Scoreboard
New Zealand 1st innings
J. Raval b Yasir
T. Latham c Imam b Yasir
K. Williamson Not Out
R. Taylor b Yasir
H. Nicholls b Yasir
B.J. Watling Run Out
C. De Grandhomme lbw Hasan
I. Sodhi c Sarfraz b Yasir
N. Wagner lbw Yasir
A. Patel lbw Yasir
T. Boult st Sarfraz b Yasir
(3lb 1nb) 4 (all out, 35.3 overs) 90
1-50 Raval, 2-61 Latham, 3-61 Taylor, 4-61 Nicholls, 5-63 Watling, 6-69
Extras: Total: Fall of Wickets:
418 for five declared, opener Tom Latham and Ross Taylor showed a far greater character to finish the day at 131 for the loss of two wickets, both to Shah — putting on an unbroken 65-run stand for the third wicket. Senior pro Taylor, who fell to Shah for no score in the first innings, decided to take the leg spinner on as he dispatched a short delivery over mid wicket for the first six of the Kiwis in this Test far.
“When I came in the morning, I was thinking that I had to take 10 wickets in the match. I didn’t know that I would end up taking 10 wickets in a day, thanks to Allah,” the star of the day said later. de Grandhomme, 7-72 Sodhi, 8-72 Wagner, 9-90 Patel, 10-90 Boult
Mohammad Abbas 9-4-18-0, Hasan Ali 10-5-25-1, Mohammad Hafeez 2-11-0, Yasir Shah 12.3-1-41-8, Bilal Asif 2-1-2-0 New Zealand 2nd innings (follow on)
J Raval st Sarfraz b Yasir 2 T. Latham Not Out 44 K. Williamson c Sarfraz b Yasir 30 R. Taylor Not Out 49
(4b 2lb) 6 (for 2 wkts, 43.0 overs) 131
1-10 Raval, 2-66 Williamson Mohammad Abbas 4-1-11-0, Hasan Ali 5-3-5-0, Yasir Shah 15-2-65-2, Mohammad Hafeez 3-1-6-0, Bilal Asif 14-1-30-0, Haris Sohail 2-0-8-0.
Bowling: Extras: Total: Fall of Wickets: Bowling:
“Tomorrow I will try to help the team get those eight wickets as quickly as we can,” Shah said.
The classy leg spinner now boasts of the following figures: 12.3-1-41-8 and 15-2-65-2 and it’s anybody’s guess as to where he would finish in this Test match.
Excellent drainage system
The odds are very much stacked against the visitors, who are trailing by 197 runs with eight wickets in hands but has two full days to bat through if they want to force the most unlikeliest of draws. There is no forecast of rains after the cloudburst on Sunday night, but they will need an intervention from the rains if they want to carry over the 1-0 lead to the final Test in Abu Dhabi.
As Dubai woke up to a damp morning yesterday, the chances of having any action looked remote. However, once the rains had stopped, the excellent drainage system at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium ensured that the match was delayed by barely an hour. Resuming at an overnight score of 24 for one, Kiwi openers Latham and Jeet Raval carried on with a sense of discipline and took the score past 50 when Raval was bowled for a composed 31 to hand Shah his first wicket.
A scoreline of 50 for one did not look ominous at all but disaster was waiting to strike round the corner. It was the 28th over of the innings when Shah snapped up three wickets (Latham, Ross Taylor and Henry Nicholls) to scar the visitors so badly from which they could never recover during the innings.
Asked whether Shah thinks he is among the world’s best spinners, he said: “I just concentrate on my own game. I plan for every match and every series. I only focus on my own game. I don’t think too much about the other spinners. I just try to help my team win matches,” he added.