Lunch Pakistan 144 for 4 (Shafiq 25*, Babar 24*, Boult 2-29) trail New Zealand 153 by nine runs
Pakistan came out of Saturday’s first session in an awfully better situation than the run of play might have suggested. New Zealand’s bowlers were in charge over large periods of the session, but a mix of misfortune, missed chances, and questionable decisions meant Pakistan lost no more than two wickets, and, at 144 for 4, were just nine runs behind New Zealand’s first-innings total. Haris Sohail and Azhar Ali’s 64-run partnership broke the back of the New Zealand total, and when both fell within five balls of each other, Asad Shafiq and Babar Azam took up the mantle to guarantee Pakistan would not crumble the same way the visitors had yesterday.
Kane Williamson opted to open with Colin de Grandhomme and Ajaz Patel. Why he decided not to begin with his best bowler, Trent Boult, wasn’t clear, and the moment the left-arm fast bowler came on, it began to look like a mistake. Just the second ball of his spell, he seamed one away from Azhar Ali that very nearly caught the edge, and two balls later, a simple chance was grassed by Jeet Raval at short midwicket.
Throughout his spell, Boult was unplayable, mesmeric, even, and on a pitch where it looks especially hard to get settled, not having him kick off the day’s proceedings didn’t appear to be the best bit of captaincy on Williamson’s part. In the six overs before Boult was brought on, Pakistan scored 28 without loss. In the nine overs that followed, they managed just six runs and lost two wickets.
It could have been several more, the way Boult kept moving the ball outside off stump, long after the ball had ostensibly grown too old to swing. However, it was Ish Sodhi – also introduced somewhat late and clearly the better spinner on the day – who got the first wicket. It wasn’t the best ball, a low full-toss that Haris scooped up to short midwicket. New Zealand deserved their luck, and five balls later, Boult got the wicket he had deserved.
Azhar Ali had been at the crease for 95 balls, scoring only 22 and not looking nearly like getting back to form. It was a corker of a delivery that sent Azhar packing, another ball that seamed and swerved outside off stump, but it also required excellent reflexes from BJ Watling to dive sharply to his right and complete a one-handed grab in front of first slip.
This is where New Zealand and Pakistan diverged. Where the tourists had fallen apart after their two settled batsmen were dismissed, Babar and Asad hung in, developing a partnership of their own and dispelling any thoughts of Pakistan being bowled out around the 153 New Zealand had managed. With Boult needing a rest, the pair saw out the initial barrage and then began to chip away at the bowlers, and with Wagner and Patel unable to exert the same pressure as Boult or Sodhi had, batting became easier; it was as if the pitch had flattened out again. The fifty partnership was brought up before lunch, and, despite a session that New Zealand commanded for large parts, Pakistan went to the break in a more dominant position.