Pakistan have ridden on Saud Shakeel’s affected person first Test century and Safaraz Ahmed’s aggressive 78 to path New Zealand by simply 42 runs after the third day of the second Test.
Left-hander Shakeel batted all through the entire of Wednesday to complete unbeaten on 124 off 336 balls in an innings which spanned greater than eight hours earlier than New Zealand spinners hit again late with 4 wickets to go away Pakistan at 9-407 at stumps.
“When I entered the 90s, I got nervous for one, two overs, but Sarfaraz told me, ‘don’t take tension’,” Shakeel stated after elevating his maiden Test hundred in his hometown and hitting 17 fours.
“Sarfaraz is a very senior player, I started my career with him. It was good that he was with me when I scored my century.”
Leftarm spinner Ajaz Patel (3-88) chipped away within the closing session with the wickets of Agha Salman (41) and Hasan Ali (4) by juggling catches by Michael Bracewell and Devon Conway.
Legspinner Ish Sodhi (2-94) had Naseem Shah and Mir Hamza clear bowled off successive deliveries, however Abrar Ahmed averted the hat-trick ball with an umbrella of fielders surrounding him and was but to get off the mark.
New Zealand may have uncovered Pakistan’s lengthy tail early after tea nonetheless main by 100 runs, however Tom Latham dropped a regulation catch of Shakeel’s lose drive at brief level a lot to the frustration of skipper Tim Southee (1-62).
Earlier, Shakeel and Sarfaraz stored New Zealand at bay with their decided 150-run stand in three hours after Pakistan misplaced the only wicket of Imam-ul-Haq in a quiet first session.
Mitchell got here near dismissing Sarfaraz off his first ball late within the second session, however the batter efficiently overturned umpire Alex Wharf’s lbw ruling by tv referral.
But two balls later, Tom Blundell had him stumped after gathering the ball down the legside.
TV umpire Ahsan Raza felt Sarfaraz’s heel was not grounded within the crease when Blundell whipped the bails off.
Sarfaraz hit 10 boundaries and confronted 109 balls as he continued to dominate New Zealand bowlers after scoring two half centuries in his comeback Test after virtually 4 years final week.
“It was a little bit of luck in terms of timing,” Blundell stated. “At first I don’t think it was out and then obviously looking on the big screen there’s a bit of a chance.
“So for me it was simply get the bails off as fast as attainable and happily for me it was excellent timing.”
Shakeel showed plenty of patience but accelerated once he completed his half century off 173 balls after lunch.
He reached 99 with a swept boundary against offspinner Bracewell and then ran a quick single to mid-off to raise his memorable maiden hundred off 240 balls with 14 boundaries.
Shakeel had a terrific start to his Test cricket last month when he made four half centuries in Pakistan’s 3-0 loss at home against England.
He also scored a half century in the drawn first Test against New Zealand last week.
Imam followed his 96 in the opening Test with 83. Hitting 10 fours and a six, he batted for just over four hours.
Shakeel moved to a gritty 43 at lunch as Sarfaraz additionally formed effectively for an additional massive knock along with his strong sweeps towards the spinners earlier than New Zealand dried up runs within the closing session and ran by the tailenders.
