http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 Gains Momentum in the First Test against New Zealand
Hamilton – After losing four quick wickets in the first test match against the hosts New Zealand, amid an impressive unbroken partnership between the test skipper http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Shafiq-c89281, team Pakistan has secured a firm position.
After losing the T20 series, though Pakistani team’s confidence had been shaken, but while starting with the test, the green shirts did not take long to get rid of the rival’s batting order and booked them at mere 275, in response to which, Pakistan is 40
runs behind, off 4 wickets.
As the second day’s play closed, Misbah was playing at 50 while Shafiq was occupying the pitch with an impressive 74. With both of these batsmen looking confident and stable and Pakistan still having 6 wickets to go, it seems that the visitors will put really
a respectable total to chase for the second innings of the hosts.
The pair came in to salvage the team when http://www.senore.com/Cricket/New-Zealand-c754 had bagged 4 crucial wickets and Pakistan was teetering at a meager total of 107 runs. However, when Shafiq and Misbah got settled, the host bowlers remained unable to get rid of them. While standing
on the pitch, they both seemed in complete control and did not try hitting unnecessarily.
Taking on the responsibility to salvage the pride and confidence of the team, Misbah played an anchoring innings. While on the other end of the wicket, Shafiq kept the score moving up with frequent boundaries.
Opting for frantic moves to get rid of the pair, Daniel Vettori, the host skipper kept the bowling attack rotating, he even went on employing the part-timers Kane Williamson and Martin Guptill, but nothing could pose any potential difficulty for the batsmen
and they scored freely on both sides of the wicket.
At the start of the day, New Zealand had ended its innings when its last three batsmen were shown the way to the pavilion when they could only add 15 more runs to end their first innings at 275.
Tim Southee, who was batting at 56, failed to make any addition into his scores, he was claimed by Umar Gul. On the other end, Williamson successfully completed his 50, but Tanvir Ahmed did not allow him to go beyond. For putting 8 runs on the board, Brent
Arnel became the last victim of the Pakistani bowlers; he too was claimed by Tanvir Ahmed.
Among Pakistani bowlers, Tanvir Ahmed remained most successful; he bagged 4 wickets for 63 runs. He was followed by Abdur Rehman who booked three rival batsmen for 51 runs.
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