New Zealand are firmly in the driver’s seat after the conclusion of the third day’s play of the first Test against Pakistan. After being dismissed for 200, the Kiwis bowlers reduced the visitors to 129 for 7 to grab honours for the second day in a row.
Earlier, Pakistan pace trio consisting of Mohammad Amir, Sohail Khan and Rahat Ali nearly restored parity for the visitors by dismissing the hosts cheaply. In reply to Pakistan’s first innings total of 133, Kane Williamson’s men threatened to run away with the match when they finished the second day in 104 for 3, trailing by only 29 runs with seven wickets in hand. However, the Pakistani bowlers staged a brilliant comeback to help their team claw their way back into the match.
Debutant Jeet Raval and Henry Nicholls, who had steadied the ship on the second day after the top-order failure, started the proceedings with the bat on the third day but could add a solitary run before Nicholls was dismissed lbw by Sohail Khan. Five runs later, Raval had to return to the pavilion when he edged a brilliant inswinging delivery from Amir to Sami Aslam in the slip cordon. Colin de Grandhomme, who already had a six-wicket haul, once again impressed by playing a quickfire innings of 29 that was studded with six boundaries but his promising innings was cut short by a short delivery from Sohail. Wickets kept on falling but some useful contribution from Tim Southee(22) and Neil Wagner(21) helped the hosts take an important lead of 67 runs on a pitch that was offering lateral movement.
In reply, Pakistani openers Sami Aslam and Azhar Ali made a cautious albeit painfully slow start. Their resistance was finally broken in the 18th over when Aslam edged a de Grandhomme delivery to BJ Watling. He scored seven from 57 balls with the scoreboard reading 21 runs in 18 overs. Babar Azam and Ali did little to increase the run-rate but kept the wickets intact. They had added only 29 runs in the two-hour session. Azam finally departed when he edged a Neil Wagner ball to Watling. Younis Khan followed Azam soon as he was removed for one by Wagner.
A 29-run partnership between Misbah-ul-Haq and Azhar Ali gave Pakistani team a hope of rebuilding the innings but Southee and Boult quashed all their hopes by reducing them from 93 for 4 to 105 for 7. Sohail Khan (22*) and Asad Shafiq (6*) then ensured that the visitors finished the day without any more wickets. Misbah-ul-Haq’s men were 129 for 7, leading the hosts by 62 runs with only three wickets in hand.
Apart from this, Neil Wagner completed his 100th Test wicket and now is the second fastest New Zealander to reach the landmark in just 26 Tests. Legendary all-rounder Richard Hadlee was the first one to achieve such a feat.
Brief scores:
Pakistan 133 and 129 for 7 (Azhar 31, Azam 29, Boult 3-18, Wagner 2-21) lead New Zealand 200 (Raval 55, Nicholls 30, Rahat 4-62, Amir 3-43, Sohail 3-78) by 62 runs.