DUNEDIN (New Zealand), Nov 25 Skipper Daniel Vettori fell agonisingly short of his fifth Test century amid fading light and drizzle on Wednesday evening as New Zealand passed 400 in their first innings of the first cricket Test against Pakistan.

Vettori edged Umar Gul to wicket-keeper Kamran Akmal to fall for 99, two balls before players left the field for bad light.

After a rain delay of over three hours, Vettori and Shane Bond returned to battle through six overs with Vettori adding 12 runs before his dismissal. His innings came from 133 balls and included 14 fours.

Earlier, Vettori and Brendon McCullum denied Pakistan easy access to New Zealand tail. Their dogged stand for seventh wicket was finally ended before lunch when McCullum lost his middle stump to an Umar Gul yorker after pair added 168 for seventh wicket.

At lunch New Zealand were 375 for seven, from 211 for six when McCullum and Vettori combined late on Tuesday. Vettori, playing with a bung left shoulder and bruised right elbow, was unbeaten on 84 at end of a session that saw New Zealand add 99 valuable runs.

McCullum, who had a reprieve through umpire decision review system when originally given out leg before wicket to penultimate ball on Tuesday, made most of his good fortune by progressing smoothly from 25 as New Zealand improved from 276 for six.

Pakistan had their moments. Vettori and McCullum were both tickled up by short pitched deliveries during a hostile opening spell by paceman Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Aamir.

Vettori copped two body blows from Asif's third over - including one of his fragile left shoulder that cannoned on to his helmet grill when he was on 47. In next over by Aamir, McCullum was clunked flush on helmet, an impact that required a brief medical check up.

Vettori, unbeaten on 40 overnight, was momentarily rattled by Asif's assault but recovered to notch a rapid 21st test fifty from 63 balls with his eighth boundary. McCullum brought up 100 partnership in same expensive Aamir over and soon after completed his 14th fifty from 98 deliveries, also via an eighth boundary.

Apart from Asif and Aamir's uncomfortable bumper barrage Pakistan attack posed little threat, though McCullum edged aerially through cordon where third slip should have been early on.

Needing a sound beginning after a middle order wobble on Tuesday, Vettori and McCullum clipped 53 runs in first hour before Pakistan captain Mohammad Yousuf lapsed into a defensive mindset.

The McCullum-Vettori stand eclipsed 117 produced for third wicket between Martin Guptill and Ross Taylor - first stage of New Zealand's recovery from a poor start.

Scoreboard

NEW ZEALAND (1st Innings, overnight 276-6)

T.G. McIntosh b Aamir 0
M.J. Guptill c Fawad b Aamir 60
D.R. Flynn c Kamran b Asif 8
L.R.P.L. Taylor c Imran b Saeed 94
P.G. Fulton b Asif 29
G.D. Elliott c Kamran b Asif 8
B.B. McCullum b Umar Gul 78
D.L. Vettori c Kamran b Umar Gul 99
S.E. Bond not out 8
I.E. O'Brien not out 2

EXTRAS (LB-14, W-1, NB-3) 18
TOTAL (for eight wkts, 126 overs) 404
FALL OF WKTS 1-0, 2-27, 3-144, 4-192, 5-210, 6-211, 7-375, 8-402.

TO BAT C.S. Martin.

BOWLING (to-date) Mohammad Aamir 24-3-87-2; Mohammad Asif 31-5-98-3; Umar Gul 34-10-115-2 (3nb, 1w); Saeed Ajmal 37-10-90-1.

PAKISTAN Khurram Manzoor, Imran Farhat, Fawad Alam, Mohammad Yousuf, Umar Akmal, Shoaib Malik, Kamran Akmal, Mohammad Aamir, Umar Gul, Mohammad Asif, Saeed Ajmal.—Agencies