Riding on debutant Colin de Grandhomme’s six-wicket haul, New Zealand went away with the honours on the second day of opening Test against Pakistan. After the first day of the match was completely washed out, the Kiwi bowlers exploited the conditions very well and dismissed the visitors for a paltry total of 133.
After suffering a shock defeat in their last Test against the West Indies, Sami Aslam and Azhar Ali started cautiously for the world number two team and added 31 runs for the first wicket to successfully see off New Zealand’s dangerous new-ball pair Tim Southee and Trent Boult in the first hour. But their innings began to unravel when de Grandhomme , who was a surprise inclusion in the team, was given the ball.
However, the Harare born all-rounder justified his selection with an outstanding bowling performance. de Grandhomme opened the floodgates when he dismissed Ali in his third over. Southee then dismissed Aslam with the scorecard reading only 53. But the real damage was done when de Grandhomme got rid of Babar Azam and in-form Younis Khan in quick succession to leave the visitors reeling at 56/4.
Pakistan skipper Misbah-ul-Haq and Asad Shafiq then added 32 runs for the fifth wicket to see off the remaining overs before lunch. But the story did not change after the break as de Grandhomme started from where he had left off. He struck in his very first over after lunch and took his fourth wicket when he had Shafiq caught at second slip. With their batsmen falling like a pack of cards from the other end, Misbah held one end firm. However, he was ran of partners and became the ninth Pakistani wicket to fall when he got removed by Trent Boult after playing 108 balls for his 31 runs. The visitors were eventually dismissed for 133. Misbah top-scored with 31 runs while only three batsmen apart from him could cross the double-digit mark. de Grandhomme finished the innings with the figures of 6 for 41 while Trent Boult and Tim Southee took two wickets each.
With this, de Grandhomme became the eighth New Zealand bowler to take five or more wickets in his maiden Test.
Meanwhile, the New Zealand batsmen looked poised to undo the fine work done by their bowlers when Tom Latham, Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor returned to the pavilion with only 40 runs on the board. But Pakistan’s hopes of making a comeback were quashed by another debutant Jeet Raval as he along with Henry Nicholls ensured the hosts did not lose any more wicket. Williamson’s men finished the day on 104/3, with Raval unbeaten on 55 while Nicholls was playing on 29.