Taylor: Honours even after first day
Ross Taylor feels the first Test between New Zealand and Pakistan is evenly poised going into day two in Dunedin.
New Zealand were put into bat after losing the toss and ended the day on 276 for six thanks largely to Taylor's third-wicket stand of 117 with Martin Guptill (60) and the unbeaten 65-run partnership for the seventh wicket between Daniel Vettori and Brendon McCullum.
"The partnership of Daniel and Brendon has probably put us back in the match a bit," Taylor said after the pair came together at 211 for six.
Reeling at 27 for two after Tim McIntosh's first-ball dismissal and Daniel Flynn's early departure, Taylor and Guptill dug in to haul New Zealand back into the match with gritty half-centuries.
Guptill made his highest Test score of 60, eclipsing his previous best of 49.
"I thought he batted very well," said Taylor. "He's had a few starts over his career and it was good for him to go on and get past 50.
"I'm sure he will be disappointed also with getting to 60, doing all the hard work and then getting out.
"Hopefully we can both kick on a bit more in the second innings."
In the last session of the day, Taylor was undone by spinner Saeed Ajmal, who enticed him to edge to Imran Farhat at first slip when he was six runs short of his fifth Test century.
"Obviously the goal as a batsman is to try and get to three figures and to be very close in the end and not close enough is disappointing," the talented right-hander said.
"But I can't really complain too much because the shot I played was a poor shot in the end really."
Taylor was involved in the first use of the new Umpire Decision Review System (UDRS) when Mohammed Asif thought he had him trapped lbw, but Billy Doctrove's original decision was upheld.
"I've seen it since and it was a little bit closer than I thought," Taylor said.
"But when I first got hit I thought it was quite high and I might even have got hit outside the line.
"As it worked out the umpire made the right decision and I'm happy for that."
On the penultimate ball of the day McCullum, who was given out lbw by Simon Taufel off the bowling of Asif, called for a review and had that decision reversed.
"That last decision going our way helped us immensely," Taylor admitted.
Asif, on his return to Test cricket after a two-year absence, had a good day with the ball, taking three for 76.
"I played a few domestic matches and built up confidence and that showed today," he said.
"The second spell the rhythm came back and the balls were going through a good line and length and I just maintained that.
"For the first hour there was a bit of seam but after that the balls were going straight. You needed to pitch the ball in the right area and be accurate."
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