Corey Anderson offer some respite when he struck just before lunch, dismissing Ahmed Shehzad hit wicket for 176. The opener shaped to pull but missed the ball which copped him in the ear. His bat subsequently hit the stumps. The New Zealanders celebrated; Shehzad writhed on the ground in mental and physical agony.
Azhar Ali was left not out on 73 with Younis Khan joining him.
Tim Southee and Trent Boult again pitched up to make the most of the new ball, dropped in the odd calculated short one, and tested their options bowling around the wicket.
Mark Craig offered flight but, until the final over, neither Shehzad nor Azhar took any of the visitors' bait. They were so assured there was barely a chance to test the vocal chords for an lbw or even achieve a moral victory with one-hand, one-bounce.
McCullum rolled his captain's dice with the fielding positions. He had two short mid-wickets and a silly mid-off for Boult; vice-versa for Southee plus a straight silly mid-on; and a leg slip, short leg and short mid-wicket for Craig's off-spin.
Oddly enough, the most disappointed player was probably not a New Zealander.
Mohammad Hafeez could make a case. He missed an opportunity to gorge after getting out 'cheaply' for 96 yesterday.
The only solution from here for New Zealand appears to be conjuring up a spinning miracle, albeit it requires attacking some of the world's most adept batsmen in the genre with Misbah-ul-Haq to come.
However, the pitch is due to decay.
New Zealand needs a comparable first innings total before placing faith in Craig and Sodhi who have produced credible performances so far.
Otherwise the alternative forecast by Ross Taylor at the first day press conference could come to fruition when he said "it could be a long day tomorrow".
Pakistan 347-2 at lunch on the 2nd day.
- Andrew Alderson travelled to the UAE courtesy of Emirates
