Black Caps brace for Pakistan run-feast Pakistan batsman Mohammad Hafeez. The Black Caps have welcomed the presence of Daniel Vettori's aura and experience, but he alone could not contain another impressive Pakistan batting effort on the opening day of the third test, in Sharjah. Opening batsman Mohammad Hafeez hit a magnificent unbeaten 178, carrying his bat through the day as Pakistan reached 281-3. With skipper Brendon McCullum losing another toss, New Zealand immediately lost the initiative in a match they must win to square the series. Pakistan were now targeting a first innings total in excess of 500 as they looked to take the match - and the series - away from New Zealand. The presence of recalled Vettori for his record-breaking 112th test immediately became apparent as New Zealand's three-pronged spin attack combined for 43 overs. Left-armer Vettori, who was used as the first-change bowler, struck in his fourth over to remove Younis Khan lbw and, as promised, had a careful workload of 12 overs, finishing with 1-28, including four maidens. Offspinner Craig was the most successful bowler, claiming the other two wickets for 67 runs. Leg-spinner Ish Sodhi went wicketless, but it's obvious there will be plenty of work ahead for the trio. Craig, who has had a breakthrough year with the national team, was clearly delighted to get an unexpected chance to play a test alongside Vettori and also be part of New Zealand's first three-strong spin attack since 1998. "Awesome," was his simple but succinct description of Vettori's presence. He has a wee bit of an aura about him. It's just nice to have him out on the field and playing a test match with us. He's a quality player and all the boys love having him there. After two long and tiring tests where the Black Caps have slowly but surely improved, Craig said having Vettori in the attack on spin-friendly wickets was a boost. The chance to play three spinners means the boys can chip into some shorter spells and the boys keep a bit fresher a bit longer. I think it's awesome to have three of us there," Craig said. Craig had raised hopes of a bright morning for New Zealand when he deceived the stubborn Shan Masood, clean bowling him with the total at 44. Vettori chimed in with his 361st test scalp and Craig struck again to have Azhar Ali caught by Ross Taylor for 39. But at the other end, Hafeez made batting look simple. Runs flowed from his bat with 23 fours and three sixes. Having missed the second test with a hamstring injury, he simply picked up where he had left off in helping Pakistan win the first test where he scored 96 and an unbeaten 101. The Black Caps bowlers were powerless against him, with Craig admitting as much. I think you have to take your hat off to him. He batted extremely well. He managed to soak up the pressure when we got the ball in the right areas and then when we missed slightly he managed to put it away," Craig said. The worrying thing for the Black Caps was that Hafeez and skipper Misbah-ul-Haq had added an unbeaten 121 for the fourth wicket by stumps in a bright final session for Pakistan. Misbah enjoyed a life on 20 when he was dropped by wicketkeeper BJ Watling and had moved through to 39 by stumps. There is the promise of more on the second day as the Black Caps look to contain the damage. Azhar made it clear Pakistan were eager to cash in and take the game away from the Black Caps with a massive first innings total. It's a good start but we want to make it big. On a good track, you want to bat as long as you can and make at least 500 on this wicket. So our target is at least 500, anything over that will be very good for us," Azhar said. It is very important that when you win the toss and bat first, you make big runs. Fortunately, we had a good start and we want to capitalise on it and tomorrow, hopefully, we continue that. And the partnership going on, we'll hopefully try and make it large and hopefully make a big score in the first innings. That adds up to a tough challenge for the New Zealand bowlers who clearly know what is in front of them. We're not really looking at what we can restrict them to. It's more a case of us going out there tomorrow and implementing our roles as bowlers and what score they get, it what score they get," said a matter-of-fact Craig. He was reasonably happy with his day's work though admitted things could have been better. "On that wicket there was a little bit more of changing pace as well," he said of operating on day one. I've been playing around where I'm letting the ball go on the crease. I've been trying to build pressure for long periods of time. It was nice to get a couple of wickets but a few less runs would have been good as well.