ABU DHABI: Opener Tom Latham hit a maiden hundred but Pakistan still managed to secure a big lead in their bid to win the first Test against New Zealand in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday.

The left-handed opener scored 103 to defy the Pakistani bowlers as wickets fell from the other end with paceman Rahat Ali (4-22) and spinner Zulfiqar Babar (3-79) wrapping up New Zealand’s first innings for 262 at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium.

That gave Pakistan a big 304-run lead and despite their opponents falling 105 runs short of the follow-on mark, the hosts batted again and finished the third day at 15-0.

Mohammad Hafeez (5) and Azhar Ali (9) were at the crease as Pakistan, who had declared their first innings at 566-3 on Monday, led by 319 runs with two days left to push for a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.

Pakistan’s regular opener Ahmed Shehzad was earlier ruled out of the remainder of the match and two Tests to follow after he suffered a skull fracture suffered from a missed bouncer on Monday.

Latham followed his father, Rod, to hit a Test hundred. They became the third New Zealand pair of father-and-son, and the 11th overall, to score Test centuries.

Walter and Richard Hadlee and Ken and Hamish Rutherford had also done it for the Kiwis in the past.

Rod Latham hit his only century against Zimbabwe at Bulawayo in 1992.

The younger Latham said: “It was little bit of relief as in West Indies I had three half-centuries in a row. It was little bit disappointing not to kick on in. So it was nice to score a ton in the first innings and in the first Test. To achieve that milestone certainly I’m very proud.”

Latham, who escaped two tough catch chances early on, kept one end intact as New Zealand recovered from a precarious 47-3 to 215-5 after Zulfiqar and Rahat had jolted them in the morning session.

Latham, whose previous best of 83 came against the West Indies earlier this year, hit 13 boundaries during his patient 222-ball knock and added 83 for the fourth wicket with Corey Anderson who made 48 off 70 balls with eight fours.

On his overnight score of five, Latham’s hard push was dropped by Azhar at short leg, and on 32, wicket-keeper Sarfraz Ahmed couldn’t hold onto a thick edge off Hafeez. The left-hander profited from the two lapses, and showed lot of maturity in only his fifth test since making his debut against India this year.

RAHAT Ali celebrates after taking the wicket of Tom Latham during the first Test on Tuesday.—AFP

Latham was bold against the spinners, and reached his century off 212 balls with a powerfully driven straight boundary off Zulfiqar in the last session. However, Rahat had the opener trapped leg before wicket soon afterwards, with a brilliant yorker.

B.J. Watling (42) and Ish Sodhi (25) furthered the fight through their ninth wicket stand of 43 runs but Yasir Shah bowled Sodhi and Zulfiqar had Watling leg-before to end the innings.

After lunch Rahat had Anderson bowled while Jimmy Neesham was stumped off Hafeez for 11.

In the morning Zulfiqar struck twice to derail New Zealand.

Zulfiqar, who took 16 wickets in the 2-0 rout of Australia last week, dismissed Brendon McCullum (18) with a sharp turner for a slip catch and then had Ross Taylor (0) out in a similar fashion.

In between, Rahat had Kane Williamson (3) bowled off an inside edge to leave New Zealand struggling at 47-3.

Resuming at 15-0, the New Zealand batsmen knew they were set for a spin challenge against Zulfiqar and Yasir.

McCullum survived a confident leg-before appeal against paceman Imran Khan when on 12 and Pakistan’s review against umpire’s decision was also wasted.

Scoreboard

PAKISTAN (1st Innings) 566-3 declared (Ahmed Shehzad 176, Misbah-ul-Haq 102 not out, Younis Khan 100 not out, Mohammad Hafeez 96, Azhar Ali 87; C.J. Anderson 2-68).
NEW ZEALAND (1st Innings, overnight 15-0):
T.W.M. Latham lbw b Rahat 103
B.B. McCullum c Younis b Zulfiqar 18
K.S. Williamson b Rahat 3
L.R.P.L. Taylor c Asad b Zulfiqar 0
C.J. Anderson b Rahat 48
J.D.S. Neesham st Sarfraz b Hafeez 11
B.J. Watling lbw b Zulfiqar 42
M.D. Craig run out 1
T.G. Southee c Sarfraz b Rahat 0
I.S. Sodhi b Yasir 25
T.A. Boult not out 0

EXTRAS (LB-7, NB-4) 11

TOTAL (all out, 87.3 overs) 262

FALL OF WKTS: 1-33, 2-38, 3-47, 4-130, 5-150, 6-215, 7-219, 8-219, 9-262.

BOWLING: Rahat Ali 17-10-22-4 (3nb); Imran Khan 11-2-29-0 (1nb); Zulfiqar Babar 27.3-5-79-3; Mohammad Hafeez 15-1-60-1; Yasir Shah 17-1-65-1.

PAKISTAN (2nd Innings):

Mohammad Hafeez not out 5
Azhar Ali not out 9

EXTRAS (LB-1) 1

TOTAL (for no wkt, 6 overs) 15

BOWLING (to-date): Boult 3-1-6-0; Southee 2-0-4-0; Sodhi 1-0-4-0.

Published in Dawn, November 12th, 2014