A resolute unbeaten half century by Mark Richardson helped New Zealand recover from a dreadful start to finish a rain-shortened first day in the second Test at 151 for five on Friday.

The hosts were forced to dig in after paceman Shoaib Akhtar had reduced them to one for two wickets immediately after lunch, with the out-of-sorts Lou Vincent and captain Stephen Fleming both failing to trouble the scorers.

As wickets tumbled at the other end, opener Richardson amassed a steady knock of 53 and will be hoping he and Robbie Hart (3 not out) can push New Zealand towards the 200-mark on the second morning.

Bowling menacingly in short spells, the recalled Shoaib also claimed the wicket of Scott Styris for 36, who had figured in a 53-run partnership with Richardson before edging a lifting delivery through to wicketkeeper Moin Khan.

Craig McMillan also participated in a 50-run partnership with Richardson, but shortly after the milestone was reached, he was unlucky to be given out leg before to Shabbir Ahmed.

Television replays revealed that McMillan had got a sizeable piece of bat on ball before it hit the pad.

Richardson thought he had edged a catch to Taufeeq Umar at slip when he was on 45, but after referring the decision to umpire David Orchard, the batsman was allowed to continue.

The opener reached his 17th Test half-century after 179 balls and 262 minutes, hitting four boundaries in the process.

New Zealand elected to bat, giving a debut Test cap to batsman Richard Jones after all-rounder Chris Cairns had withdrawn because of a viral infection.

Pakistan welcomed back Shoaib at the expense of Umar Gul, after the fast bowler convinced selectors he had recovered from a hamstring injury.

The players were only on the field for 17 deliveries before rain brought a premature end to the morning session.

However, it was still enough time for Shoaib to bowl Vincent with a perfect yorker before he trapped Fleming lbw with the first ball after the break.

Jones had looked fairly solid until he played on off the bowling of Abdul Razzaq for 16.

The first Test of the two-match series ended in a draw in Hamilton on Tuesday.

Scoreboard

New Zealand (1st innings):
M.Richardson not out 53
L.Vincent b Shoaib 0
S.Fleming lbw Shoaib 0
R.Jones b Razzaq 16
S.Styris c Moin b Shoaib 36
C.McMillan lbw Shabbir 26
R.Hart not out 3.

Extras: (lb-7, nb-7, w-3) 17

Total: (for five wickets, 71 overs) 151

Fall of wickets: 1-1, 2-1, 3-41, 4-94, 5-145.

Bowling: Shoaib Akhtar 11-4-14-3 (nb-1, w-1), Mohammad Sami 19-9-39-0 (w-1), Shabbir Ahmed 15-3-31-1 (nb-2, w-1), Danish Kaneria 8-3-10-0, Abdul Razzaq 18-3-50-1 (nb-4).

To bat: J.Oram, D.Vettori, D.Tuffey, I.Butler

Pakistan: Inzamam-ul-Haq (captain), Imran Farhat, Taufeeq Umar, Yasir Hameed, Yousuf Youhana, Abdul Razzaq, Moin Khan, Mohammad Sami, Shoaib Akhtar, Shabbir Ahmed, Danish Kaneria.