SCOREBOARD
NEW ZEALAND First innings 271 Second innings 313-5dec
PAKISTAN First innings 216 Second innings (target 369) S Aslam c Williamson b Southee ................91 Az Ali b Santner ............................................ 58 B Azam b Santner .........................................16 S Ahmed run out .......................................... 19 Y Khan lbw b Southee .................................. 11 A Shafiq c Nicholls b Henry ......................... 0 M Rizwan not out ..........................................13 S Khan c Nicholls b de Grandhomme ......... 8 M Amir c Watling b Wagner ........................ 0
open up, and push and run in positive fashion, against a New Zealand side who were made to wait 60 overs to find success.
The Black Caps’ bowlers toiled on a surface which had begun as W Riaz c Watling b Wagner .......................... 0 I Khan c Latham b Wagner .......................... 0 Extras (b4 lb3 nb1 w6) ............................ 14 Total (all out, 92.1 overs) ..................... 230 Fall of wickets: 1-131 Az Ali, 2-159 B Azam, 3-181 S Aslam, 4-199 S Ahmed, 5-204 A Shafiq, 6-218 Y Khan, 7-229 S Khan, 8-230 M Amir, 9-230 W Riaz, 10-230 I Khan.
Bowling: T Southee 24 overs 6 maidens 60 runs 2 wickets, M Henry 19 5 38 1, N Wagner 20.1 4 57 3 (nb1 w2), M Santner 16 2 49 2, C de Grandhomme 12 5 17 1, K Williamson 1 0 2 0.
Result: New Zealand won by 138 runs and won series 2-0.
very seamer-friendly but which then held very few demons, apart from the odd ball staying low.
It was spinner Mitchell Santner who was able to get the breakthrough, around half an hour before tea, in his first over in the afternoon session, as he flighted a wide one and had Azhar optimistically cover driving, and playing on to his stumps.
Pakistan went into the final two sessions needing 293 off a minimum of 62 overs - a required rate of 4.73 - and into the last requiring 211 off a minimum of 34 overs at 6.21. But despite all the Twenty20 played now, test cricket is still a very different game, with two bouncers, an over and no field restrictions.
They came out after tea with the intent of throwing the bat, but Santner, with his accuracy, was a man for the situation, and in that first over after the interval he had a repeat of his first dismissal, with Babar Azam (16) playing on.
Soon Tim Southee had Sami holing out to Williamson at midoff, just shy of a maiden ton, before promoted dangerman Sarfraz Ahmed was runout, having jogged a first, turned for the second, then putting in a forlorn dive in the wake of de Grandhomme’s pinpoint throw over the bails.
That was shut-up-shop time for Pakistan, but with the new ball just around the corner, New Zealand still sniffed an opportunity. And just seven balls into the new cherry, it did the trick, with Henry having Asad Shafiq (0) send a leading edge to Henry Nicholls at point.
With six wickets still required and the clock about to tick into the last hour, Southee had Younis Khan(11) padding up to one that kept coming in, and while height looked like it’d save Younis, on his 39th birthday, New Zealand successfully reviewed the not out decision.
With 12 overs remaining, Williamson turned to de Grandhomme, and the hero from the first test produced gold again, as Sohail Khan (8) spooned to Nicholls at cover.
With Wagner brought on at the other end, the gutsy left-armer produced two beauties in three balls to have Mohammad Amir and Wahab Riaz both caught behind for second ball ducks, then in his next over he had Imran Khan short-arm jabbing before Tom Latham pulled in an absolute screamer at short leg to start the celebrations.