23 May 2004	Sunday	03 Rabi-us-Saani 1425

LONDON, May 22: Emergency number three Brendon McCullum guided New Zealand to the safety of 134 for one in their second innings at stumps on the third day of the first Test against England at Lord's here on Saturday.

Wicket-keeper McCullum was a Test-best 72 not out and left-handed opener Mark Richardson unbeaten on 46 as New Zealand ended the day with a lead of 79.

Their unbeaten second wicket stand of 127 was a fine performance in particular from the 22-year-old McCullum who came in at seven for one after captain Stephen Fleming fell cheaply.

Richardson had faced 120 balls with five fours but it was McCullum who provided the impetus in a 72-ball stay featuring 12 boundaries.

McCullum was promoted because regular number three Nathan Astle was prevented from batting in his usual spot after being off the field with 'flu during England's innings Saturday.

Earlier, rapid but correct knocks from all-rounder Andrew Flintoff and wicket-keeper Geraint Jones gave England a first innings advantage of 55 as they were bowled out for 441 on a good batting wicket.

The duo added 85 runs in the first after hour lunch to rescue England from the tricky position of 330 for six.

Flintoff made 63 off 85 balls and Jones, in his first England home match, a Test-best 46 in 52 balls.

But after their quickfire seventh-wicket stand of 105 in 115 balls, New Zealand quickly mopped up the tail, with 'golden arm' medium-pacer Scott Styris snapping up two for 11 in 4.3 overs.

In reply, New Zealand lost left-hander Fleming for four when Nasser Hussain took a diving catch at short leg off fast bowler Stephen Harmison.

But so assured was McCullum that even a fully fit Astle, who cannot bat until the fall of the fifth wicket, would have struggled to match the Canterbury right-hander's 54-ball fifty.

While Richardson, who batted over six hours during a first innings 93, played his usual game, McCullum, 22, produced some fine strokes as New Zealand wiped off the deficit without further loss.

McCullum brought up his third half century in his fourth Test with a single off fast bowler Simon Jones.

And a hooked four down to fine leg off Matthew Hoggard gave McCullum, in his seventh innings, his Test-best score, surpassing the 57 he made on debut against South Africa at Hamilton in March.

England stand-in captain Marcus Trescothick brought on Ashley Giles but the left-arm spinner's four overs cost 23.

In the first over after lunch Flintoff uppercut a Daryl Tuffey bouncer over point for six before forcing the paceman off the backfoot for four.

Meanwhile Jones, who made 101 against New Zealand for Kent a week ago in the tourists' final warm-up match before this Test, also kept the scoreboard ticking over in only his second Test.

He used his feet to go down the wicket to Daniel Vettori and loft the left-arm spinner over long-on for six.

As the score mounted, Fleming brought on Styris in a bid to give the batsmen something else to think about.

It was a change that soon yielded a wicket when Jones cut Styris's fourth-ball to Jacob Oram at backward point.

Jones's innings featured one six and six fours with England 416 for seven at that stage.

Flintoff, after striking two sixes and eight fours, fell when he spooned a catch off paceman Chris Martin to Richardson at mid-off.

Styris finished the innings when he had Giles caught at point for 11.

Scoreboard

NEW ZEALAND (1st Innings) 386 (M.H. Richardson 93, C.L. Cairns 82, J.D.P. Oram 67, N.J. Astle 64; S.J. Harmison 4-126).

ENGLAND (1st Innings, overnight 246-2):

M.E. Trescothick c McCullum b Oram 86

A.J. Strauss c Richardson b Vettori 112

M.A. Butcher c McCullum b Vettori 26

M.J. Hoggard c McCullum b Oram 15

N. Hussain b Martin 34

G.P. Thorpe b Cairns 3

A. Flintoff c Richardson b Martin 63

G.O. Jones c Oram b Styris 46

A.F. Giles c Oram b Styris 11

S.P. Jones b Martin 4

S.J. Harmison not out 0

EXTRAS (B-4, LB-18, NB-19) 41

TOTAL (all out, 124.3 overs) 441

FALL OF WKTS: 1-190, 2-239, 3-254, 4-288, 5-297, 6-311, 7-416, 8-428, 9-441.

BOWLING: Tuffey 26-4-98-0 (6nb); Martin 27-6-94-3 (1nb); Oram 30-8-76-2 (3nb); Cairns 16-2-71-1 (7nb); Vettori 21-1-69-2 (1nb); Styris 4.3-0-11-2.

NEW ZEALAND (2nd Innings):

M.H. Richardson not out 46

S.P. Fleming c Hussain b Harmison 4

B.B. McCullum not out 72

EXTRAS (B-1, LB-9, NB-2) 12

TOTAL (for one wkt, 39 overs) 134

FALL OF WKT: 1-7.

BOWLING (to-date): Harmison 12-6-29-1; Flintoff 10-2-26-0; Hoggard 8-1-23-0 (1nb); S.P. Jones 5-1-23-0 (1nb); Giles 4-0-23-0.-Agencies