Azhar keeps Kiwis at bay

– Azhar Ali (above) struck a fighting half-century to help Pakistan recover to 139/3 at close on the second day of the third and final Test against New Zealand in Abu Dhabi yesterday.

It marked a good recovery from 17/2 after Kiwi pace bowler Trent Boult ripped out openers Imamul-Haq and Mohammad Hafeez (above), who later announced his retirement from Test cricket.

Azhar was unbeaten on 62 at the close having shared a dogged, unbroken fourth-wicket partnership of 54 with Asad Shafiq who will resume on 26.

Pakistan are still 135 runs adrift of New Zealand’s first innings 274 in which BJ Watling made a gutsy and vital 77 not out.

The three-match series is tied at 1-1 after New Zealand won the first Test in Abu Dhabi by four runs before Pakistan bounced back with an innings and 16-run win in the second in Dubai.

The 33-year-old Azhar dropped anchor and found the boundary just four times as he crawled through to his 32nd Test half century. His 62 not out was carved painstakingly from 169 deliveries.

Shafiq hit the same number of fours in his 26 which has so far occupied 85 balls.

The Pakistan top order was jolted by Boult’s double strike either side of lunch.

Hafeez has been struggling for form for a while, having made just 66 runs in seven innings since scoring a hundred against Australia in Dubai in October, following his recall to the Test side after a two-year absence.

It was no surprise when Boult had him caught low down at second slip by Tim Southee for a fourth-ball duck in his first over, right before the lunch interval. – AFP