Wellington Test: Pakistan manage draw, win series 1-0
The second Test match between Pakistan and New Zealand played at http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Wellington-c864 ended in a draw which helped the visitors win the series 1-0.
The start to the fifth day was not good for Pakistan. The visitors were in deep trouble after losing three quick wickets early in the day.
Taufeeq Umar departed early. He was out off the very first ball he faced in the day. He missed an in-swinging ball from Tim Southee which caught him plumb in front of the stumps. The umpire had no hesitation in giving him leg-before-wicket.
Azhar Ali also failed to cause any problems for the Kiwi bowlers. He became the 198th Test victim for Chris Martin. He was also dismissed leg-before-wicket.
Mohammad Hafeez showed some positive intent but he was not able to build on the start he got. He scored 32 runs off 46 balls before he edged a ball to Ross http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Taylor-c92915 in the slips.
Pakistan were in a difficult situation after the early three wickets but Younis Khan and captain http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Misbah-ul-Haq-c1972 came to the team’s rescue. The pair scored a 118-run partnership to take their team into a winning position. Younis looked threatening as he played
his shots after getting settled. He scored 81 runs with the help of 10 boundaries, but like the first innings, he was out in the dying moments of the second session.
Misbah was expected to lead the team to a victory but he was defensive from the very first ball bowled after tea and did not show any signs of chasing down the Kiwi target. Asad Shafiq, who normally keeps the scoring rate up, also went into his defensive
mode along with his captain.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/New-Zealand-c754 bowlers Chris Martin and Tim Southee took two wickets each until the tea session. The only wicket to fall after tea was taken by the Kiwi captain Daniel Vettori who dismissed Asad just before the close of play.
The overall result was good for Pakistan as the team won the Test series but the fans would have liked a better show from the Men in http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Green-c60723 especially when they needed 65 runs from the last 11 overs.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 captain was well settled and he could have taken the attack to New Zealand. However, he did not risk the match and looked content with a draw.
Although New Zealand did not lose the match, the overall series result will be disappointing for Vettori and his men.
The five-match One Day International series between both the teams gets underway on Saturday, 22 January, 2011.
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