Pakistan rally after McCullum, Guptill show

Brendon McCullum and Martin Guptill dealt with a defensive mindset from Pakistan in contrasting styles, to propel New Zealand's quest to set a challenging target in Wellington. Pakistan's outlook - epitomised by spread out fields and abysmal over-rates - reflected their desire to sit back on their 1-0 series lead, and wait for the poor weather expected later in the day. Abdur Rehman was their most enterprising bowler on a day when their seamers, and fielders, struggled for discipline. Rehman found a way past both openers as Pakistan lifted their game in the second session, but New Zealand remained in a position to dominate.

With Pakistan's seamers rarely hitting the right lengths in the first couple of hours, McCullum decided to stay back in the crease and use the horizontal bat against the short stuff. After surviving a swerving inducker off Tanvir Ahmed, he checked in with a pull off Umar Gul through square leg and an uppish cut that flew past Rehman, reacting slowly at point. Guptill, on the other hand, was more eager to move into his drives, and set the template for his session with a flowing cover-drive off Tanvir. The early exchanges telegraphed New Zealand's positive intent, and Pakistan's seamers were too inconsistent to trouble them.

Rehman came on soon, and his tussle with the openers became the most interesting sub-plot of the day. New Zealand were intent to dominate him, wary of the choke-hold he exercised in Hamilton. Rehman initially attacked the rough with a slip, silly point and short leg, with Adnan Akmal imploring him to bowl the 'magic ball'. When he dropped short, Guptill cracked him through the covers emphatically enough for Rehman to instantly get rid of silly point. An over later, Rehman produced the magic ball, getting one to stop and turn sharply from leg stump and take Guptill's edge before landing in the now vacant silly point region. The fielder was duly reinstated after that, but the turn of events underlined Pakistan's complete lack of proactivity.

McCullum's eagerness to attack Rehman was counterbalanced by the state of the match and New Zealand's recent batting woes. Rehman tossed them up, inviting the drive over mid-off, with men close in to take the edge. McCullum resisted the temptation, lunging forward to a slew of classically looped deliveries and working the odd arm-ball off the backfoot to the leg side.

In the 20th over of the innings, Rehman almost broke through, getting McCullum to prod hard at a ball straightening on middle and off, but Asad Shafiq dropped the chance at silly point. McCullum ran down the track to the next ball and clattered Rehman inside-out over long off for a flat six. Rehman continued to flight, but when he dropped short, McCullum was ready in a flash for the pull shot. Pakistan's best bowler had been negated, albeit with some luck.

Wahab Riaz, still struggling from the flu that has curtailed his participation in the match, struggled to find his range at both ends of the pitch. He over-stepped on several occasions, and sprayed the ball short, wide and full, conceding easy boundaries on each occasion as New Zealand went to lunch on top,

Pakistan continued to bowl short after the break, but they now bowled short enough to trouble Guptill. Gul harried him with bounce and movement, clattering him on the helmet with a bouncer in the first over after the break, and getting him to edge a legcutter in his second, though Adnan spilled the opportunity. Guptill tightened his approach, happy to camp on the back foot, but conscious not to go for the pull shot.

Rehman eventually won the battle against McCullum, luring him to miscue a loose loft towards long-off after beating him in the flight. McCullum's fall signaled a drop in the scoring rate as Kane Williamson began slowly. For the first time in the day, Pakistan found their voice as Guptill repeatedly got into a tangle against some well-directed bouncers from Riaz, who, however,over-stepped frequently. Guptill barely survived the spell, venting his impatience against Rehman, slicing an off-drive just past Tanvir at mid-off and teeing off down the ground for a clean six. Rehman responded by turning a ripper past the outside edge and rapping his pads with an arm-ball. He eventually got his man with a skidder that pinned Guptill in front of the stumps, an over after Williamson's scratchy innings ended with an ungainly drive against Tanvir.

Jesse Ryder barely avoided a third successive first-ball duck, before swinging Rehman through the leg side for a six and a four. Daniel Vettori's declaration decision will depend on Ryder's approach after tea.

Lee and Tait win World Cup berths

Australia will risk both Brett Lee and Shaun Tait at the World Cup after they were chosen in the 15-man squad for the trophy defence beginning in India next month. Peter Siddle and Xavier Doherty were not included while John Hastings, the Victoria allrounder, was named along with the injured duo of Ricky Ponting and Michael Hussey.

Hussey picked up a serious hamstring tear in Sunday's ODI win over England, while Ponting is recovering from surgery to his little finger. The pair will not appear in the remainder of the one-day series, with the other 13 members of the World Cup squad selected to finish the seven-match campaign.

Andrew Hilditch, the chairman of selectors, did admit some doubt over Hussey getting to the World Cup. "It is a severe injury and we will make a decision closer to departure date," he said.

Hussey and Ponting do have plenty of time to recover before the tournament reaches the knockout stages, with the quarter finals beginning on March 23. Australia's opening match of the campaign is against Zimbabwe in Ahmedabad on February 21.

While Australia are now mid-table in Tests, they remain the No.1 side in the 50-over game and are aiming for their fourth consecutive World Cup win. Seven players who were part of the unbeaten 2007 success in the West Indies will attempt to achieve more glory.

Lee and Tait are returning from long-term elbow injuries but the selectors have kept faith in their speed, bodies and shock value. Lee, 34, captured two wickets on Sunday in his first ODI since October 2009 as he reached 150kph, while Tait missed the game with a back injury. Mitchell Johnson and Doug Bollinger are the other quicks in the unit, with Hastings and Shane Watson enlisted to provide support.

"Hastings has been selected as he adds variety to our bowling options," Hilditch said. "We feel his bowling is well suited to subcontinent conditions and his all-round skills with bat and ball add to the flexibility of the squad."

Nathan Hauritz is the sole recognised spinner but Steven Smith and David Hussey will also be relied on to deliver regular overs. "Nathan is our preferred spin option and his one-day record in India is excellent," Hilditch said. Hauritz has played seven 50-over games in the country, taking four wickets at 70.75. Hilditch's panel did not pick Hauritz during the entire Ashes campaign but now he expects the offspinner to "be an important part of our bid for this fourth World Cup".

David Hussey's mix of hard-hitting batting and part-time offspin have earned him a trip, despite him playing his first one-day game in more than a year on Sunday. "We feel he will play a crucial role for us in sub-continental conditions," Hilditch said. Tim Paine is the back-up wicketkeeper and will also be a standby batsman.

Australia squad Shane Watson, Brad Haddin (wk), Ricky Ponting (capt), Michael Clarke, Michael Hussey, David Hussey, Cameron White, Tim Paine (wk), Steven Smith, John Hastings, Mitchell Johnson, Nathan Hauritz, Brett Lee, Shaun Tait, Doug Bollinger.

Alam century seals title for HBL

Opener Aftab Alam anchored Habib Bank Limited's chase of 235 on the final day with a patient century, amid support from captain Hasan Raza and Fahad Masood, to set up their first title win since 1977-78. Pakistan International Airlines required seven wickets on the final day but Alam's determined innings helped tilt the scales from a precarious 56 for 3 on the third day to inflict on the opposition their first defeat in the competition in a game that mattered the most.

Alam and Masood, the two overnight batsmen, consolidated the advantage their team had enjoyed at stumps the previous day, working the ball around comfortably for singles and finding the occasional boundary. In the morning session, Alam collected fours through fine leg, and then drove Shoaib Malik to the deep-cover fence. Masood was less fluent, but the steady flow of ones and twos thwarted PIA's hopes of putting HBL's batsmen under pressure. Their only hope was to pick up wickets, and urgently given HBL were progressing smoothly. They got a lucky break when Masood, aiming for a single to mid-off, was caught short of his crease by a direct hit that made it 146 for 4. The elation, though, was short lived.

The scoring rate actually picked up with the arrival of Raza to the crease, and Alam continued to be ruthless when an opportunity was on offer. Raza kicked off his innings in streaky fashion, with an edge to the third-man boundary, but got into his groove soon after, punching Anwar Ali through the covers. Alam eventually ceded floor to Raza, giving him most of the strike and reaching his fifth first-class century in the process. He had batted in the middle order in the first innings and his promotion to the top in the second proved decisive.

Raza, meanwhile, stepped up by targeting the seamer Aizaz Cheema, striking him for two fours and then tore into him with victory in sight, reaching his half-century with three boundaries in four balls. Though Alam had been dismissed by then, Raza's attack hastened PIA's downfall. Kamran Hussain finished the game off in the 79th over, driving Kamran Sajid to score the winning runs.

The day-night game was an unprecedented event in Pakistan first-class cricket and was not without controversy. The match was hotly-contested with lots of chatter between the players and even accusations of ball-tampering; the trigger for the uneasy atmosphere on the field, though, appeared to have been poor umpiring for a major part of the game.

No Rohit Sharma in World Cup squad

The exclusion of middle-order batsman Rohit Sharma was the major surprise in India's 15-man World Cup squad announced in Chennai. The other bone of contention had been the second specialist spinner's slot, and the selectors have picked both offspinner R Ashwin and legspinner Piyush Chawla, ahead of left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha. Most of the other names in the squad were along expected lines.

India's major concern ahead of the team selection was the injuries to four first-choice players - Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir and quick bowler Praveen Kumar - but the selectors picked all four, confident that they will be fit in time for the tournament which starts on February 19.

India's bowling attack for the World Cup will be significantly different from their standard Test attack, with only Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan Singh being named. The fast bowling pair of Sreesanth and Ishant Sharma, and Ojha are all excluded while Munaf Patel, who helped India to a series-levelling victory over South Africa on Saturday, has found a place as the fourth seamer.

The selectors have gone in for a well-stocked slow bowling department, expecting traditional subcontinent tracks for the World Cup. Besides Harbhajan, there are two specialists in Ashwin and Chawla, an allrounder in Yusuf Pathan besides the part-time offerings of Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina and Virender Sehwag.

More to follow

Squad: MS Dhoni (capt & wk), Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Virat Kohli, Yusuf Pathan, Harbhajan Singh, Praveen Kumar, Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra, Munaf Patel, Piyush Chawla, R Ashwin

Misbah, Younis give Pakistan slender lead

Misbah-ul-Haq quelled a threatening spell of reverse swing early on the third morning, before dictating terms against New Zealand's seamers, to drive Pakistan to a 20-run lead as the wind subsided for the first time at the Basin Reserve. Pakistan's progress was based on Misbah's 142-run stand with Younis Khan, during which New Zealand's attack seemed to have run out of ideas. Younis' exit for 73 - the seventh umpiring error in the match, without counting missed no-balls - sparked a resurgence from the home side. After tea, they attacked with Daniel Vettori's turn and Chris Martin's bounce to skittle out Pakistan's lower half for the addition of just 52, including Misbah on 99. New Zealand's openers played out the last five overs of the day without damage to leave the game even at stumps.

Before their inspired burst in the final session, New Zealand were surprisingly subdued through the day, barring a lively opening burst from Martin. He began with a swerving bouncer that started well outside off before darting in viciously towards Azhar Ali who had to weave away and drop his wrists. Martin followed that up with a series of reverse-swingers before outwitting Azhar with another sharp lifter that was fended into the slips as it reared up outside off stump. Younis and Misbah also began edgily against the movement before easing into business with a series of sparkling drives as the sun came out and Martin began to lose his sting.

The ball, deemed to be out of shape, was replaced at the stroke of the first hour and reverse swing immediately became conspicuous by its absence. With the pitch not taking much turn, Misbah handled Vettori's drift by lunging forward instead of across and defending from inside the line. New Zealand's main variations had been nullified, and thereafter they were asking to be dominated.

Younis cashed in against a flagging attack, punching a short delivery from Tim Southee square and driving one that was too straight through wide long-on for boundaries. Misbah attacked his opposite number in the lead-up to lunch, pulling out a slog sweep and a lofted on-drive as Pakistan moved past 200.

Soon after the break, Brent Arnel opened with the new ball, running in for a friendly over that underlined New Zealand's lack of intent: it began with a wayward loosener outside off, and included a misdirected bouncer down the leg side. In his second over, Misbah guided Arnel twice through the cordon for boundaries. Martin replaced Arnel and got his inswingers going, but the horse had bolted by then. Younis punched Martin twice down the ground, the first bringing up his half-century and the second, the 100-run stand.

Southee put in a solid effort from the other end, and got the odd legcutter to nip away from the right-handers. Despite being beaten on a couple of occasions, Misbah had the presence of mind to play with soft hands, and his obduracy frustrated Southee who got into a verbal duel with him. Misbah responded with two calmly stroked boundaries through the covers to bring up his fifth successive half-century, and his fifth in six innings since taking over as captain.

Vettori was running out of ideas, and brought James Franklin on, seemingly with the intention of creating a rough outside the right-hander's off stump. Franklin promptly got a warning for running on the pitch, but Vettori began to pose some riddles from the other end. He eventually got past Younis, thanks to drift and a poor call from umpire Rod Tucker, caught close-in on the leg side straight off the pad.

Younis' exit prompted Vettori to finally go on the attack, and he looped them into the rough with fielders crouching close in. Asad Shafiq edged his fifth ball as it ripped away from middle and leg, taking the outside edge on its way into the slips. Vettori also had Adnan Akmal in some strife with well-disguised arm-balls before getting him to top-edge a sweep.

Martin stepped up to support his captain, and bullied Abdur Rehman into submission with bounce, with Pakistan still 22 behind. Umar Gul biffed Pakistan into the lead with a series of middled pulls and slog-sweeps. While the action unravelled at one end, Misbah chugged along towards a hundred that seemed almost inevitable.

He negated Martin's bounce by staying in the crease, and capitalised when there was width to pick up boundaries through the off side. With Misbah a run away from his third ton, Martin landed a couple of balls well outside off before cleverly slanting one back in, to rap him on the move in front of off stump. The innings ended soon after, with Vettori finishing a wicket shy of becoming only the second New Zealander to make a hundred and pick up five in the same match.