Southee six-for secures 55 lead on wet third day

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New Zealand 271 and 0 for 0 lead Pakistan 216 (Azam 90*, Sarfraz 41, Southee 6-80, Wagner 3-59) by 55 runsScorecard and ball-by-ball details

A six-wicket haul from Tim Southee secured a 55-run first-innings lead for New Zealand and left Babar Azam stranded ten short of a maiden Test hundred on a damp third day at Seddon Park. Rain allowed only 38.1 overs of play. A brief shower forced lunch eight minutes early, and only six balls were possible in the second session. Pakistan’s innings ended 5.2 overs into the third session, after which the New Zealand openers came out and faced one ball before the clouds opened out again.

Pakistan were 76 for 5 at the start of the day’s play, and trailed New Zealand by 195. That they narrowed their deficit to 55 was down largely to two partnerships featuring Azam: 74 for the sixth wicket with Sarfraz Ahmed, and 67 for the seventh with Sohail Khan. New Zealand then struck back, taking the last four wickets for only 24 runs.

Azam had feasted on some wayward New Zealand bowling on the second evening, picking up a number of boundaries with the cut and the flick. The seamers were a lot more disciplined against him on the third morning, largely sticking to a fourth-stump line and seldom wavering from a …

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