Scoreboard
New Zealand clinched their first away-series victory against Pakistan since 1969 with an authoritative 123-run win at the Shaikh Zayed Stadium yesterday.
The hosts’ batsmen showed no spine and were bundled out for 156 in 56.1 overs after the Black Caps posted an improbable target of 280 for the win with more than a session remaining.
Pakistan were on the mat straight away as they lost wickets in a heap and were reduced to 55-5 by lunch. And with 58 overs left to survive in the day, a defeat was on the cards.
“It was a fantastic series to be a part of,” said a beaming New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson. “Obviously to go 1-1 and then have a deciding match that goes five days, with both teams in with a chance of a result on the last day, that proves it was a special series.
“Certainly, from our prospective to have won the series against a side like Pakistan who are formidable on these conditions is quite special.”
Tim Southee dealt a decisive blow in the first over of the Pakistan innings by getting one through the defences of the retiring Mohammad Hafeez.
Then, Colin de Grandhomme got the centurion from the first innings, Azhar Ali, caught behind for five and off-spinner William Somerville then sent Haris Sohail and Asad Shafiq packing of successive deliveries. Ajaz Patel joined the party by removing Imam-ul-Haq on the stroke of lunch and Pakistan’s fate then hung on the shoulders of Babar Pakistan skipper Sarfraz Ahmad, following their 2-1 Test series defeat against New Zealand, accepted that the pressure that comes from losing a series like this definitely makes him consider if he is the right man to lead the side in Tests.
“When such a setback happens then one thinks on those lines,” admitted Sarfraz, who has now lost four and won two in seven Test since last year. But before an important tour of South Africa, if you think like that, then it’s not beneficial for the team. “If because of me there are mistakes and if the Pakistan team is not winning because of me, then I will think of getting away from it. If there is anyone else who is better for captaincy of the Pakistan team, then I will do that.” The skipper accepted that the home loss ahead of a tough away series against South Africa was shattering. “Yes, it hurt,” he said. “That’s a very disappointing series for us, we had our chances but we could not grab them. If you talk of the first Test, we bowled them out for a low score but did not take a big lead. Here too we did not take a big lead and had to pay for that.” Sarfraz added that the loss was a collective responsibility and there was no point blaming coach Mickey Arthur or batting coach Grant Flower.
Azam and skipper Sarfraz Ahmad.
Babar top scored with 51 but he was not really in control as he had got four lives during that knock. Sarfraz tried to counter attack and scored 28 and was involved in a 43run partnership for the sixth wicket with Babar before Somerville bowled him. The tail again showed very little interest in wagging and was in and out in a flash.
Both spinners Somerville and Patel finished with three wickets each. Southee also had three against his name.
Special performance
Williamson, who had rated his team as an inexperienced side at the start of the series, hailed his bowlers, especially the spinners.
“I said inexperienced in terms of international exposure but they have played domestic cricket and bowled a lot of overs,” he said. “Those two spinners making their
debut on this tour — to perform the way they did was special. We know the surface offers to slower bowlers but to get that reward you need to bowl a lot of overs. Only then can you put batsmen under pressure from a team like Pakistan. They stepped up and showed the class they have and that made such an impact in the series.”
Williamson was seen taking a group picture with the entire Abu Dhabi ground staff following the triumph.
Earlier, Williamson resuming on his overnight score of 139 couldn’t contribute anything further — bowled off the first ball of the final day from Hassan Ali.
At the other end, however, Henry Nicholls notched up his third Test century, getting there in the third over of the day. He was unbeaten on 126 when the Kiwis decided to declare the innings at 353-7 less than an hour later.
New Zealand 1st Innings 274 all out Pakistan 1st Innings 348 all out New Zealand 2nd Innings (overnight 272-4)
K Williamson lbw b Hassan 139 H Nicholls not out 126 C de Grandhomme c Bilal b Yasir 26 B Watling b Yasir Shah 0 TG Southee not out 15 (b9, lb1, nb 1) 11 (113 Overs, 7 wkts decl.) 353
1-1 (Raval), 2-24 (Latham), 3-37 (Somerville), 4-60 (Taylor), 5-272 (Williamson), 6-334 (De Grandhomme), 7-334 (Watling)
Hasan 16-5-62-1, Afridi 20-5-85-2, Yasir 39-8-129-4, Bilal 36-6-62-0, Azhar 1-0-20, Hafeez 1-0-3-0.
Pakistan 2nd Innings
I ul-Haq c Nicholls b Patel 22 M Hafeez b Southee 8 A Ali c Watling b De Grandhomme 5 H Sohail c Taylor b Somerville 9 A Shafiq c Watling b Somerville 0 B Azam c Southee b Patel 51 S Ahmad b Somerville 28 B Asif c Watling b Southee 12 Y Shah c Patel b Southee 4 Hasan Ali c Williamson b Patel 4 S Afridi not out 2 (b4, lb6, nb1) 11 (56.1 Overs, all out) 156
1-19 (Hafeez), 2-32 (Azhar), 3-43 (Haris), 4-43 (Shafiq), 5-55 (ul-Haq), 6-98 (Sarfraz), 7-131 (Bilal), 8-137 (Yasir), 9-150 (Babar), 10-156 (Hasan)
Southee 12-3-42-3, Boult 6-4-7-0, De Grandhomme 4-1-3-1, Patel 14.1-4-42-3, Somerville 20-2-52-3
Fall of wickets: Bowling:
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Leg spinner Yasir Shah finished the three-match series with 29 wickets — one short of Abdul Qadir’s record of 30 wickets set during the 1987-88 series against England. Yasir walked away with the Man of the Series award but also became the first bowler to claim most wickets in a losing series. ■