Both sides confident of victory in Wellington test

By Greg Stutchbury

WELLINGTON (Reuters) - New Zealand remained confident they could chase down England's target of more than 420 runs to wrap up the second test and series, pace bowler Kyle Mills said after the third day's play on Saturday.

England, who already had a lead of 144 after the first innings, batted all day on Saturday to score 277-9 -- a lead of 421 -- to set New Zealand a daunting task on the final two days.

The highest successful run chase at the Basin Reserve was the 277-3 achieved by Pakistan in Dec. 2003, while the highest fourth-innings total was the 286 by New Zealand against Sri Lanka in Dec. 2006.

New Zealand has twice scored more than 400 in a fourth innings, but lost both matches.

"We feel a tick over 400 is definitely gettable," Mills told reporters. "There's so much time left in the match.

"There's two full days and if we can get a couple of batsmen in and post a good score it's definitely game on because we bat a long way down."

Mills said the wicket had flattened out during the day, which augured well for the New Zealand batsmen on Sunday.

"It definitely flattened out after the first half hour," Mills added. "I walked up to the first drink's break of the day and came to a good batting wicket.