Cricket: Kiwis quick to win

Pakistan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 344 and 179

New Zealand . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .200 and 277-4

New Zealand win by five wickets

THANKS to Shane Thomson's straightforward thinking, New Zealand survived one moment of doubt on the fifth morning to win the Third Test by five wickets, writes Henry Blofeld from Christchurch. They needed 47 more runs to beat Pakistan and scored them after 53 minutes' play.

Pakistan took the wicket of Bryan Young in the third over but Thomson decided that careworn defence could easily be counter-productive.

He reached a well-deserved hundred with a hook off Wasim which went an inch or two over the wicketkeeper's gloves, and then he set about the bowling to ensure victory.

PAKISTAN - First Innings 344 (Basit Ali 103, Saeed Anwar 69).

NEW ZEALAND - First Innings 200 (A H Jones 81; Waqar Younis 6-78).

PAKISTAN - Second Innings 179 (Basit Ali 67; D K Morrison 4-66).

NEW ZEALAND - Second Innings

B A Young b Wasim. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120

B R Hartland c Inzamam b Wasim. . . . . . . . . . 10

A H Jones run out. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26

* K R Rutherford lbw b Wasim. . . . . . . . . . . 13

M J Greatbatch c Inzamam b Waqar. . . . . . . . . .1

S A Thomson not out. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120

T E Blain not out. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11

Extras (nb 18, lb 5). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Total (for 5). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 324

Fall: 1-22 2-76 3-119 4-133 5-287.

Bowling: Wasim 38-6-105-3; Waqar 27-6-84-1; Aamir Nazir 16-0-59-0; Akram Raza 19-5-49-0; Aamir Sohail 2-1-5-0; Salim Malik 4-1-13-0; Anwar Saeed 1-0-4-0.

Umpires: K T Francis and S Dunne.