Tourists collapse from 131-0 to 230 all out despite 58 by Azhar Ali and 91 by Sami Aslam.

By Abdullah Ansari (29th November, 2016)

Toss: Pakistan won the toss, Azhar Ali opted to bowl first.

Teams

New Zealand: TWM Latham, JA Raval, KS Williamson (c), LPRL Taylor, HM Nicholls, C de Grandhomme, BJ Watling (wk), MJ Santner, TG Southee, MJ Henry, N Wagner.

Pakistan: Sami Aslam, Azhar Ali (c), Babar Azam, Younis Khan, Mohammad Rizwan, Asad Shafiq, Sarfraz Ahmed (wk), Mohammad Amir, Sohail Khan, Wahab Riaz, Imran Khan.

Pakistan began in a very slow manner with Azhar taking 22 balls to get off the mark. There was a slight bit of movement for the pacers but the main worry was the uneven bounce with Wagner's bouncers staying low at times while the ball was rearing up from a good length at the other end. Pakistan's run-rate was below one for the most part earlier on. Wiliamson took a terrible review for caught behind against Azhar and the scoring rate increased a bit. The two got to their first fifty plus stand of the series and were solid throughout the rest of the session. There was one late chance for NZ as there was an appeal for LBW against Sami but Williamson was late to signal for the review. Replays showed it would have been out. Pakistan went to Lunch at 76/0.

The visitors once again began slowly after the break, struggling to find runs in the beginning. There was a chance for a run out which was missed as Azhar got to a 147 ball fifty. Sami struggled for a bit to get runs until he finally got to his 6th Test fifty, off 188 balls. He sped up a bit after getting to the landmark. Santner came on to bowl and finally made the breakthrough as Azhar drove one and edged it onto his stumps for 58. Sami and Babar looked to be positive as they finished the session with pakistan at 158/1, needing 211 more in the stipulated 34 overs.

Santner struck straight after Tea to remove Babar who perished in the same way as Azhar, chopping the ball onto his stumps. Sarfraz was promoted in the batting order as Pakistan looked to be positive. Sami continued being positive, looking for some big shots but he perished in the attempt, sacrificing his wicket as he was caught in the deep for 91, missing out once again on a maiden Test hundred. Pakistan's chances of a win evaporated as Sarfraz was run out going for a suicidal run and they resorted to defence with Younis and Shafiq. However, the latter bagged another duck as he tried to play one into the leg-side and edged it for a simple catch to cover. Rizwan looked to be positive despite his dismissal in the first innings but the cat was truly set amongst the pigeons as Younis was LBW to Southee as he left one alone that was hitting the stumps - given out on review. Sohail survived for a while but then hit one uppishly in the off-side off, giving a simple catch as Pakistan suddenly started down the barrel of a series whitewash. Wagner was the one who was to delivery the final blows, removing Amir, Wahab and Imran within the space of six deliveries as a hapless Rizwan watched from the other end with New Zealand sealing a fantastic 138 run win.

Summary: Not much to be said. Pakistan simply fell apart after Tea with fans experiencing what seems to be the norm - a batting collapse. At one point, a victory seemed to be possible. A little while later, prayers for a draw began. The middle-order was non-existent despite the hard work from the openers. There was a lack of clarity about whether a draw was the aim or a win until the last session when the batsmen really went after it. But when the time came for the likes of Younis and Shafiq to put down the shutters, they weren't up for it and Pakistan ended up failing to achieve anything other than batting practice for the openers. On to the Australia tour now - and the batsmen will have to show a lot of courage or another whitewash won't be out of the reckoning.

Fall of wickets:

1-131 (Azhar Ali, 59.6 ov)
2-159 (Babar Azam, 67.4 ov)
3-181 (Sami Aslam, 72.3 ov)
4-199 (Sarfraz Ahmed, 76.6 ov)
5-204 (Asad Shafiq, 81.1 ov)
6-218 (Younis Khan, 84.3 ov)
7-229 (Sohail Khan, 89.5 ov)
8-230 (Mohammad Amir, 90.2 ov)
9-230 (Wahab Riaz, 90.4 ov)
10-230 (Imran Khan, 92.1 ov)

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