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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.

McCullum was explosive, improvising constantly, while Vettori combined inventiveness with solidity to rapidly change the character of the game. New Zealand's nervous approach of the first two sessions - the defensive, perhaps over-cautious, batsmen struggling to survive Kaneria as several close catchers hovered around the bat - gave way to a thrilling evening. Runs came quickly and New Zealand swiftly took a sizeable first-innings lead.

New Zealand's jail-break was assisted by the Pakistan fast bowlers, who have caused batsmen the most problems this series with seam, swing and tight lines and lengths. Not today though. Umar Gul and the rest offered width with their short-of-a-length deliveries and Vettori kept picking boundaries with his favourite short-arm cuts and deflections. McCullum attacked Kaneria by playing the sweep and suddenly the floodgates were flung open.

At times McCullum placed his bat outside off, with his back foot in line with off stump, and started to create his own angles. Even the skillful Mohammad Asif lost his poise and sprayed the ball around. The shot of the evening was an imperiously-pulled six from outside off stump against Asif. McCullum startled the bowler again when he charged out to crash a length delivery over cover.

Pakistan seemed to have run out of ideas when, against the run of play, Gul got the ball to burst off the pitch towards the throat of McCullum, who fended it straight to gully. Pakistan also had an opportunity to get rid of Vettori, but Kaneria dropped a straightforward return catch off him on 97.

Until Kaneria's lapse, though, Vettori, who has marvellous self-awareness of the limitations of his game and thrives within them, had played a chanceless innings. He arched his back to cut short-of-a-length deliveries from the line of the stumps without making it appear risky, he walked across to work perfectly acceptable deliveries to fine leg and frustrated bowlers with his short-arm pulls and nudges. Once in a while, Vettori increased pressure on the bowlers with calculated big hits: he lifted Kaneria for a straight six, and swept him and pulled Asif for more fours.

New Zealand's 123-run lead at the end of day two, however, might not have been possible without the patience Tim McIntosh showed during the first session. The defining image of his half-century was not a shot but the military snap with which he shouldered arms. He left 57 balls alone and played 151 dot balls as he defended passionately. McIntosh's batting has almost an anaesthetic air about it but today's stone-walling effort wasn't dull or boring. He laid the platform and allowed McCullum and Vettori to express themselves later on.

McIntosh's defiance was the primary feature of the morning session, but Kaneria eventually broke his resistance and that of several others after lunch. Kaneria was allowed to settle into a rhythm because of New Zealand's defensive approach and it was his googly that caused batsmen the most trouble. Unlike in the past, when he has been guilty of overusing it at times, Kaneria was more prudent in deploying the wrong 'un today. He concentrated on building pressure with his bouncing legbreaks and sliders, and bowled a variety of deliveries that slowly suffocated the batsmen.

It was the wicket of Ross Taylor, who top-edged a slog sweep, that got Kaneria going. He bowled a few loopy deliveries on the leg side to McIntosh who suddenly began playing the sweep before top-edging one as well. Kaneria then turned his attention to Daniel Flynn, spinning a few legbreaks into the left-hand batsman before slipping in a googly that caught the edge. The appeal for caught-behind was turned down, but the decision was reversed after a review. It may have been the right decision, for Flynn seemed to walk as soon as the review was asked for, but video evidence wasn't conclusive.

New Zealand were 145 for 5 at that stage, having lost three wickets for 27 runs, and Vettori and McCullum had just come together for a partnership that would give New Zealand the upper hand in the deciding Test.

Score: New Zealand 346 for 6 (Vettori 100*, McCullum 89, McIntosh 74, Kaneria 4-119) lead Pakistan 223 by 123 runs

"Gambhir and Dhananjay were exhibiting flu-like symptoms. Therefore, we have quarantined them in their hotel rooms and sent their samples for test," officiating nodal officer for swine flu G. C. Bansal told IANS.

"Health officials are continuously observing their condition and we would get their test report by (Saturday) evening," he added.

Teams:

India: Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain-wicketkeeper), Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Dinesh Karthik, Yusuf Pathan, Ravindra Jadeja, Ashish Nehra, Ishant Sharma and Sudip Tyagi

Pietersen scored 71 runs, his first half-century since his comeback from injury, while Strauss made 100, followed by Alastair Cook (52) and Jonathan Trott (50) in the team’s total of 317 for five declared.

The star batsman was suffering from an Achilles injury, which had ept him out of the squad for four months.

Highlighting the significance of Pietersen’s innings, England’s team director Andy Flower, said: “Kevin’s innings was probably the most pleasing aspect of the day because the other guys have been playing recently and in the runs.”

“Kevin has been out of cricket and not scoring heavily so him getting in and getting that time in the middle was vital for him,” The Daily Express quoted Flower, as saying.

Pietersen''s 71 off 101 balls runs included a dozen fours and was a determined effort to get some batting under his belt.

On the other hand, Strauss was also looking for time in the middle and shared an opening stand of 101 runs with Cook, and then one of 68 runs with a strangely subdued Trott.

In an interview to PakPassion. net, Akram said the PCB has come a bit late, as Waqar should have been appointed the national bowling coach much earlier.

“Appointing Waqar as bowling and fielding coach for the Australia tour is a really good move by the Pakistan Cricket Board. As far as I am concerned Waqar should have been appointed as coach a long time ago,” he said.

Akram. however said, that Waqar needs more time with the team, and stressed that appointing him for only one series would not serve the purpose.

“Appointing someone for one series is simply not long enough, as the coach will need time to get to know all the players who he is going to be working with. Waqar will need a bit of time before he can start to make a real difference,” the former pacer said.

Joha Daly

He believes that they still love each other, and that it’s not about the kids or the money.

Daly was speaking on the sidelines of the Australian PGA Championship at Coolum.

Woods announced Saturday he was taking an indefinite break from golf to sort out his family affairs.

“ If they ever need anything from me, both of them, I''ll be happy to talk to them because I love them both. ” The Daily Telegraph quoted Daly, as saying.

"I feel like if there''s anybody in this world, after what I''ve gone through, the ups and downs, I might give him some advice,'''' he added.

"I''m in shock over it all, I think a lot of our players are in shock. I''ve tried to get hold of Tiger and his manager, but he just didn''t want to talk to anybody. You don''t stay married for the kids, you don''t stay married for themoney. You stay married because you love each other,” Daly said.