Black Caps dominate with bat and ball
Bowlers follow example set by Williamson and Nicholls
For years, the Black Caps’ test cricket road trips usually ended poorly, but this time, they were on the road to riches.
Before tea on day five, the Black Caps needed just four more wickets to claim their first away series victory against Pakistan in 49 years.
Chasing 280 for victory, Pakistan were in dire straits at 126-6, with Babar Azam (34 not out) only having a weak tail order for support as they faced another 32 overs to save an unlikely draw.
Victory for the Black Caps would be just their 15th away test series win — and just their second against a major nation since 1986.
In fact, this century, the Black Caps have only claimed away test series victories over Zimbabwe, Bangladesh, and the West Indies, and considering that Pakistan had trounced Australia in their previous test series, it would be a remarkable accomplishment.
In their first test series under coach Gary Stead, the Black Caps bounced back from a horror second test defeat — and from a dire position early in the third — to dominate Pakistan early on the final day and set themselves up for glory.
The path to victory started with a sensational partnership between Kane Williamson and Henry Nicholls, who rescued the hosts from what was looking like a hefty defeat.
Joining forces at 60-4, still trailing Pakistan by 14 runs, the pair added 212 — the highest fifth-wicket partnership for the Black Caps against Pakistan. When Williamson departed on the first ball of the final day, for 139, Nicholls pushed on, playing aggressively as he brought up his third test century.
He ended unbeaten on 126, with the big hitting of Colin de Grandhomme (26 from 19) and Southee (15 not out from 10) seeing 81 runs added in just nine overs, before the Black Caps declared at 353-7, setting Pakistan 280 to win in 79 overs.
It was a smart declaration — giving Pakistan enough temptation to chase for the victory but some stellar bowling made sure they never had the chance.
Southee struck first, with a beautiful delivery that straightened and beat the outside edge of Mohammad Hafeez. In his last test innings, Hafeez was gone for eight, and a similarly excellent ball got rid of Azhar Ali soon after. Pakistan’s star batsman this series, Ali was done in by a de Grandhomme delivery which caught him on the back foot, and he edged a fend through to BJ Watling behind the stumps.
After that, it was the spinners’ time to shine. Will Somerville continued a standout debut by taking two wickets in two balls, removing Haris Sohail — caught at slip — and Asad Shafiq — gloving a ball down the legside to Watling.
Ajaz Patel then got in on the fun, ending the resistance of Imam ul-Haq with a classic off-spinner’s wicket, getting ul-Haq to push forward, catching the inside edge, and offering a simple catch to Henry Nicholls at short leg.
Reduced to 55-5 at lunch, Pakistan only had one hope left — a partnership between their last recognised batsmen, Babar Azam and Sarfraz Ahmed.
Williamson persisted with his spin combination. Patel created the most drift and turn of all the spinners in the test, and worked well in tandem with Somerville, who offered up different speeds and lengths.
After 15 consecutive overs of spin, Somerville broke through, firing through a quicker delivery — too quick for Sarfraz, who was caught on the back foot and couldn’t chop down in time to avoid being bowled.
That exposed the tail, with Bilal Asif hanging tough alongside Azam, but it would have taken a remarkable resistance to deny the Black Caps a famous win.