New Zealand stun Pakistan to win 1st Test at Abu Dhabi
It was an amazing performance by the New Zealand team to win the first Test match against Pakistan by 4 runs on the 4th day of the first Test match at Abu Dhabi to take a 1-0 lead on Monday.
Here is how the match panned out:
After winning the toss, Kane Williamson elected to bat first. New Zealand could only score 153 runs with captain scoring 63 runs.
While bowling, the New Zealand bowlers kept the pressure on the Pakistani batting line-up. Trent Boult bowled with pace and surprised the Pakistan batsmen, taking 4 for 54. The debutant Ajaz Patel took 2 wickets, Colin de Grandhomme took 2, Ish Sodhi and Neil Wagner took 1 wicket each to limit Pakistan lead to just 227
In their second innings, Jeet Raval made 45 while captain Kane Williamson showed his class scoring 37 runs. Henry Nicholls and BJ Watling's partnership of 112 runs for the 5th wicket made sure that New Zealand posted a competitive total. After Nicolls wicket at the score of 220, New Zealand were bowled for 249. They gave a target of 176 runs to Pakistan to win. At the end of day 3, Pakistan scored 37 for 0.
It was an amazing start of the fourth day for the New Zealand team as the visitors took 3 early wickets of Imam uL Haq, Mohammad Hafeez, and Haris Sohail to put Pakistan under pressure at 48 for 3.
However, Asad Shafiq and Azhar Ali steadied the innings with a solid 82 runs stand for the 4th wicket. Before the lunch interval, Neil Wagner got the important wicket of Asad Shafiq.
After the lunch interval, the New Zealand bowlers showed discipline. With 29 runs left, New Zealand created a run out of Babar Azam. And after that, they crumbled. The debutant Patel made life tough for Pakistan batsmen picking wickets of Sarfraz Ahmed, Bilal Asif, and Hasan Ali to leave them reeling with 9 wickets down. With 5 runs left, Patel dismissed the well-set Azhar Ali to help New Zealand achieve a victory from the jaws of defeat.
Kane Williamson's captaincy was great as he constantly put pressure on the Pakistan batsmen. With this win, New Zealand takes a 1-0 lead in the series.
With 2 more Test matches to go, New Zealand will be high on confidence and would be looking to go for the kill in the second Test match to be played at Dubai from November 24.