KARACHI: Salman Ali Agha had been showing promise, but he would have known deep down within that a big contribution was due on him.

It did come, finally, that too in the form of a maiden hundred. And it was good enough for the batter to prove his mettle as a Test material for Pakistan, who piled up a mammoth first-innings total of 438 against New Zealand on the second day of the first Test here at the National Stadium on Tuesday.

The visitors, however, responded strongly, ending the day at 165 without losing a wicket as openers Tom Latham and Devon Conway neared centuries.

Salman’s innings was about grit, shrewdness and most importantly bravery. The right-hander was playing at four when he saw captain Babar Azam depart in the day’s first over, without adding to his overnight score of 161. By the end of Pakistan’s innings, Salman had battered the Kiwis’ bowlers for 103 off just 155 balls.

“Scoring your first international hundred is a feeling you can’t describe in words,” Salman said in the post-day press conference.

New Zealand would have thought they were on the front foot when their skipper Tim Southee forced Babar into playing a loose drive, only to get caught by wicket-keeper Tom Blundell four deliveries into the day.

At that point, Salman was just 17-balls-young at the crease, but what followed was a show of maturity and leadership by the batter. He opened his day’s account with a paddle sweep for four off left-arm spinner Ajaz Patel as Nauman Ali looked on from the other end.

Nauman would go onto spend most of his time on the crease at the non-striker’s end as Salman took all responsibility on his own shoulders. On the rare occasions when he got the chance to bat, the left-hander blocked solidly.

Salman, meanwhile, kept the attack on as he slashed Southee through backward point for his second boundary before heaving through long-on for a third off Patel. He brought up his half-century with a straight drive for four off Neil Wagner, three deliveries before Nauman fell to the pacer.

Nauman could add only seven, but he negotiated 75 deliveries. Salman’s contribution to the 54-run partnership was 47 runs off 82 balls.

Playing only his sixth Test, Salman then combined with Mir Hamza for an eighth-wicket knock of 39 off 48 balls — after Mohammad Wasim depar­ted early — with the tailender playing 15 deliveries for just one run.

On the other end during the partnership, Salman added 37 off just 33, most of it coming after tea — with Pakistan’s scorecard reading 377-8 at the break. The first delivery of the final session — from Wagner — was dispatched for four by Salman.

He plundered three more boundaries off the pacer four overs later, after hitting another off Ish Sodhi before Hamza was trapped lbw by the leg-spinner.

The Lahore-born player lofted Southee over mid-on for his 15th boundary and drilled Sodhi for two more in the next to bring up his hundred.

“When Babar got out, the responsibility was on me and I looked to score as many runs as possible” said Salman. “I have to appreciate Nomi Bhai [Nauman], he played around 80 balls during a period when staying at the wicket was more important.”

Pakistan’s dominance with the bat was also due to the National Stadium pitch not responding to spin bowling the way it did on the first day. The nature of the surface didn’t change much when New Zealand came in to bat and the visitors ensured they go into the third day with runs on the board.

Latham and Conway looked focused and composed as they got themselves settled on the pitch before playing safe shots to get boundaries off pacers as well as spinners.

Mystery spinner Abrar Ahmed, who was Pakistan’s main strike option during the recent home series against England, was nullified by the two left-handers, who were challenged only by occasional low bounce.

Pakistan’s attempt to utilise reverse swing through Wasim was also a failure after Hamza, who was playing his first Test in four years, proved ineffective with the new ball.

Pakistan could have had a breakthrough had they opted for a DRS review after umpire Aleem Dar ruled Conway not out despite inside edging Nauman to wicket-keeper Sarfraz Ahmed’s gloves. Television replays went on to show the batter had clearly edged the ball.

By the close of play, Latham had scored 78 while Conway had added 82 as they smashed eight and 12 boundaries, respectively.

The pitch, Sodhi said, would eventually start providing help to the spinners.

“After watching the first 10 overs of Pakistan’s inn­ings, I thought it’s going to spin a lot more than it has perhaps throughout the day,” he noted. “There are a lot of footmarks down there, specially going around the wic­k­et for me and hopefully we can utilise that as the game progresses but there’s still a job to do with the bat.”

SCOREBOARD

PAKISTAN (1st Innings, overnight 317-5):

Abdullah Shafique st Blundell b Patel 7

Imam-ul-Haq c Southee b Bracewell 24

Shan Masood st Blundell b Bracewell 3

Babar Azam c Blundell b Southee 161

Saud Shakeel c Nicholls b Southee 22

Sarfraz Ahmed c Mitchell b Patel 86

Agha Salman lbw b Southee 103

Nauman Ali c Bracewell b Wagner 7

Mohammad Wasim c Blundell b Sodhi 2

Mir Hamza lbw b Sodhi 1

Abrar Ahmed not out 6

EXTRAS (B-3, LB-10, NB-2, W-1) 16

TOTAL (all out, 130.5 overs) 438

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-12 (Abdullah), 2-19 (Shan), 3-48 (Imam), 4-110 (Saud), 5-306 (Sarfraz), 6-318 (Babar), 7-372 (Nauman), 8-375 (Wasim), 9-414 (Hamza)

BOWLING: Southee 25.5-4-69-3, Wagner 21-2-66-1 (1nb, 1w), Patel 36-6-112-2, Bracewell 24-6-72-2, Sodhi 21-0-87-2 (1nb), Mitchell 3-0-19-0

NEW ZEALAND (1st Innings):

T. Latham not out 78

D. Conway not out 82

EXTRAS (B-4, LB-1) 5

TOTAL (for no wicket; 47 overs) 165

STILL TO BAT: K. Williamson, H. Nicholls, D. Mitchell, T. Blundell, M. Bracewell, I. Sodhi, T.Southee, N. Wagner, A. Patel

BOWLING: Hamza 7-1-23-0, Wasim 9-2-32-0, Abrar 17-3-57-0, Nauman 11-1-37-0, Babar 3-0-11-0.

Published in Dawn, December 28th, 2022