Karachi: The first Test of the new year produced one of the most thrilling and exciting finishes in the history of Test cricket when New Zealand fell short of victory by one wicket, while Pakistan were left 15 runs shy of ending their eight-match win drought at home.
Starting the day at the National Bank Cricket Arena on Friday at none for two in pursuit of the 319 runs target, Pakistan plunged into deep crisis at 80 for five before Sarfaraz Ahmed and Saud Shakeel, and then Sarfaraz and Salman Ali Agha put them back in the driver’s seat as Pakistan reached 273 for six.
However, Pakistan slipped to 287 for nine within a space of 29 balls before the last pair of Naseem Shah and Abrar Ahmed survived 21 deliveries when the umpires called off the match due to bad light with three overs still remaining. When the match ended, Pakistan were 304 for nine with Naseem on 15 from 11 balls and Abrar on seven from 13 balls.
Interestingly, Pakistan were frustrated in the first innings by New Zealand’s last pair of Matt Henry and Ajaz Patel, who had put on 104 runs. Pakistan settled that score when Naseem and Abrar denied New Zealand their first victory since 1996 when Lee Germon’s New Zealand had defeated Saeed Anwar’s Pakistan by 44 runs in Lahore.
The result meant the two-Test series ended in a scoreless draw, first time a series between the two sides had produced such a result since 1988-89.
While Michael Bracewell was the star for New Zealand when he took four for 75, the hero and star of the fifth day was undoubtedly Pakistan’s Sarfaraz.
The wicket keeper-batsman scored a magnificent 118 from 176 balls in just under five hours of batting to keep Pakistan in the hunt of victory. The batsman not only scored at will, but his run-scoring also spread the fielders, thus, taking pressure off the close-in fielders.
Such was Sarfaraz’s dominance over the New Zealand bowlers that he scored his first 50 runs from 62 balls, while he took 73 balls to reach his fourth century in 51 Tests.
Sarfaraz had also scored 78 runs in the first innings that deservingly earned him the player of the match. With scores of 86 and 53 in the first Test, he was adjudged player of the series.
Sarfaraz put on 123 runs for the sixth wicket with Saud Shakeel (32), while he added 70 runs for the seventh wicket with Salman (30), PCB reported.
Although Pakistan escaped with a draw, thanks to Sarfaraz, some of their batsmen's stroke-selection left much to be desired. Imam-ul-Haq (12) was bowled after he danced down the track to miss the line of Ish Sodhi’s delivery, Shan Masood (35) unnecessarily hit in the air to be caught off Bracewell, Babar Azam (27) was caught down the leg-side off Bracewell, Saud was caught in the slip off Bracewell while trying to guide the ball and Salman was castled after attempting to hit Henry out of the park.
The action will now move to the ODIs, which will be played on 9, 11 and 13 January at the same venue.
Scores in Brief
New Zealand (1st innings) 449 all-out, 131 overs (Devon Conway 122, Tom Latham 71, Matt Henry 68 not out, Tom Blundell 51, Kane Williamson 36, Ajaz Patel 35, Henry Nicholls 26; Abrar Ahmed 4-149, Naseem Shah 3-71, Salman Ali Agha 3-75) and 277-5d (Tom Blundell 74 not out, Michael Bracewell 74, Tom Latham 62, Kane Williamson 41; Mir Hamza 1-38, Hasan Ali 1-39, Salman Ali Agha 1-42, Naseem Shah 1-43)
Pakistan (1st innings) 408 all-out, 133 overs (Saud Shakeel 125 not out, Imam-ul-Haq 83, Sarfaraz Ahmed 78, Salman Ali Agha 41, Babar Azam 24, Shan Masood 20; Ajaz Patel 3-88, Ish Sodhi 3-95) and 304-9 (Sarfaraz Ahmed 118, Shan Masood 35, Saud Shakeel 32, Salman Ali Agha 30; Michael Bracewell 4-75, Tim Southee 2-43, Ish Sodhi 2-59)