pakistan in after winning the toss. And after an unusual first bout of Pakistan control, New Zealand struck back to leave Pakistan at 161 for 6, bad light stopping play early.

New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori and Brendon McCullum punished Pakistan on a day on which only 36 overs of play were possible due to rain and bad light here on Wednesday.

When Vettori bunted Saeed Ajmal for a single minutes into the second session, he beat Shane Warne as the highest run-getter at No. 8. While Warne’s 2005 runs came at an average of 19.09 in 91 Tests, Vettori got there in less than half the number of matches with an average of 43.86. Vettori, however, missed becoming the first No. 8 to score back-to-back Tests hundreds by one run.

New Zealand’s captain Daniel Vettori has been declared fit for the first Test against Pakistan but there was no such good news for Kyle Mills, who needs shoulder surgery and is expected to miss at least four months. Vettori will lead the side for the opening Test in Dunedin, starting next Tuesday, after missing the two Twenty20s in the UAE due to concussion.

He suffered the problem when struck on the helmet while batting during the ODI series against Pakistan and sat out of the last part of the tour as a precautionary measure. Vettori has also been battling a shoulder injury but after being assessed by an orthopaedic surgeon, he has been cleared to play as the problem will not affect his ability to bowl.

Daniel Vettori who was ruled out of the first Twenty20 international against Pakistan in Dubai due to a head injury sustained during the ODI series, has undergone a scan which revealed no serious damage. He will be sitting out of the second Twenty20 international on Friday but is expected to be available for the first Test against Pakistan in Dunedin, starting on November 24.

“The scan report is clear, but Vettori had concussion and will be continuously monitored,” Dave Currie, the New Zealand team manager, was quoted as saying by AFP. “He will not be available for the second Twenty20 match on Friday. The doctors have advised him a couple of weeks rest.”

Match facts

Tuesday, November 3
Start time 15:00 (11:00 GMT)

Big Picture

Tempting as it is to look at this series as a mighty battle for the fourth place in the ICC ODI rankings, or even a series where Pakistan seek cold-blooded revenge for the ignominy heaped upon them by the very same opponents at the Champions Trophy, it is, fortunately, neither. This is simply a compelling series between two eminently watchable sides who usually tend to produce some high-quality cricket against each other; no Pakistan-New Zealand contest, for example, is complete without one spectacular batting collapse.