New Zealand were 452 for nine on the first day of the first Test against Zimbabwe here on Sunday. Brendon McCullum and Daniel Vettori slammed centuries in the imposing fightback after New Zealand had slumped to 113 for five soon after lunch.
Earlier, New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming and Brendon McCullum pulled their team back from the brink of embarrassment by tea. At the break, the Kiwis were 233-6, with Fleming and McCullum making half centuries and putting on 120 for the sixth wicket.
Their efforts gave New Zealand a breathing space after the other five batsmen managed only 68 runs between them. Fleming had been closing in on his 6,000 runs in Test cricket after recording his 39th half century.
But he was out for 73 with the final ball of the second session - 15 short. He survived a couple of near misses along the way. Craig Wishart couldn't quite hold a difficult catch when he was on 33 and he survived a close run-out attempt when he had scored 72.
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NEW ZEALAND (1st Innings):
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J. Marshall c Taibu b Mahwire 5
L. Vincent c Carlisle b Mahwire 13
H. Marshall lbw b Mpofu 20
S. Fleming c Carlisle b Mpofu 73
N. Astle c Taylor b Streak 23
S. Styris run out (Mazakadsa) 7
B. McCullum c Cremer b Mahwire 111
D. Vettori b Streak 127
J. Franklin b Cremer 13
S. Bond not out 41
C. Martin not out 4
EXTRAS: (B-1,LB-7, W-2, NB-5) 15
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TOTAL: (for 9 wickets, 89 overs) 452
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FALL OF WICKETS: 1-21, 2-24, 3-63, 4-104, 5-113, 6-233, 7-309, 8-369, 9-432.
BOWLING: Streak 23.4-5-102-2, Mahwire 26-4-115-3 (2nb, 2w), Mpofu 16.2-1-100-2 (2nb), Cremer 22-0-113-1 (1nb), Taylor 1-0-14-0
ZIMBABWE: B. Taylor, N. Ferreira, D. Ebrahim, H. Masakadza, C. Wishart, S. Carlisle, T. Taibu (captain), N. Mahwire, A. Cremer, C. Mpofu, H. Streak.
UMPIRES: Darrell Hair (AUS), Mark Benson (ENG)
TV UMPIRE: Kevin Barbour
MATCH REFEREE: Chris Broad (ENG)