 | « Back to article | Print this article |
New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming cracked his sixth Test century on the opening day of the first Test against Pakistan on Friday.
Fleming was unbeaten on 125 at stumps after he watched Pakistan fight back with four wickets following the tea interval to leave the hosts on 295 for six. Robbie Hart was unbeaten on seven.
New Zealand went to tea on 192 for two but lost Scott Styris (33), Craig McMillan (22), Chris Cairns (11) and Jacob Oram (six) in the final session.
Styris was removed by a catch by Taufeeq Umar off Danish Kaneria before McMillan fell to the same combination immediately after he had hit the spinner over long-on for two successive sixes.
Cairns, playing his first Test for almost two years, edged a ball from Shabbir Ahmed to wicketkeeper Moin Khan before Shabbir picked up his third wicket of the day when Oram was bowled round his legs.
Through it all Fleming was majestic. He shared two century partnerships, with Mark Richardson (44) for the second wicket and Styris for the third and helped give New Zealand a solid start after being asked to bat by Inzaman-ul-Haq.
Scorecard
New Zealand first innings:
M.Richardson run out 44
L.Vincent c Inzamam-ul-Haq b Shabbir Ahmed 8
S.Fleming not out 125
S.Styris c Taufeeq Umar b Danish Kaneria 33
C.McMillan c Taufeeq Umar b Danish Kaneria 22
C.Cairns c Moin Khan b Shabbir Ahmed 11
J.Oram b Shabbir Ahmed 6
R.Hart not out 7
Extras: (lb-7, w-1, nb-30, b-1) 39
Total: (for six wickets) 295
Fall of wickets: 1-16 2-117 3-217 4-249 5-266 6-274
To Bat: DL Vettori, DR Tuffey, IG Butler.
Bowling: Mohammad Sami 19-2-84-0 (nb-15), Shabbir Ahmed 24-6-51-3 (nb-4, w-1) Umar Gul 16-4-46-0 (nb-4), Abdul Razzaq 11-2-43-0 (nb-7), Danish Kaneria 20-4-63-2
Pakistan: Imran Farhat, Taufeeq Umar, Yasir Hameed, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Yousuf Youhana, Abdul Razzaq, Moin Khan, Mohammad Sami, Shabbir Ahmed, Danish Kaneria, Umar Gul
