Hamilton Test: Pakistan, New Zealand evenly poised until tea
First Test match between Pakistan and New Zealand was evenly poised until on day two. Pakistan had managed 136 runs for the loss of four wickets after New Zealand got the early breakthroughs they were looking for.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/New-Zealand-c754 would have been pleased with the performance of Tim Southee and Kane Williamson on Friday. They would have hoped that the pair continued to score runs like they did in the first day’s play.
However, things did not work out as expected for the home team. Southee was not able to add any run to the 56 he amassed on day one. He was the first Kiwi wicket to fall on day two when New Zealand were at 261.
Williamson reached his half century but he was not able to score more runs after that. He was dismissed exactly at 50 runs when he edged the ball to wicketkeeper Adnan Akmal. The last wicket to fall was that of Brent Arnel and New Zealand were wrapped up
for 275 in the first session of the second day.
Tanvir Ahmed was the pick of the bowlers for http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755. He took four wickets in the innings. He received good support from the left-arm spinner Abdur Rehman who picked up three. Umar Gul also chipped in with two wickets.
The start to the Pakistan’s innings was not as good as they would have expected. Mohammad Hafeez was out very early after just facing four balls. He got out without scoring any run. After the early loss, Taufeeq Umar and Azhar Ali steadied the ship for Pakistan
with a 72-run partnership.
Azhar got out after getting a good start. He edged the ball to the wicketkeeper http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Reece-Young-c2302 when he was batting on 24. The next man in was Younis Khan.
Soon after, Taufeeq Umer was dismissed when he scored his fifty. Younis Khan scored some quick runs with five boundaries but was caught-and-bowled to Arnel for 23 and left Pakistan struggling at 107 for 4.
Before tea, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Misbah-ul-Haq-c1972 was joined by Asad Shafiq at the crease and both the batsmen remained unbeaten in the second session.
The fast bowlers for New Zealand did the damage. Chris Martin and Arnel took two wickets each. Martin was a bit expensive as he gave away quite a few runs in his first spell but the wickets he got compensated the runs he gave away.
The last session will be important for both the teams and it may be the determining factor of this match.
Tags: