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New Zealand 157 & 369 for 6 (McCullum 94*, McIntosh 83, Vettori 77) lead Australia 459 for 5 dec by 67 runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Daniel Vettori was bowled trying to sweep Nathan Hauritz, ending his valuable stand of 126 with Brendon McCullum•Getty Images

Brendon McCullum changed his tactics to produce a superb team innings that allowed New Zealand to take their battle with Australia into a fifth day. Standing up to a fierce wind gusting up to 120kph, McCullum smothered his attack-first mentality and overcame a distracted Australian side to finish unbeaten on 94.Crucially, McCullum built on the work of Daniel Vettori, who produced a committed 77, and took the hosts further ahead during their follow-on. By stumps on a day curtailed by rain, light and regular interruptions caused by the gale, their advantage stood at 67. It is not much, but some more wet weather is predicted on the final morning, giving them a chance of saving the game.The Australians started the day with a lead of 115 and needed five wickets but they managed only one. Mostly they wished they were inside, safe from the powerful gusts and resting after three consecutive days in the field. McCullum and Vettori kept them outside during a partnership of 126 – it was a sixth-wicket record for New Zealand against Australia – and both raised their highest scores in Trans-Tasman Tests.McCullum, who is happiest when he’s slashing boundaries, focussed successfully on batting for a long time and usually avoided the big shots that could have led to his departure. For much of the time it was an uncharacteristically gritty display, but he allowed himself some attractive flourishes.The best shot came when he pulled Mitchell Johnson out of the ground behind square and forced a lengthy search for the ball. Unfortunately for the Australians they found it, as McCullum liked hitting it.He cut Nathan Hauritz when he dropped short and eased the fast men through cover or point when they over-pitched. After lunch he thumped a drive to point that was prevented from reaching the rope by the gale, but he picked up 11 boundaries and the six during an impressive 178-ball performance.McCullum’s half-century came up with overthrows after he picked up a quick single, and he was the most comfortable man on the ground throughout the day. Vettori was almost immoveable as he showed he could have a long-term future at No. 6. After scoring 46 in the first innings Vettori, who has been promoted two spots in the order this season, delivered in another crucial situation.Rain delayed the start and the hosts resumed their second innings on 187 for 5, knowing they didn’t have much batting power after Vettori and McCullum. The pair was in control for most of the stand and the Australians were worn down by the interruptions and the unfamiliar weather.The wind was so severe that the cameras for Hot Spot were taken down and the equipment for the projection tracking stopped working, which caused a problem when McCullum survived an lbw appeal on 52 from Hauritz. McCullum didn’t play a shot to an offspinner and was hit a long way outside off stump, with Asad Rauf ruling it not out.Australia called for a referral but some of the reference tools were unavailable and the original decision stayed, which seemed to be the right one. Ricky Ponting had a lengthy discussion with the umpires and the upshot was they didn’t lose their challenge.The Australians weren’t at their best throughout, but their worst period was after lunch when Johnson dropped a caught-and-bowled opportunity above his head from Vettori on 60. Brad Haddin also failed to stump McCullum before his half-century when the batsman missed a ball from Hauritz and his back leg came out of the crease.Just when everything seemed lined up for a Vettori century, he swept at Hauritz well outside leg stump and managed to play on. He opened the day with a smart drive in the first over and collected eight fours in all, half of which came behind point. A boundary through cover off Ryan Harris brought up a much-needed half-century and Vettori also employed a range of cunning deflections during his 119-ball stay.Once Vettori exited, McCullum gained assistance from Daryl Tuffey, who was unbeaten on 23 when stumps were eventually called. Bad light and drizzle alternated to cause the disruptions in the afternoon and only 52 overs were delivered for the day.The persistent gusts forced the players to hold on to their caps and sent a helmet sitting behind Haddin all the way to the boundary. Bails weighed down by lead blew off and the cameramen standing in the stands had ropes to grab when they wobbled. Before play the wind was so strong it ripped the covers from the hands of the groundsmen and moved the light roller.The conditions helped the bowlers at the Vance Stand End, but were a severe hindrance for the men at the other one. Hauritz had to deliver into the wind most of the time and had satisfying figures of 3 for 119 from 49 overs. Doug Bollinger was unable to add an eighth wicket for the game while Johnson had brief moments of encouragement without success. Depending on what happens tomorrow, the Australians may look back at their mixed moods and conclude it was a day of missed opportunities.

ScorecardSophie Devine starred with bat and ball•Getty Images

For the second day in a row, Sophie Devine and Aimee Watkins drove New Zealand to a Twenty20 victory over Australia at Bellerive Oval. The visitors were chasing 116 and reached their target with five wickets in hand and 19 balls to spare, thanks to a 75-run stand between Watkins and Devine.Watkins made 36 and Devine posted 48 and although no other New Zealand player reached double figures, none needed to. Devine had earlier kept Australia to 7 for 115 – the same total they made in the first game – with 3 for 24 from her four overs.Suzie Bates also chipped in with 2 for 20 as Australia struggled to get a quick start having chosen to bat. Alex Blackwell top scored with 40 while Leah Poulton’s 24 came at better than a run a ball.

Kevin Pietersen doesn’t do humble pie as a rule, but on this trip it’s been forced down his gullet by the shovel-full. He was once able to give the impression that his game had no weaknesses (other than an occasional tendency towards over-confidence), but in Bangladesh he has been carved open by the unlikeliest opponents of them all.Even in his hour of apparent renaissance, his new and unfamiliar vulnerability manifested itself as he fell for 99 to the left-arm spin of Abdur Razzak for the third time in three innings. But after the month he’s endured, he was simply grateful to have overcome the worst.”Probably at the end of your career you look back and think one run could have made a difference to me personally, but I’d have taken 99 this morning, that’s for sure,” he said. “Sometimes you hit a patch when you don’t know where your next run is coming from, and I’ve had that for the last couple of weeks. But I knew I needed to work on something, and I’ve done it.”That something was his weakness against left-arm spin, and to Pietersen’s credit, he didn’t even try to shy away from his uncertainties. In the past, to discuss such a topic openly would have been an unacceptable show of weakness, but he has realised as acutely as anyone that his problems are way out in the public domain. Recognition, as they say, is the first step to recovery.”I’ve had to make an adjustment to the way I play left-arm spin,” he said. “With umpires giving more lbw decisions on the front foot, and the boys bowling a lot more for lbw, you have to make adjustments. I’ve made them with some really hard work with Andy Flower, who was a really fantastic player of spin, and some really kind words from Rahul Dravid. I just got a really nice message from him today saying ‘it worked’.”Duncan Fletcher has also been offering his tuppen’orth, as England’s former coach revealed in his Guardian column this week, and with an assortment of advisors of that calibre, allied to Pietersen’s unstinting appetite for hard work, it’s little wonder that he’s managed to turn his form around. Nevertheless, he first had to digest his glut of information, and churn through countless hours in the nets, before the dividends could be revealed at the crease.”At the end of the day they don’t bat for you but you’ve got to find information,” he said. “I’ve played with Rahul in Bangalore, and I’ve played a lot of Test match cricket against him, and in two weeks, I’ll be spending four weeks with him [at the IPL]. It’s great to spend time speaking to people like that and he’s helped a heck of a lot.”I’ve felt fine against the seamers since [the Twenty20s in] Dubai, but it’s just been left-arm spin I’ve had to work out. I won’t stop learning and I won’t stop working hard, which I love, because you are never too good for anything. This morning I figured the hours I’ve put into net practice this week were bound to pay off at some stage.”Everyone is human, everyone goes through a patch where they struggle, but I’ve never stopped trying,” he added. “I’ve missed [being in form]. It’s been a terrible 12 months in terms of my injury and my form in South Africa, where I was losing my balance, feet going nowhere. I feel really good at the moment, really rock solid, but that’s not going to stop me working on my game.”On the subject of his dismissal for 99, which was the second time he had made that score and the fifth time he’d fallen in the nineties all told, Pietersen was equally philosophical. “Funny things happen to cricketers on 99 all around the world. I’ve had a 99, I’ve had a 97, I’ve had a 96, I’ve had a 92 … yeah, it’s not nice. But I can tell you getting out for 20 the other day wasn’t nice, getting out for 1 in the one-day series wasn’t nice. It’s never nice getting out.”One man who hasn’t had that feeling so far in this game is Alastair Cook, who emulated Pietersen’s feat of a century in his first Test as captain, and has the chance to resume on Saturday on 158 not out, with a double-century in his sights and the opportunity to push for, in the words of his mentor, Graham Gooch, a “daddy”.”Alastair has done an amazing job today and first of all ‘Chef’ needs to get his highest score in Test cricket and then go and get 250,” said Pietersen. “It was brilliant. I did say to him that emotion took over my hundred [on captaincy debut] at The Oval and I got out the next ball. So I said to him to dig deep, I said ‘you’ve got a big, big hundred to score here’. A hundred is great, but 158 is even better.”

Audrey Collins OBE, one of the towering figures of women’s cricket in England, died on Valentine’s Day aged 94. As a tribute to her lifetime contribution to the game, there was a one-minute silence at the start of the first ODI between India and England women, and the England team wore black armbands during the game.Born in India in 1915, Collins’ father was killed in the World War One, and her Australian mother decided to bring her three children to England in 1920. She played her first match aged 12 and went on to represent a number of teams, most prominently Middlesex and the South, before playing her one and only official Test against Australia in the 1937 Ashes.In the drawn Test at The Oval, Collins scored 27 in the first innings batting at No. 8. She put on 54 in half an hour with Betty Archdale, after the pair were told to “get on with the job”. Collins moved to St Albans after the World War Two, played for the East and became secretary and later chairman of the Women’s Cricket Association. Her term as WCA president, from 1983 to 1994, was the longest in the history of the organisation, which eventually merged with the ECB in 1998.She was also one of the first ten female members admitted by the MCC when it voted to allow women to join the club in 1999. In later years, Collins was best known for her services to various chocolate firms in her unstinting efforts to raise funds in continued support of women’s cricket.

ScorecardStroke-filled fifties from Asim Kamal and Khalid Latif and a steady bowling effort from Sialkot’s attack has set up an intriguing finish in their fixture against Karachi Blues at the National Stadium. Karachi faced an early setback when they lost Sheharyar Ghani for the addition of only two runs in the morning. Kamal who had retired hurt on day two, anchored the innings with a sparkling fifity, including ten fours and a six. The middle order chipped in with useful contributions, none more substantial than Latif’s 60. Fast bowlers Bhilawal Bhatti and Prince Abbas picked three scalps each as the innings folded at 304, setting Sialkot a target of 283. The victory charge though, was dealt telling blows when Sialkot lost their openers with the score on 16. Faisal Khan and Mohammad Ayub added 47 and saw their side through to stumps without further damage.
ScorecardOpening bowler Irfan Fazil wrecked Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited’s (SNGPL) first innings and secure a five-run lead for Habib Bank Limited (HBL) before Shan Masood and Hasan Raza struck 75 apiece in contrasting style to put their side in charge at the National Bank of Pakistan Sports Complex. Resuming 36 behind with five wickets standing, SNGPL had no answers to Fazil’s spell as he added three wickets to his overnight haul of two. The overnight batsmen Usman Arshad and Yasir Shah fell for forties as HBL took first-innings honours. Their second effort was based upon the 110-run partnership between Masood and Raza. While Masood consumed 214 deliveries and hit 11 fours in his innings, Raza’s 75 came at better than run-a-ball. Imran Ali and Mohammad Hafeez picked two wickets apiece to stem HBL’s progress as they lost four wickets for 36 runs leading up to stumps.

BBC presenter Chris Hollins has become the third first-class cricketer to win the channel’s Strictly Come Dancing, following Darren Gough in 2005 and Mark Ramprakash a year later. Although he did not win the judges’ vote, he got the public’s backing to beat actor and favourite Ricky Whittle.”I’m very lucky that people at home supported us and kept us in this competition,” Hollins said. “I haven’t got that much ability. But Ola [Jordan, his dance partner] really believed in me.”Hollins, 38, made eight appearances for Oxford University in 1994, scoring 131 in that year’s Varsity match. An offspinner he took four wickets on debut, but it was only when he hit 68 batting at No. 7 against Leicestershire in his fourth game that his ability with the bat became evident.He was born into a sporting family – his father, John, played football for England while his uncle, David, turned out for Wales – and he too was a good enough player to have spent brief periods with Charlton, Queens Park Rangers, and Aldershot Town.Although playing regularly in club and representative cricket, he became better known as a presenter, initially with Sky Sports before joining the BBC in 1999.

Australian fast bowler Mitchell Johnson is likely to skip the IPL for the third consecutive year for the sake of preserving himself for Australia, says his manager Sam Halvorsen. Johnson skipped the first two editions of the cash-rich Twenty20 tournament for the same reason.”We want to protect him from the wear and tear,” Halvorsen told the . “The decision was made easier because of our concern over the auction process. He might have been able to play half the tournament but at this stage we feel the break will be better for him.”If Johnson had put his hand up for the IPL, he would have had to miss the first half of the tournament, which clashes with Australia’s tour of New Zealand, which ends on March 31. The IPL runs between March 12 and April 25.Before the 2008 auctions, Johnson backed out because he wanted to focus on establishing himself in the Australian Test side. He later expressed interest in participating in the 2009 edition in South Africa but instead opted for rest, keeping in mind Australia’s hectic schedule. The decision helped establish himself as Australia’s strike bowler and his wicket tally of 57 wickets in 12 Tests is the most by any bowler in 2009.

Ireland have announced their squad for the Under-19 World Cup which takes place in New Zealand in January.Andrew Balbirnie will captain the side, who start in a difficult group with Australia, South Africa and United States.Eight of the fifteen named played in the 2008 tournament when Ireland couldn’t pass the group stages, although they did manage consolation wins over Bermuda and Zimbabwe.Ireland are chasing full-member status from the ICC and after the senior side’s strong showing in the 50 and 20-over World Cups it will be important for the youngsters to show their ability. Their passage to New Zealand came after winning the World Cup Qualifying tournament in Canada and Matt Dwyer, the Ireland coach, is confident that his side can maintain the good run.”We’ve got a very talented group of players who have been working hard in the gym and the nets to give themselves the best possible chance. They all play at senior level in Ireland and many of them have attracted the attention of English county sides.”They know there’s a senior World Cup coming up in the sub-continent in 2011, and a good showing in this tournament could well see them joining Paul Stirling in becoming a regular feature in the senior men’s squad.”Brian Walsh, the Ireland manager, echoed these sentiments and thinks that Ireland could stir a surprise in New Zealand. “There’s never been a greater opportunity for the players to progress, and there’s no better motivation than a World Cup place. I’ve been impressed by their commitment and dedication in the build up.”They’ve all been given fitness and conditioning schedules and their progress has been closely monitored by the backroom staff. It wasn’t easy selecting a final group of 15, and there were some difficult choices to make. There’s no doubt it’s not the easiest of groups, but if we play to our potential, we certainly have the ability to cause a shock.”Squad Andrew Balbirnie (Captain), Ben Ackland, Adrian D’Arcy, George Dockrell, Eddie Richardson, Graham McDonnell, Jordan Coghlan, Shane Getkate, Graeme McCarter, Lee Nelson, James Shannon, Stuart Poynter, Paul Stirling, Stuart Thompson, Craig Young.

Matthew Hoggard, the former England fast bowler, has been offered a three-year contract by Leicestershire. He was released by his home county Yorkshire last week after 15 seasons with them.David Smith, Leicestershire’s chief executive, signalled the county’s interest in Hoggard last week and is confident of signing him up. Smith felt that one of the things in Leicestershire’s favour was that Hoggard, 32, has worked closely with head coach Tim Boon, who was Duncan Fletcher’s assistant in the England set-up.”We are in the ball park financially,” Smith said. “Matthew likes what we are doing here and he knows Tim well. I came away from the meeting feeling that we are in with a shout.”Hoggard has played only a handful of one-day matches with Yorkshire in the past couple of seasons, and smith said he would get more opportunities with Leicestershire in that format. “He hasn’t played much one-day cricket recently but he will play that with us. I think he needs a new challenge. I think we would say we were hopeful.”Leicestershire are coming off a season to forget, finishing in last place in the Division Two of the County Championship, and not tasting much success in the limited-over tournaments either.Hoggard finished the 2009 season as Yorkshire’s leading wicket-taker, and in total claimed 331 wickets in 102 first-class matches for the county, as well as a further 248 in 67 Tests since 2000.

South African women’s captain Sunette Loubser is keen to make up for the defeats to West Indies in the World Cup and World Twenty20, when they host them for four ODIs and three Twenty20s, beginning Friday. While West Indies beat South Africa by two wickets in a narrow finish during the Group A match of the Women’s World Cup in March this year, they eked out a three-run win during their World Twenty20 three months later.”We are going into this series on the back of two defeats against West Indies and we are ready for the task. We are going out there with the intention of achieving a clean sweep,” Loubser said. “The players believe in their ability and although it is in the past, we want to make up for our poor record. Our top six need to come to the party and post large totals while our bowlers need to keep it tight and disciplined, basics are key.”The South Africans will feel confident ahead of the opening ODI at Paarl, despite their warm-up match being rained out on Monday. They have put in arduous and intense work over the past days, and will rely on their performance on the field.The series, which takes place in Cape Town and Paarl, has been keenly anticipated by the locals, whom Loubser believes will make a big difference. She said they would look to exploit the advantage from the ground and local conditions as well.”I’ve played in Boland for the past 15 years so we have brought in the players that can make good use of the playing conditions. It will really come down to who wants it the most and to who uses their resources to the best.”Schedule:
October 16: 1st ODI – Paarl
October 18: 2nd ODI – Cape Town
October 21: 3rd ODI – Paarl
October 23: 4th ODI – Cape Town
October 25: 1st Twenty20 international – Paarl
October 26: 2nd Twenty20 international – Cape Town
October 28: 3rd Twenty20 international – Paarl