Taylor century sets Pakistan 369 target

Pakistan 216 and 1 for 0 need 368 to beat New Zealand 271 and 313 for 5 dec (Taylor 102*, Latham 80, Imran 3-76)Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

Ross Taylor’s 16th Test hundred drove New Zealand to a declaration 20 minutes from stumps on the fourth day, setting Pakistan an improbable 369 to win the Hamilton Test. The declaration left Pakistan three overs to survive at the end of the day, and their openers got through the task unscathed.

Given that the Test match had lost roughly four sessions to rain, New Zealand had done excellently to give themselves a solid chance of winning the series 2-0. The pitch seemed to have flattened out considerably, and was offering much less seam movement than it had done on the first two days, but there were signs of inconsistent bounce as the fourth day wore on, with Taylor taking a number of blows to his gloves.

Taylor walked in at the end of a 96-run second-wicket stand between Tom Latham and Kane Williamson and built on that platform with one of his most fluent innings in recent memory. Only three of his runs came in the V, partly a reflection of the length Pakistan’s seamers bowled to him, but that didn’t make any difference to his run-flow as he rumbled along at a strike rate of over 75, peppering the boundaries square and behind square with flicks, glances and every variety of the cut.

Pakistan began the day bowling with skill and discipline, starting with four straight maidens and removing Jeet Raval in the eighth over of the New Zealand innings. But their resolve weakened as New Zealand piled on the runs in conditions that seemed far easier to bat in than on the first two days. New Zealand steadily accelerated through the day, scoring at 2.94 per over in the first session, 3.50 in the second, and 4.63 after tea, with Colin de Grandhomme contributing a 21-ball 32 at No. 6.

New Zealand started the day on 0 for 0, and the scoreboard didn’t budge until the 27th ball of the morning. Mohammad Amir bowled a particularly testing first spell, swinging the new ball both ways, and gave Pakistan an early breakthrough with a beautifully set-up dismissal: first a wide-ish outswinger that the left-handed Jeet Raval ignored; then another …

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