SHARJAH: Despite the chips being down, Pakistan coach Waqar Younis put up a brave face, saying his team is capable of saving the Test in the next two days of the third Test in Sharjah.
Waqar however conceded Pakistan was under pressure, but "are capable of battling out for a draw.
"It is a batting pitch, no doubt.
"As you saw today, more than 375 runs were scored, so it is a great pitch to bat on. But there will be pressure on Pakistan and it will be a test to cope with it. We do not need to score runs at a fast pace, because we will be in survival mode.
"But we have the batsmen who are capable of scoring hundreds and double hundreds. I just hope we can withstand the pressure and play good cricket over the next two days."
New Zealand smashed 19 sixes in their highest ever total against Pakistan but Waqar conceded it was because of a good batting pitch.
"Well, you have to see how good the wicket was for batting. These are the same bowlers who have troubled the New Zealand batsmen before and the same bowlers who bowled out Australia twice in two Tests for a whitewash.
"That’s the way the game goes. McCullum was playing with such freedom, that there was a good chance that something like this would have happened.
Asked if he was disappointed at the nature of the pitch which blunted Pakistan’s spin attack, Waqar said: "No doubt, the pitch is batting-friendly. I think this is helping the batsmen more than the normal Sharjah pitch.
"All three days we felt it was a batting wicket. There is no disappointment, but we should have coped better, we should have scored more runs in the first innings. The first session on the second day when we lost seven wickets, that was when we lost the plot a little bit and we are struggling to shift the momentum back in our favour."
