All good fun for Kiwi hitmen

The record-breaking fourth wicket partnership by Stephen Fleming and Craig McMillan which set up one of the more remarkable days in New Zealand cricket history all came down to the pair having some good fun out in the middle.

Fun is not something that is too apparent on the Test scene, especially for New Zealand teams.

But such was the position of absolute dominance over Pakistan that New Zealand achieved, there was the rare opportunity to relax while enhancing the match situation in favour of their own side.

The pair added 147 runs, a record for New Zealand's fourth wicket against Pakistan, and Fleming said: "No disrespect to the Pakistan players, but we really enjoyed it out there today.

"Our plan was to accumulate for the first hour and Mark Richardson was meant to carry us through."

However, Richardson got out in the first over and Fleming came out to join McMillan.

"We did it pretty well, and then we grabbed some momentum. I managed to get to 50 first and that got Craig's nose out of joint and you saw what happened," he said.

What happened was that McMillan got his 50 a minute later and then on a one-man wrecking mission which resulted in him scoring 48 runs in 22 minutes, including a world record 26 runs off an over bowled by Younis Khan.

It set up the biggest winning margin by New Zealand in a Test of an innings and 185 runs.

"It was closest to the most perfect Test you can play," he said.

Apart from some catching lapses on the first day, and some disappointing bowling lines, the Test was the most complete performance he had experienced in his 60-Test career.

With one bad day at the office in the first Test in Auckland, New Zealand got bowled out but on a pitch more like conditions the home team favoured, they had turned the result around.

He wondered if the Pakistanis had been spooked by the pitch, especially after losing the toss. Their batting helped New Zealand's cause, even if the first innings bowling was indifferent.

"The bowling performance in the second innings was a hundred times better.

"The beauty of the first day was it advanced the Test to day three and it worked out very well for us," he said.

The bowlers, especially Daryl Tuffey and Chris Martin, had gained experience in leaps and bounds and had gained the rewards for their hard work.