SHARJAH: Returning opener Mohammad Hafeez struck a dominating century to lift Pakistan to 281-3 in the third and final Test against New Zealand in Sharjah on Wednesday.

The 34-year-old, who missed the second Test, anchored Pakistan’s innings with an unbeaten 178 — his seventh Test hundred and second in the series — as Pakistan dominated the day after winning a crucial toss and deciding to bat on a flat, grass-less Sharjah Cricket Stadium pitch.

Hafeez added an invaluable 121 for the fourth wicket with skipper Misbah-ul-Haq who was not out on a chancy 38 and 87 for the second wicket with Azhar Ali (39).

It was an aggressive knock during which Hafeez drove and pulled with authority, clobbering 23 boundaries and three sixes.

Misbah, batting in his usual cautious style, benefitted from a dropped catch on 20 when wicket-keeper B.J. Watling failed to hold an edge off leg-spinner Ish Sodhi.

New Zealand’s three-pronged spin attack failed to get any spin with Mark Craig getting 2-67 and the recalled Daniel Vettori 1-28.

New Zealand, seeking to level the three-match series after losing the first in Abu Dhabi by 248 runs and drawing the second in Dubai, hit back in the second session by dismissing Azhar and the in-form Younis Khan for five.

Pakistan were comfortably placed at 82-1 at lunch but Azhar became off-spinner Craig’s second wicket, caught in the slip off a loose shot.

Azhar said Hafeez was focused even before the Test.

“He came back from England a day before the Test,” said Azhar of Hafeez who had a bio-mechanical analysis of his bowling action reported during the first Test. “That did not deter him and he played a brilliant knock. We won the toss but needed to score big and we are on course for that, a total of 500 or above would help us dictate terms.”

Younis, who hit three hundreds in Pakistan’s 2-0 rout of Australia last month and one more in the first Test of this series, was trapped leg-before by left-armer Vettori.

Vettori is playing his 112th match for New Zealand, becoming his country’s most capped player beating Stephen Fleming who played 111.

Vettori, who also played one Test for an ICC World XI in 2005, was accorded a guard of honour by New Zealand players as he entered the field.

Hafeez reached his hundred with a couple of boundaries and a single, reaching the mark in 130 balls aided with 14 boundaries and two sixes.

In the first session, Pakistan had a confident start of 44 before Craig bowled Shan Masood for 12.

In the post match briefing, Craig said Pakistan had won a good toss but all was not lost for his team. “It’s not the end of the story when one loses the toss even though it can influence the game strongly on a surface like this which does not have double bounce. It is part and parcel of cricket,” Craig told the media. “We did get the ball in the right areas and but Hafeez played exceptionally well and kept the good ones away and punished even the unplayable ones once he was into his rhythm,” he said.

The feeling of playing alongside Daniel Vettori for the first time was something Craig cherished. “He is simply awesome. There is an aura about him and it is nice he turned up and played a Test match with us and he is a quality player at the top level,” he said.

Pakistan’s Azhar Ali, known to bat long periods of time, surprisingly gifted away his wicket for 39 when he attacked a harmless delivery from Craig on the off stump. Commenting on it, he said: “My soft dismissal — it happens when one wants to get into the grove and consolidate. Things were going well for us when I dug in well with Hafeez to lay the early foundation.”

“Yes, I have missed out on an opportunity here but I am glad with the way we all batted as a team. I think it is very important to have a big score when you win the toss and bat. So we have got a very good start and we want to capitalise on it and hopefully tomorrow (Thursday) we will continue to have the partnership which will make all the difference,” he said.

Pakistan made two changes from the Dubai Test line-up, dropping out-of-form opener Taufiq Umar and Ehsan Adil, who suffered a side-muscle strain. They brought in Hafeez and paceman Mohammad Talha.

New Zealand brought Vettori, playing his first Test for 28 months, replacing Jimmy Neesham.

Pakistan lead the three-match series 1-0, after winning the first Test in Abu Dhabi and drawing the second in Dubai.

Scoreboard

PAKISTAN (1st Innings):

Mohammad Hafeez not out 178

Shan Masood b Craig 12

Azhar Ali c Taylor b Craig 39

Younis Khan lbw b Vettori 5

Misbah-ul-Haq not out 38

EXTRAS (LB-4, W-4, NB-1) 9

TOTAL (for three wkts, 90 overs) 281

FALL OF WKTS: 1-44, 2-131, 3-160.

TO BAT: Asad Shafiq, Sarfraz Ahmed, Yasir Shah, Mohammad Talha, Zulfiqar Babar, Rahat Ali.

BOWLING (to-date): Boult 17-5-47-0 (1w); Southee 18-3-43-0; Vettori 12-4-28-1; Anderson 12-4-28-0 (1nb, 3w); Craig 16-2-67-2; Sodhi 15-2-64-0.

NEW ZEALAND: T.W.M. Latham, B.B. McCullum, K.S. Williamson, L.R.P.L. Taylor, C.J. Anderson, D.L. Vettori, B.J. Watling, M.D. Craig, T.G. Southee, I.S. Sodhi, T.A. Boult.

UMPIRES: P.R. Reiffel and R.J. Tucker (both Australia).

TV UMPIRE: R.E.J. Martinesz (Sri Lanka).

MATCH REFEREE: A.J. Pycroft (Zimbabwe).

Published in Dawn, November 27th , 2014