(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) Having bested Australia some 10 days ago by batting them out of the Test and then wiping them off Pakistan are on the brink of replicating that against New Zealand in this Abu Dhabi Test.
Hafeez celebrates scoring his century.Photo by Shoaib Anwer/ Khaleej Times
Abu Dhabi: As the debate on not enforcing the follow-on being conservative rages on Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq seems to be proving it is an attacking one at the second time of asking.
Having bested Australia some 10 days ago by batting them out of the Test and then wiping them off Pakistan are on the brink of replicating that against New Zealand in this Abu Dhabi Test. If a sizeable 304-run first innings lead wasn’t enough Pakistan decided against enforcing the follow-on and then went on to whip up 175 runs over the course of a session and a half in their second innings.
That left the Black Caps in a black hole and staring at an improbable heist of 480. But they wilted under the sheer weight of that to be left reeling on 174 for 8 still 306 in arrears with a day to go.
Pakistan could have wrapped this up on Wednesday itself but for a stubborn resistance from the tail. Ironically the spinners Mark Craig and Ish Sodhi negated the spin threat of Zulfiqar Babar Yasir Shah and Mohammed Hafeez to see the Kiwis through in fading light. Craig and Sodhi will resume on 27 each after having battled 14 overs and put together an unbeaten 36 for the ninth wicket. New Zealand’s most successful chase was 324 against Pakistan two decades ago in Christchurch but they are nowhere even close to that.
Young Kiwi opener Tom Latham’s exploits seemed to have rubbed off on his captain Brendon McCullum as the latter showed more application than he had done in the first innings. The duo carried New Zealand to 57 their first 50-run partnership in five innings but Latham was caught brilliantly by Yasir Shah off Zulfiqar Babar.
McCullum then left after making 39 leg before to Shah. With Ross Taylor too leg before to Shah the Kiwis were reeling on 69 for three. Kane Williamson and Corey Anderson tried to make a fist of it with a 42-run stand for the fourth wicket but the former got out on Nelson (111). After that it all went south for the Black Caps. Left-arm quick Rahat Ali was a on hat trick after he had dismissed James Neesham and BJ Watling on nought. But Mark Craig managed to deny him. Earlier opener Mohammed Hafeez made up for a missed century in the first innings to work his way to a sixth Test hundred and his first against the Kiwis as Pakistan stepped on the gas.Pakistan resuming on 15 for no loss raced at four an over in the morning session to savour lunch at 128 for one with make-shift opener Azhar Ali the man gone leg before to Sodhi.
Pakistan had gone at a faster clip to cash in 113 runs in the session. Hafeez and Younis Khan then added 70 for the second wicket after which Hafeez and Sarfaraz Ahmed finished on an unbroken 36 for the third.
Pakistan declared just after Hafeez’s ton 24 minutes after lunch.
That Pakistan are on a roll can be summed up from the fact that it was their fifth back-to-back Test innings where they have declared their longest such streak. Pakistan had declared in the first innings of this Test and the last three innings of the preceding series against Australia. The longest sequence is six consecutive declarations by England in 2009.
jameskhaleejtimes.com
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