Cricket: McCullum holds glimmer of hope

A ball nicked by Brendon McCullum falls just short of Australian captain Ricky Ponting during the first test in Wellington yesterday. Photo / Mark Mitchell

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New Zealand coach Mark Greatbatch asked for more fight from his batsmen yesterday and he got it in spades.

If they can bat well into the middle session today, an improbable draw could hover into view.

After the indignities of day three, the spirit shown by Daniel Vettori, Brendon McCullum and Daryl Tuffey would have put the glint back into the eye of Greatbatch, who played the most celebrated back-to-the-wall innings in New Zealand cricket history, grafting for 11 hours at Perth on the way to a match-saving 146 not out.

Yesterday's weather-assisted efforts were less epic in scale, but still impressive.

When stumps were pulled early, with bad light and squally showers seeing just 52 overs completed, New Zealand were 369-6. They lead by 67 with a full day remaining.

McCullum (94 not out) would have endured a restless night in sight of his fifth test century, while the laidback Tuffey displayed a complete absence of stress while nonchalantly stroking 23.

Their seventh-wicket stand has reached 60, but it was the partnership previous that demonstrated that New Zealand were not going to lie down and accept their fate.

Starting the day at 187-5, the skipper and his recently deposed deputy mixed resolute defence with hard-hitting, and at times unorthodox, stroke play.

It was batting tailored for the conditions, the state of the match and a tiring attack - it also meant that Tim McIntosh's rearguard on day three was not a lone hand.

"There's some good fight shown, it's great to see," McIntosh said.

"We've given ourselves a good chance to save the test and maybe even get ourselves into a position where we can put them under pressure to possibly even win the test."

While the win seems fanciful, it is a sign of how far the mindset of the side has moved on after a first-innings capitulation. At the same time, there should be no thought that the sins of days two and three have been absolved.

"There's been a few dismissals in a similar fashion that shows we've got work to do before the second test, but there's been an example shown and the way Dan and Baz [McCullum] batted has set a good example for the rest of the innings."

While it would not have been a particularly pleasant experience facing up in a gale, McIntosh acknowledged that the advantage in those conditions lay with the batting side.

With strong winds forecast tomorrow, it will not be much easier for the tourists.

Unless you were an Australian fielder rugged up against the gale-force northerlies that ripped down Cambridge Tce, the Vettori-McCullum 126-run partnership (they passed the sixth-wicket record against Australia, 110 set by Stephen Fleming and Chris Cairns on this ground in 2000) was gripping viewing.

Australia had half chances, but for the most part the luck ran with the home side.

Mitchell Johnson spilled a return catch off Vettori on 60 and a McCullum edge dropped just short of Ricky Pointing in the slips on 38. Then there was that leg before appeal.

On 52, McCullum padded up, a la Ross Taylor, to a ball from Nathan Hauritz that gripped in the footmarks.

He was lucky to be given the benefit of the doubt by Asad Rauf, even luckier that the automated ball-tracking cameras used to help adjudicate leg before wicket referrals had been blown off track by the wind.

The tireless Hauritz finally enticed a false stroke with the total on 309, when Vettori dragged a sweep back on to his stumps.

With Tuffey on a pair and very little to follow, it could have been a similar situation to the first innings when the last four wickets fell for nine runs.

Tuffey entered and looked utterly untroubled, and when McCullum lifted Johnson out of the ground and on to Rugby St, it was a signal there was plenty more fight.

After several stoppages, play was finally called at 5.55pm, New Zealand had a puncher's chance of getting out of a test they had no business being in for three days.

We knew all about the thoughts of Greatbatch yesterday, they'd be worth a penny today, too.