Ross Taylor yesterday shrugged off his eye problems to score a superb unbeaten century as New Zealand set Pakistan a formidable 369-run target to win the second Test.
Taylor finished 102 not out, despite only being cleared to play two days before the Test after scarring on his left eye threatened his vision. He is scheduled to have surgery tomorrow.
New Zealand declared late on the fourth day in Hamilton at 313-5, and Pakistan were one without loss after facing three overs before stumps. Both sides vowed there would be no holding back on the final day, with Pakistan needing to win to keep their world No. 2 ranking and New Zealand looking to improve on seventh place.
“All going well, that last session could be really entertaining,” said Taylor, who was pleased he made the decision to play. “There were definitely thoughts going through my mind not to play, so it was nice to draw on a bit of experience — I’ve been in that situation before — and put the team in a good place.”
“Probably for the past year, for the first five to 10 balls of the innings I haven’t picked up the balls as I would have liked,” he added.
Pakistan’s Mohammad Amir quickly dismissed talk of playing for a draw.
“We like to be among the top teams in the world and we will try our best to retain that,” Amir said. “We will definitely try to go for the target. The first session will be very important.”
The tourists will have to better the record fourth-innings successful run chase at Seddon Park of 212-4 by Australia in 2000 to win today and save the two-Test series.
The highest fourth-innings total on the ground was 344-6 by Sri Lanka in a drawn Test nearly 26 years ago.
New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson declared after a trademark cut to the boundary from Taylor took him to his century.
Earlier Tom Latham laid the foundations for the declaration with a battling 80 in a welcome return to form and Williamson made 42.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
The lights dimmed and the crowd hushed as Karoline Kristensen entered for her performance. However, this was no ordinary Dutch theater: The temperature was 80°C and the audience naked apart from a towel. Dressed in a swimsuit and to the tune of emotional music, the 21-year-old Kristensen started her routine, performed inside a large sauna, with a bed of hot rocks in the middle. For a week this month, a group of wellness practitioners, called “sauna masters,” are gathering at a picturesque health resort in the Netherlands to compete in this year’s Aufguss world sauna championships. The practice takes its name from a
Japanese players are moving to English soccer in record numbers and more look set to follow with clubs attracted by their quality, strong work ethic and value for money. Kaoru Mitoma is the standout talent of five Japanese players in the English Premier League, with eight more in the Championship and two in League One. Liverpool midfielder Wataru Endo, the captain of Japan, believes his compatriots are “being held in higher esteem” by English clubs compared with the past. “The staff at Liverpool ask me about lots of Japanese players, not necessarily with a view to a transfer, but just saying this or
Taiwan yesterday survived Bosnia and Herzegovina to win their Davis Cup World Group I tie at the Taipei Tennis Center. The tight series started on Saturday with world No. 123 Jason Tseng losing 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 to Mirza Basic in the opening singles matchup. However, teammate Tony Wu kept the tie even, dominating world No. 86 Damir Dzumhur 6-2, 6-1. Yesterday, 24-year-old Ray Ho and partner 25-year-old Hsu Yu-hsiou kept up the momentum, making short work of Basic and Nerman Fatic, winning 6-3, 6-4. Tseng then suffered another defeat, losing 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 to Dzumhur in a brutal match that lasted more than two