Karachi, 3 January 2023: Pakistan’s top-order batting woes continued in the new year before Imam-ul-Haq rescued his side from complete collapse on the second day of the second Test against New Zealand at the National Bank Cricket Arena on Tuesday.
Abdullah Shafique once again fell while hooking, Shan Masood’s aggressive approach against the spinners led to his downfall and Babar Azam was run-out in a terrible mix-up with Imam-ul-Haq as Pakistan slipped to 99 for three before finishing the day at 154 for three.
Pakistan’s response came after New Zealand were bowled out for 449 after starting the day at 309 for six and having being reduced to 345 for nine.
Abdullah managed 19 off 32 balls with four fours, Shan scored 20 from 11 balls with four fours and Babar hit three fours and six in a 41-ball 24 before returning to the dressing room to leave Pakistan in dire straits.
However, Imam held the innings together and in partnership with Saud Shakeel, he has so far added 55 runs for the unfinished fourth wicket. The left-hander, who tuned his back at Babar after the skipper had sprinted for the third run, was batting on 74 from 125 balls with nine fours and a six, while a consistent Saud was 13 not out from 75 balls.
For New Zealand, Matt Henry picked up the wicket of Abdullah and Ajaz Patel dismissed Shan.
Earlier, Henry and Patel had combined to frustrate Pakistan for 92 minutes during which they added 104 runs in 149 balls for the 10th wicket to lift New Zealand to 449.
No.10 batter Henry notched up his third career half-century in 18th match when he returned unbeaten on an attacking 81-ball 68 with eight fours and two sixes, while Patel was the last batter to be dismissed after scoring a Test best 35 from 78 balls and four fours.
Overnight batters Tom Blundell and Ish Sodhi, along with skipper Tim Southee, were back in the hut with the addition of 36 runs as New Zealand slipped to 345 for nine before the last-wicket partnership helped the visitors reach a decent score.
Blundell, who began the day at 30, was dismissed after scoring 51 from 108 balls with six fours, while Sodhi failed to add any run to his overnight score of 11 before he was castled by Naseem Shah (three for 71).
Arbar Ahmed picked the remaining three wickets to finish with figures of 37-5-149-4. Abrar now has 27 wickets in seven innings of four Tests.
Scores in brief:
New Zealand (1st innings) (overnight 309-6) 449 all-out, 131 overs (Devon Conway 122, Tom Latham 71, Matt Henry 68 not out, Tom Blundell 51, Kane Williamson 36, Ajaz Patel 35, Henry Nicholls 26; Abrar Ahmed 4-149, Naseem Shah 3-71, Salman Ali Agha 3-75)
Pakistan (1st innings) 154-3, 47 overs (Imam-ul-Haq 74 not out, Babar Azam 24, Shan Masood 20, Saud Shakeel 13 not out)
