Adrenaline rush inspires Wagner

Neil Wagner had to be reminded he’d just bowled 13 overs on the trot in the afternoon heat of Abu Dhabi in a pressure cooker firsttest finish.

Then the tiredness hit, as he and New Zealand team-mates celebrated their epic four-run victory over Pakistan.

Having reached 150 wickets in his 37th test – only Sir Richard Hadlee in 34 got there quicker of the eight New Zealand bowlers to achieve it – Wagner enjoyed a day with his feet up to reflect on his role in their remarkable victory.

Then it was onto the bus to Dubai to prepare for Saturday’s second test to crank up the impressive engine once again.

‘‘It was pretty hot and with the wicket being slow and flat it did feel like I was tiring a little bit. I tried not to think too much about it or look at the scoreboard or focus on how many overs I’d bowled. When someone mentioned to me afterwards I’d bowled 13 overs all of a sudden I started feeling tired,’’ Wagner said.

‘‘I was going all right. You’re just in a bit of a zone, a bit of a bubble, and you just keep going with adrenaline and thinking about the job and not really thinking about how you’re feeling. It hits you when you go to bed at about 10-11 o’clock at night.’’

Wagner (2-27) again showed his immense value to this side as he charged in and gave the Pakistan batsmen a stern exam, enabling spinner Ajaz Patel to twirl accurately at the other end as captain Kane Williamson put faith in a new go-to duo.

On debut at age 30, the leftarmer bowled 23.4 overs himself for figures of 5-59 and they oversaw a Pakistan lower order crumble. Then the celebrations began.

‘‘Sitting in the changing room looking at everyone’s faces and seeing the joy and relief, and even the surprise at what we’d just achieved was pretty special.

This rates up there quite high in my test career,’’ Wagner said.

‘‘And pretty awesome to see Ajaz Patel come in for his first test – I think it took eight tests before I had my first win – for a guy to come in and play a pretty special part on his debut and enjoy the celebration and see the smile on his face was a pretty cool moment.’’

Coach Gary Stead was a proud man after his first test at the helm as the dressing room heaved.

Henry Nicholls’ and BJ Watling’s gritty 112-run partnership got a prominent mention, then the Patel-Wagner double act.

‘‘The great thing about Ajaz is he’s been calm under pressure and that’s not always easy when you come in for your first test match. He’s got that maturity which has helped him and he’s got a lot of games under his belt and that can’t be underestimated in test cricket,’’ Stead said.

‘‘It was a lion-hearted effort by Neil, who is renowned for that and he did it again for us. It was fantastic to see that bowling partnership, the two of them bowled 24-25 overs in a row together and it was a sterling effort.’’

Stead expects results in the final two tests, in Dubai then back to Abu Dhabi, as the Black Caps chase only their second away series victory against Pakistan.

The first was nearly 50 years ago in 1969 when victory in Lahore gave New Zealand a 1-0 series win.

‘‘You don’t win too many test matches when you score 153 in the first innings. We always had to keep fighting and fighting. My message to the boys was: if we can lose wickets in clumps why can’t we do that to them as well through sustained pressure.

‘‘Pakistan are a good team and hard to beat over here. That’s what makes yesterday really pleasing.

‘‘They’ll be better for it and if they’ve taken us lightly they certainly won’t be now. I expect them to be better and I expect us to get better as well.’’

‘‘When someone mentioned to me afterwards I’d bowled 13 overs all of a sudden I started feeling tired.’’

Neil Wagner