KEY POINTS:
It was a familiar story as New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori stood firm to rescue his team from cricketing calamity here today.
In similar vein to last month's test victory in Bangladesh when he contributed 131 runs and nine wickets, Vettori calmed New Zealand's second innings on the third day of the four-day tour match against a young New South Wales side.
After mopping up the NSW first innings for 361 to end with figures of four for 71, Vettori strode on to the Sydney Cricket Ground with his side teetering at 35 for four, still 60 short of making the hosts bat again.
When stumps were drawn early in the gathering gloom he was still there, unbeaten on 61 as New Zealand reached 157 for five for an overall lead of 62.
More is required tomorrow from Vettori and his vice-captain Brendon McCullum, who is on five not out, as New Zealand seek to avoid a third consecutive defeat to NSW after 1997-98 (by an innings and 95 runs) and 2004-05 (by nine wickets).
New Zealand badly needed Vettori's steadying influence after a second consecutive top-order collapse while McCullum (back) and Jesse Ryder (illness) both couldn't bat higher than No 7 due to their absences in NSW's innings.
McCullum again sat out the early part of day three after suffering back spasms, handing Aaron Redmond the gloves, while Ryder made a brief appearance in the field after he remained at the team hotel yesterday.
It meant the tourists were down to 11 fit players, with Gareth Hopkins and Peter Fulton not arriving until Monday, and coach John Bracewell again donned the whites to run drinks and protective gear to the middle.
NSW allrounder Moises Henriques then threatened to embarrass the tourists ahead of the first test against Australia starting in Brisbane on Thursday as he took all five wickets to fall, four to catches behind the wicket.
Henriques began the slide when opener Jamie How was adjudged leg before wicket for nought by debut umpire Gerard Abood just before lunch.
How, who plundered his highest first-class score of 170 in New Zealand's first innings, was well forward into his defensive shot and there appeared to be some doubt.
The next three batsmen were all caught behind - Redmond pushing forward on 13, Ross Taylor hooking for 18 and the elevated Kyle Mills prodding defensively for nought.
It left Redmond worryingly short of runs heading to Brisbane after he scored five in the first innings, while Taylor again got two good starts here but perished to loose shots.
At least Daniel Flynn banked some time at the crease, making 55 in 140 minutes, as he helped fellow left-hander Vettori add a crucial 113 for the fifth wicket on a slow pitch.
Flynn pulled a short delivery from legspinner Steven Smith to the boundary to reach 50, but soon afterwards he drove at Henriques and was caught at second slip to end his 123-ball innings which included seven boundaries.
Flynn said despite their struggles on a slow, variable surface today there was still a feeling New Zealand could produce a confidence-boosting win tomorrow.
"Definitely. Tomorrow morning we've got to bat well and go from there. If we can get a lead of 200 that'll be tough to chase out there," he said.
He admitted the first three days had not been ideal from a test viewpoint but their confidence remained.
"We probably haven't made the most of it but the guys are doing a lot of work on their games at the moment so hopefully we're saving the runs up for the first test.
"We can definitely compete (with Australia), we know we've got the ability, we just need to put it on the park."
Vettori employed the sweep to good effect against the three NSW spinners but it was a largely patient knock.
At stumps he'd batted 148 minutes, faced 113 balls and hit just three fours.
Ryder is expected to bat tomorrow after he spent nearly two days suffering from a mystery bug which forced him to be quarantined from his teammates and placed on an intravenous drip.
New Zealand needed 20 overs to finish the NSW innings this morning, with Vettori taking the final three wickets to fall.
Iain O'Brien continued his solid recent form to end with three for 73 while senior paceman Chris Martin took two for 65 off 20 overs in an encouraging return after he missed the Bangladesh tour due to a hamstring strain.
- NZPA
