Jamieson 10-for helps New Zealand inch closer to No. 1 ranking

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Jamieson 10-for helps New Zealand inch closer to No. 1 ranking​

Pakistan collapse in a heap against unrelenting pace and hostility

Pakistan collapsed yet again to Kyle Jamieson, giving him a maiden ten-for in Tests, as New Zealand inched closer to completing a series whitewash and become the No. 1 Test side. This also puts them in a great position to qualify for the finals of the World Test Championship.

The visitors lost four wickets in the session, including their first-innings top scorers Azhar Ali and Mohammad Rizwan, to hurtle towards a massive innings defeat in conditions that were challenging, but far from what their scorecard suggests

Fawad Alam, Pakistan's only centurion on tour, then held one end up for a better part of 40 minutes, somehow ducking and weaving his way out of a short-ball barrage against the old ball before poking at a delivery he should've left on 16. Ross Taylor, who hadn't had much to do in the day, gobbled it up in the slips to give Trent Boult a second wicket in the innings.

Faheem Ashraf and Zafar Gohar, who had a forgettable first outing with the ball - having finished with figures of none for 159 - saw off some serious heat in the last 15 minutes with Pakistan merely delaying the inevitable. Jamieson had magical figures of 10 for 102 thus far.

The session began with Jamieson nicking off Haris Sohail as he pushed away from the body with an angled bat. As he's always done, he played some crisp strokes, but Pakistan needed someone for the hard grind. Sohail ended the tour with more questions than answers, tallying 27 runs in four innings.

Then came the set-up of the day from Jamieson. Having figured Azhar Ali wasn't comfortable playing back, he decided to go the Neil Wagner way and attack his rib-cage from around the wicket. One over is all it took for the plan to work as Azhar, looking to hop away to fend, rather than getting out of the by dropping his wrists, gloved one down the leg side to BJ Watling. Until then, Azhar had fought his way through to make 37.

Rizwan strode out with purpose, looking to play shots at available opportunities. He milked a glorious on-drive off Jamieson to make a statement that he was here to counter-punch, but was out next ball to a jaffa. Jamieson got it to swing back in and beat the thin gap between bat and pad to crash into the stumps to leave Pakistan on 98 for 6.

In the morning session, Pakistan lost Mohammad Abbas early when Trent Boult having him caught behind. Astonishingly, Abbas also burnt a review when there was clear evidence of a nick. It may have haunted Pakistan on another day, not here where they collapsed without a fight.

Abid Ali dug in for a while but Jamieson had him second-guessing his technique against deliveries that rear awkwardly. It's this probing examination that troubled Azhar and Abid Ali in a 40-minute spell either side of drinks. Abid, in particular, was extremely edgy, cutting off his scoring completely, going through 20 balls without adding to his runs.

He kept playing back to deliveries he could've looked to play forward and leave on the bounce. The stifling pressure and the itch to drive a delivery he thought was drivable got him to slice one to backward point where substitute Will Young, on for the injured Henry Nicholls, threw himself to his right to pull off a one-handed grab. This left Pakistan properly wobbly, one they couldn't recover from.

Kyle Jamieson fires New Zealand to massive innings win and No. 1 in the rankings

PAK in NZ 2020/21, New Zealand vs Pakistan Match Report: Pakistan collapse in a heap against unrelenting pace and hostility

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