Yousuf helps Pakistan claim lead

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Mohammad Yousuf's patient 89 kept New Zealand at bay for most of a stop-start day.

This chameleon game changed character yet again late on the fourth day. Mohammad Yousuf was serenely moving towards what seemed an inevitable hundred when he fell to crack open the game to several thrilling possibilities, according to website cricinfo.
New Zealand hold the advantage and are the frontrunners to pull off something special in Napier, but with its frail batting line-up pitted against the mercurial Pakistan bowling, who knows what can happen if the target is around 200.
On a stop-start day, interrupted constantly by rain, Pakistan had threatened to shoot themselves in the foot by gifting wickets to Martin Guptill, before they rallied through a 128-run stand between Yousuf and Faisal Iqbal.
The sun kept peeping in and out of the clouds, Faisal alternated between nervous edginess and flamboyance, but Yousuf draped an elegantly solid hue on proceedings. His innings appeared to have seemingly pushed Pakistan towards safety when he fell to make matters more interesting.
Though the morning's play was filled with drama it was freakish in nature, and it was in the afternoon that the real contest between bat and ball began. Iain O'Brien and Daniel Vettori bowled as well as they could on a flat pitch but Yousuf stood firm.
There was one piece of action which perfectly caught the spirit of the contest between the two: Yousuf came down the track but Vettori cleverly slowed the pace and shortened the length. However, Yousuf waited to adjust to the lack of pace, and though he couldn't reach the pitch of the ball, he didn't panic or lunge out; instead he almost nonchalantly wafted through the line and found enough power and timing to lift it over long-on.
Vettori used the crease well, varied his pace and utilised the arm-ball intelligently but Yousuf handled him with aplomb. He moved forward or back as the length demanded and picked the arm ball on most occasions.
Faisal was nowhere near as solid as Yousuf but he fought on to score a valuable fifty. His iffy footwork meant he was caught on the crease a few times and was forward when he should have been back, but he soldiered on. He was even dropped on 48 when he edged O'Brien straight to Ross Taylor, but he punctuated his nervy shots with a few extravagant cover drives. It was an innings in which he delighted and frustrated equally before he fell, guiding Martin to Taylor, who held on this time.
Umar Akmal walked in and played a breezy innings filled with cuts, pulls and a few plays and misses.It also contained the most audacious shot of the day - a delightfully flamboyant and whippy bottom-hand-powered six over long-on off Darryl Tuffey. The afternoon, though, was a calm affair when compared with the events that preceded it.
Pakistan 223 and 347 for 4 (Yousuf 89, Faisal 67, Butt 66, Farhat 61) lead New Zealand 471 by 99 runs.