New Zealand’s tail swung nicely after Tom Blundell’s 51 helped stop the slide. His stand for 104 runs in the final wicket between Matt Henry and Ajaz Patel tipped the balance firmly in the direction of the visitors. After starring in the bat, Henry and Ajaz were also wicket takers, with the former being pulled down from Abdullah Shafiq to a deep square leg. Ajaz had the final laugh when he was deprived of points as New Zealand held on to the lead at the end of the second session after being hit by his 3 Boundary by Shan Her Masood.
It had been set up earlier in the day at the bat. After losing overnight partner Ish Sodi to Naseem Shah early on, Blundell received some support from skipper Tim Sausy. The duo briefly halted the slide in partnership, but the double strike continued to sink New Zealand, and against the tide of play Blundell was bowled out for 51 as Abrar defeated Cultivator by his Ahmed . Abrar attacked again in the next over, causing Southey to lose his balance and trip. This propelled Abrar, in his 26th Test, to the top of the list of Pakistan’s leading wicket takers in his first of his four Tests.
Pakistan’s hopes of ending New Zealand’s innings within his 350 were short-lived, but the final wicket pair, Matt Henry and Ajaz Patel, were shaken off in a boundary-filled partnership. Henry’s attack began with Hassan Ali. Hassan Ali was hit on three boundaries in succession. Ajaz Patel, on the other hand, proved capable enough to hold up at first, only coming in at the 15-hour ball, but he quickly gained confidence and beat Abrar to the boundary. Henry defeated Naseem Shah at mid-wicket and he also scored six, two leading New Zealand past his 400.
Henry scored just 50 in his third Test from 42 balls, Ajaz recorded his score for the best Test, and the duo saw his 113 balls, the first morning’s extra Denied Pakistan in his 30 minutes.
Short score:
New Zealand 433/9 (Devon Conway 122, Tom Latham 71, Matt Henry 68*, Tom Blundell 51, Abrar Ahmed 4-149) lead Pakistan 62/2 with 387 runs