McCullum torments Pakistan in warm-up match

WELLINGTON: A quickfire 206 by Brendon McCullum put the New Zealand XI in a commanding position at 342-4 at the close of the first day of their first Test warm-up match against Pakistan in Whangarei on Sunday.
The Pakistan and New Zealand sides are at near full strength and have agreed to use 12 players for this match ahead of the two-Test series which starts on January 7 in Hamilton.
McCullum, who did not play in the recent Twenty20 series won by New Zealand 2-1, belted 20 fours and five sixes after skipper Daniel Vettori won the toss and elected to bat on the new Cobham Oval wicket.
McCullum brought up the double century in style with a six, scoring 200 off only 210 balls and featured in a 162-run opening partnership with Tim McIntosh (51) before being caught by Umar Gul off Asad Shafiq to end a 218-ball stand.
BJ Watling was out for 24 and Kane Williamson 16 with James Franklin (17) and Dean Brownlie (11) the unbeaten batsmen at stumps.
Wahab Riaz, Saeed Ajmal, Abdur Rehman and Gul have taken a wicket each for Pakistan.
McCullum, who has returned to play after a recurring back injury said he is feeling fit after his absence and did not consider retiring.
“Hopefully I can can carry this form into series. I feel pretty good, a period away keeps you hungry and I’m looking forward to making a contribution in the Test series.”
It was another chance to develop his partnership with Tim McIntosh as test openers that could not be passed up, he added.
“We have had some we had some good ones (opening partnerships) and a couple of not so good ones so it’s a good opportunity to work on it. “Any chance to build on it has got to be taken especially with an attack like this one.”
Score board
New Zealand Cricket XI won toss
New Zealand Cricket XI 1st innings
T G McIntosh c Azhar Ali b Abdur Rehman 51
B B McCullum c Asad Shafiq b Umar Gul 206
B J Watling c Younis Khan b Wahab Riaz 24
K S Williamson c Adnan Akmal b Saeed Ajmal 16
J E C Franklin not out 17
D G Brownlie not out 11
Extras (lb1, w5, nb11) 17
Total (4 wickets, 86 overs) 342
Did not bat: *D L Vettori, †R A Young, T G Southee, T A Boult, B J Arnel, C S Martin
Fall: 1-162, 2-248, 3-291, 4-321
Bowling: Sohail Tanvir 12-2-48-0 (2nb); Tanvir Ahmed 13-2-80-0 (4nb, 1w); Umar Gul 14-2-52-1 (3nb); Wahab Riaz 16-3-51-1 (2nb, 4w); Abdur Rehman 18-3-56-1; Saeed Ajmal 13-2-54-1
Pakistan
Saeed Ajmal, Taufeeq Umar, Younis Khan, Azhar Ali, *Misbah-ul-Haq, Asad Shafiq, †Adnan Akmal, Abdur Rehman, Tanvir Ahmed, Wahab Riaz, Umar Gul, Sohail Tanvir
Umpires: B G Frost and C B Gaffaney