(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) New Zealand wicketkeeper-batsman Bradley-John Watling who scored a patient 39 agreed with Babar.
Zulfiqar Babar tosses up the ball in the second Test at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. Photo by Shihab/ Khaleej Times
Dubai: Even after working hard for 45 overs on a not-so-helpful wicket Zulfiqar Babar was still in high spirits. New Zealand’s big total on the board and the loss of two quick wickets at the fag end of the day didn’t seem to dent the confidence of a player who is beginning to bloom at international level at the age of 35.
Babar kept on bowling a tight line on a pitch that rarely gave the hint of turn against the determined Black Caps to return with four wickets. Despite his efforts New Zealand were sitting pretty scoring 403 and removing both the Pakistani openers to reduce them to 34 for two at stumps on Day Two. But such was the confidence of Babar that he believed Pakistan could still get a lead of at least 200 runs in this Test match.
“No doubt it (the pitch) will help the spinners more now but our batsmen are in great form” the affable Pakistani said after the end of second day’s play in the second Test at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Tuesday.
“Yes we lost our openers early but that can happen after two long days on the field. But I am confident because of the form our middle-order batsmen are in. They should be able to give us a lead of around 200 runs. “It will be difficult to bat last on this wicket. If we get a substantial lead we will try to win the game with our spin.”
Babar said it would be wrong to blame the Pakistan bowlers for the big Kiwi total. “Considering the kind of wicket we have here in Dubai and the fact that New Zealand won the toss and opted to bat I think we bowled well especially our fast bowlers worked really hard to give us support. They bowled a very good line on a slow wicket.
“All our bowlers are inexperienced at Test level but they have all played first class cricket for a long time. So they have used that experience here. Yasir was really good with the ball. You needed a lot of passion on a wicket like this and we showed plenty of that. We gave them only 160 runs today in 69 overs and so that shows how well we bowled.”
New Zealand wicketkeeper-batsman Bradley-John Watling who scored a patient 39 agreed with Babar.
“After getting 243 on Day One we had to get at least 400. But it wasn’t easy out there they bowled really well. It was difficult to score off their spinners” Watling said.
“It was a good effort by Mark Craig and we managed to get 400 on the board which is decent and to pick up a couple of wickets was very pleasing. It was a pretty good day in the end.”
Watling also praised the tailenders’ efforts after New Zealand lost three quick wickets in the morning. “To get those 150 runs with the tail was very crucial. Sodhi’s innings was once again very important. It has put us in a decent position but there is still lot of hard work to be done over the next few days.
“There is a little bit more bounce and pace on this wicket. I think both our spinners will enjoy that. Tomorrow is a big day for us as we have to try to make our advantage count.”
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