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MOUNT MAUNGANUI: New Zealand were banking on a deteriorating pitch to defend their Kane Williamson-anchored 431 after reducing Pakistan to 30 for one on day two of the first Test at Mount Maunganui on Sunday.
Abid Ali was on 19 with night-watchman Mohammad Abbas yet to score as Pakistan reached stumps at 30-1, still 401 runs behind after the hosts were dismissed after tea and had about 90 minutes to bowl at the tourists.
Shan and Abid had negotiated some testing periods from Tim Southee and Trent Boult but the introduction of the giant Kyle Jamieson and the aggressive Neil Wagner put them under even more pressure towards the end of the day.
Jamieson made the breakthrough when he had Shan caught by wicket-keeper B.J. Watling for 10 when he feathered a catch down the leg side.
The Bay Oval pitch — Williamson’s home turf — is renowned for supporting the bowlers on the first and last day.
But Williamson said it was already showing signs it would favour spin through the middle stages, while New Zealand sweated on the availability of short-ball specialist Neil Wagner.
“Hopefully the cracks start to open and hopefully it starts to deteriorate,” Williamson said. “Spin will come more into play. There are bits of rough as well so I’ve no doubt spin will definitely have a role.”
The immediate concern for New Zealand was the availability of Wagner who was to have a scan at the end of the day after being hit on the foot by a Shaheen Shah Afridi yorker when he batted.
Wagner managed three overs when Pakistan batted but was clearly in pain.
Watling said it was important to press home the advantage when play resumes on Monday but that Pakistan would be no pushovers.
“We have got a decent total on the board,” he added. “We have to come back tomorrow and put some pressure on them, take some early wickets and see where we end up.
“We’re not expecting to run through them. They look like they’re in for the long run. We will have to bowl well, accurately and challenge them.”
Earlier New Zealand, having started the day at 222 for three, added a further 209 runs before Wagner was the last man out.
The innings was headlined by Williamson’s 129, his 23rd Test century, with sizeable contributions from B.J. Watling (73) and Henry Nicholls (56) to go with Ross Taylor’s 70 on the first day.
Williamson described his knock as ‘really satisfying’ after New Zealand were sent into bat on a green wicket and with Shaheen and Abbas making life difficult with swing and seam on the first day.
Although there was not the same movement on day two, the drying pitch started to show signs of turn which brought spin into play with Yasir Shah taking three wickets, including the prized scalp of Williamson.
Nicholls, who had partnered Williamson in a 133-run stand for the fourth wicket, was the first to fall, bizarrely departing the field when he would have been allowed to stay had he argued his case.
He was given out caught off the gloves, and after consulting with Williamson they felt the ball may have also touched the bat so they decided not to seek a review when replays later showed the ball hit his forearm and did not brush either glove or bat.
Williamson, a model of patience and concentration, needed 261 balls to bring up his century, his slowest Test hundred, but once that milestone passed he picked up the pace and needed only 36 more deliveries to get to 129.
The introduction of Yasir Shah brought the end of the New Zealand captain.
With his third ball, the leg-spinner found enough turn to catch the edge of the bat and Haris Sohail took a smart one-handed catch.
Watling, who scored a double century against England on the same Bay Oval wicket a year ago, took over as the batting mainstay.
He featured in a 36-run stand with Mitchell Santner (19) and 66 with Jamieson (32).
After Tim Southee’s nine-ball duck, Watling and Wagner put on 33 before Watling nicked a wide Afridi delivery to Yasir Shah at gully.
It was a productive day for Yasir Shah who also took the wickets of Southee and Wagner (19) to return figures of three for 113 while Shaheen took four for 109.
Scoreboard
NEW ZEALAND (1st Innings, overnight 222-3):
T.W.M. Latham c Azhar b Shaheen 4
T.A. Blundell c Yasir b Shaheen 5
K.S. Williamson c Haris b Yasir 129
0L.R.P.L. Taylor c Rizwan b Shaheen 70
H.M. Nicholls c Shan b Yasir 56
B.J. Watling c Yasir b Shaheen 73
M.J. Santner c Rizwan b Faheem 19
K.A. Jamieson c Rizwan b Abbas 32
T.G. Southee b Yasir 0
N. Wagner c Shan b Yasir 19
T.A. Boult not out 8
EXTRAS (LB-5, W-5, NB-6) 16
TOTAL (all out, 155 overs) 431
FALL OF WKTS: 1-4, 2-13, 3-133, 4-266, 5-281, 6-317, 7-383, 8-388, 9-421.
BOWLING: Shaheen Shah Afridi 36-7-109-4 (1nb); Mohammad Abbas 31-14-49-1 (1w); Faheem Ashraf 19-8-40-1 (1w); Naseem Shah 25-3-96-1 (5nb, 3w); Yasir Shah 37-4-113-3; Shan Masood 2-1-2-0; Haris Sohail 5-0-17-0.
PAKISTAN (1st Innings):
S. Masood c Watling b Jamieson 10
Abid Ali not out 19
Mohammad Abbas not out 0
EXTRAS (NB-1) 1
TOTAL (for one wkt, 20 overs) 30
FALL OF WKT: 1-28.
TO BAT: Azhar Ali, Haris Sohail, Fawad Alam, Mohammad Rizwan, Faheem Ashraf, Yasir Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah.
BOWLING (to-date): Southee 7-2-13-0; Boult 4-2-8-0; Jamieson 6-4-5-1; Wagner 3-1-4-0 (1nb).
Published in Dawn, December 28th, 2020
Abid Ali was on 19 with night-watchman Mohammad Abbas yet to score as Pakistan reached stumps at 30-1, still 401 runs behind after the hosts were dismissed after tea and had about 90 minutes to bowl at the tourists.
Shan and Abid had negotiated some testing periods from Tim Southee and Trent Boult but the introduction of the giant Kyle Jamieson and the aggressive Neil Wagner put them under even more pressure towards the end of the day.
Jamieson made the breakthrough when he had Shan caught by wicket-keeper B.J. Watling for 10 when he feathered a catch down the leg side.
The Bay Oval pitch — Williamson’s home turf — is renowned for supporting the bowlers on the first and last day.
But Williamson said it was already showing signs it would favour spin through the middle stages, while New Zealand sweated on the availability of short-ball specialist Neil Wagner.
“Hopefully the cracks start to open and hopefully it starts to deteriorate,” Williamson said. “Spin will come more into play. There are bits of rough as well so I’ve no doubt spin will definitely have a role.”
The immediate concern for New Zealand was the availability of Wagner who was to have a scan at the end of the day after being hit on the foot by a Shaheen Shah Afridi yorker when he batted.
Wagner managed three overs when Pakistan batted but was clearly in pain.
Watling said it was important to press home the advantage when play resumes on Monday but that Pakistan would be no pushovers.
“We have got a decent total on the board,” he added. “We have to come back tomorrow and put some pressure on them, take some early wickets and see where we end up.
“We’re not expecting to run through them. They look like they’re in for the long run. We will have to bowl well, accurately and challenge them.”
Earlier New Zealand, having started the day at 222 for three, added a further 209 runs before Wagner was the last man out.
The innings was headlined by Williamson’s 129, his 23rd Test century, with sizeable contributions from B.J. Watling (73) and Henry Nicholls (56) to go with Ross Taylor’s 70 on the first day.
Williamson described his knock as ‘really satisfying’ after New Zealand were sent into bat on a green wicket and with Shaheen and Abbas making life difficult with swing and seam on the first day.
Although there was not the same movement on day two, the drying pitch started to show signs of turn which brought spin into play with Yasir Shah taking three wickets, including the prized scalp of Williamson.
Nicholls, who had partnered Williamson in a 133-run stand for the fourth wicket, was the first to fall, bizarrely departing the field when he would have been allowed to stay had he argued his case.
He was given out caught off the gloves, and after consulting with Williamson they felt the ball may have also touched the bat so they decided not to seek a review when replays later showed the ball hit his forearm and did not brush either glove or bat.
Williamson, a model of patience and concentration, needed 261 balls to bring up his century, his slowest Test hundred, but once that milestone passed he picked up the pace and needed only 36 more deliveries to get to 129.
The introduction of Yasir Shah brought the end of the New Zealand captain.
With his third ball, the leg-spinner found enough turn to catch the edge of the bat and Haris Sohail took a smart one-handed catch.
Watling, who scored a double century against England on the same Bay Oval wicket a year ago, took over as the batting mainstay.
He featured in a 36-run stand with Mitchell Santner (19) and 66 with Jamieson (32).
After Tim Southee’s nine-ball duck, Watling and Wagner put on 33 before Watling nicked a wide Afridi delivery to Yasir Shah at gully.
It was a productive day for Yasir Shah who also took the wickets of Southee and Wagner (19) to return figures of three for 113 while Shaheen took four for 109.
Scoreboard
NEW ZEALAND (1st Innings, overnight 222-3):
T.W.M. Latham c Azhar b Shaheen 4
T.A. Blundell c Yasir b Shaheen 5
K.S. Williamson c Haris b Yasir 129
0L.R.P.L. Taylor c Rizwan b Shaheen 70
H.M. Nicholls c Shan b Yasir 56
B.J. Watling c Yasir b Shaheen 73
M.J. Santner c Rizwan b Faheem 19
K.A. Jamieson c Rizwan b Abbas 32
T.G. Southee b Yasir 0
N. Wagner c Shan b Yasir 19
T.A. Boult not out 8
EXTRAS (LB-5, W-5, NB-6) 16
TOTAL (all out, 155 overs) 431
FALL OF WKTS: 1-4, 2-13, 3-133, 4-266, 5-281, 6-317, 7-383, 8-388, 9-421.
BOWLING: Shaheen Shah Afridi 36-7-109-4 (1nb); Mohammad Abbas 31-14-49-1 (1w); Faheem Ashraf 19-8-40-1 (1w); Naseem Shah 25-3-96-1 (5nb, 3w); Yasir Shah 37-4-113-3; Shan Masood 2-1-2-0; Haris Sohail 5-0-17-0.
PAKISTAN (1st Innings):
S. Masood c Watling b Jamieson 10
Abid Ali not out 19
Mohammad Abbas not out 0
EXTRAS (NB-1) 1
TOTAL (for one wkt, 20 overs) 30
FALL OF WKT: 1-28.
TO BAT: Azhar Ali, Haris Sohail, Fawad Alam, Mohammad Rizwan, Faheem Ashraf, Yasir Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah.
BOWLING (to-date): Southee 7-2-13-0; Boult 4-2-8-0; Jamieson 6-4-5-1; Wagner 3-1-4-0 (1nb).
Published in Dawn, December 28th, 2020
Jamieson puts Pakistan in trouble after Williamson ton
MOUNT MAUNGANUI: New Zealand were banking on a deteriorating pitch to defend their Kane Williamson-anchored 431 ...
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