WELLINGTON, DECEMBER 28: New Zealand took a firm grip on the one-off Test against Zimbabwe in Wellington on Thursday on a day ruined by rain and poor light. After declaring at 487 for seven, New Zealand struck twice to claim two Zimbabwean wickets for 48 before bad light stopped play early on the third day. But Zimbabwe captain Heath Streak said he might declare behind the impressive New Zealand total to give his side a chance to win the one-off Test at the Basin Reserve in Wellington. ``We have lost a lot of time in the test, so we may be prepared to declare behind,'' Streak said at the end of the third day, during which only 29 overs were bowled. ``We have still got a lot of work to do. Firstly we've got to avoid the follow-on (288) and get us into a position to declare,'' said Streak. ``Then it will be up to New Zealand to see if they can give us a realistic total on the final day.'' Streak said he was wary of having to spend too long chasing a winning score on the last day on Saturday because of the amount of turn in the wicket which could be exploited by New Zealand spinners Paul Wiseman and Brooke Walker. New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming said his team's initial goal on Thursday was to bat through to between 530 and 550, but this was not possible because of the dismal weather that permitted just four overs in two spells between the showers. No play was possible during the afternoon mid-session. ``Had we been able to go on we could have applied the maximum pressure, but it wasn't to be and we decided we'd lost too much time and it was better to pull out when we did,'' Fleming said. Despite the weather-ruined day, New Zealand still have a stranglehold on Zimbabwe. When Zimbabwe began batting at 5 p.m. after a three hour rain delay, openers Gavin Rennie and Guy Whittle looked fairly comfortable. But at 21 for no wicket, Chris Martin struck. The first Zimbabwean to go was Guy Whittall, who succumbed to a perfect yorker from Martin which whistled through his Defence to bowl him. In the next Martin over, new batsman Stuart Carlisle appeared to stifle a drive off a well pitched-up ball, but only succeeded in hitting the ball to Matthew Horne at short mid-off. Horne parried the ball and caught it at the second attempt. At stumps Gavin Rennie was not out 20 and Alistair Campbell not out 15, and they had to withstand some pressure bowling from spinners Paul Wiseman and Brooke Walker, who were taking advantage of the still dry pitch offering plenty of turn. New Zealand (1st Innings): Horne c Flower b Streak 1; Richardson run out 75; Sinclair lbw Strang 9; Fleming run out 22; Astle c Carlisle b Strang 141; McMillan b Murphy 142; Parore not out 50; Walker c Olonga b Strang 27; Wiseman not out 0; Extras (lb-8, w-5, nb-6, b-1): 20; Total (for 7 wkts decl): 487.Fall of wickets: 1-5, 2-22, 3-67, 4-145, 5-367, 6-426, 7-487.Bowling: Streak 37-10-74-1, Strang 46-16-116-3, Olonga 30-2-105-0, Murphy 46-9-128-1, Whittall 22-6-55-0. Zimbabwe (1st Innings): Rennie batting 20; Whittall b Martin 9; Carlisle c Horne b Martin 0; Campbell batting 15; Extras (b-1, lb-2, nb-1): 4; Total (for 2 wkts): 48.Fall of wickets: 1-21, 2-23.Bowling: Martin 8-6-15-2, O'Connor 3-3-0-0, Wiseman 9-3-16-0, Walker 5-1-14-0.
