DAY 2 REPORT
Matt Henry and Ajaz Patel’s last-wicket century stand helped New Zealand take control of the second test against jittery Pakistan on Tuesday.
Henry made a career-best unbeaten 68 off 81 balls while Patel also notched his test-best of 35 as they added 104 for the 10th wicket and propelled New Zealand to 449 on Day 2.
Both Henry and Patel then struck early blows and captain Babar Azam was run out in a bizarre mix-up with Imam-ul-Haq in the final session before Pakistan struggled to reach 154-3 at stumps.
Imam was unbeaten on 74 and Saud Shakeel, who took nearly an hour before getting his first run off his 42nd ball and also survived a dropped catch, was not out on 13.
Fast bowler Henry, playing his first test since last June, induced a top-edge of Abdullah Shafique’s (19) mistimed pull shot and Patel got rid of Shan Masood (20) to leave Pakistan in trouble at 62-2 going into the final session. Imam reached 50 with a straight 6 over the head of off-spinner Michael Bracewell in the final session, but New Zealand still slowed Pakistan’s advance and took the lead by 295 runs.
Earlier, after Abral Ahmed (4-149) scored his two goals and Naseem Shah (3-71) put away Ish his Sodi in his Day 11 result to restart 309-6. , beat New Zealand his 345-9.
However, Henry and Patel dominated an aggressive Century stand and held New Zealand out of pace and spin.
Henry and Ajaz as Pakistan failed to end New Zealand’s innings despite using all five bowling options for the final wicket pair which took the visitors to 433-9 by lunchtime. , defied Pakistan for an hour and a half. Abrar finally vented Pakistani frustration when he caught his Patel from a failed sweep just after lunch. Earlier, Blundell, who turned 30 overnight, finished 50 of 103 pitches with six 4s before falling off the right-hander and staying slightly lower than Abrar after the delivery. was bowled cleanly for 51 by.
Tim Southey (10) managed to overturn Hassan his lbw verdict against Ali, but tripped over Abrar before Patel could catch up with Henry.
Hasan has been unable to find success in his return to cricket in the Tests since last July as he threw his over 21 wickets for 72 runs.
Henry showed plenty of aggression for the pace, lifting Hassan and Naseem to score the big six over the middle of the wicket and smash eight boundaries. Naseem went for a failed LBW TV recommendation when Henry was 27, but Henry stuck perfectly to all the loose deliveries. Patel was equally good against spinners, hitting four boundaries as both showed enough determination before New Zealand was finally eliminated.
Shafique showed early aggression against Tim Southee and Henry, hitting four border lines before making a reckless move and digging deep into the middle of the goal.
Massoud smashed Patel’s three his four in his first over, but attempted an ambitious cut against Left Armor in the same over.
Babar, who led the top scorer list with 1,184 runs scored in the 2022 Test match, progressed well from 41 to 24 balls, but Imam took a few steps out from the crease first, scoring both goals. batsman denied a third run after landing on the non-forward end.
Pakisatn: 326/4 (98.2)
Newzealand: 449/10 (131)