NZ put Pakistan in survival mode after Williamson double ton
KARACHI: Pakistan were pushed into survival mode after Kane Williamson posted his fifth double century to boost New Zealand on the fourth day of the first Test here at the National Stadium on Thursday.
The hosts lost opener Abdullah Shafique and first drop Shan Masood in the closing minutes of the day and will go into the fifth final day trailing by 97 runs on a pitch that is only deteriorating.
While Abdullah threw his wicket cheaply in a failed attempt to clear mid on off off-spinner Michael Bracewell, Shan was undone when a quicker one by leg-spinner Ish Sodhi trapped him lbw on the backfoot.
Abdullah’s opening partner Imam-ul-Haq, however, was nifty with his feet to counter the rough patches on the pitch. The left-hander consistently played the New Zealand spinners off the bounce, scoring five boundaries to reach 45 not out by the close of the day’s play.
Pakistan would need to bat at least until tea on Friday to avoid their fourth consecutive Test defeat on home soil while New Zealand would look to take quick wickets to go 1-0 up in the two-match series.
New Zealand were able to get themselves into pole position thanks to Williamson, who added 95 to his overnight score to reach 200 not out before the visitors declared at 612-9.
The former New Zealand skipper demonstrated flawless technique and composure to make Pakistan spinners Abrar Ahmed and Nauman Ali look ineffective despite the duo putting up a decent bowling show in terms of discipline.
Abrar bowled nearly 68 overs to register his second five-wicket haul in his third Test outing. Nauman, on the other hand, delivered 63 overs for his three wickets.
Abrar, who made his Test debut against England earlier this month, was full of praise for Williamson.
“I’ve bowled to [Joe] Root as well but I think Williamson was extraordinary,” he said. “Even on good balls, it was easy for him to score runs.”
New Zealand had a two-run lead and four wickets in hand when Williamson arrived on the crease with Sodhi at the start of the day’s play.
Had it not been for the tailender’s support, Williamson may not have gone on to reach his double hundred and New Zealand may well have been struggling in the match.
The duo did not score too quickly in the morning session but ensured New Zealand kept wickets in hand and kept finding boundaries whenever the Pakistan bowlers faltered.
Sodhi scored New Zealand’s first boundary of the day when he slapped a wide delivery by Mohammad Wasim through the covers. The right-arm pacer was reversing the old ball but both Sodhi and Williamson played it late off a slow pitch to stay safe.
Williamson freed his arms with a lofted straight-drive over Abrar’s head an over before getting an lbw decision against him reversed when he missed a sweep shot off Nauman.
Pakistan put pacer Mir Hamza into the attack after they took the new ball and the left-armer was tight with his line and length. He came closest to taking a wicket when he beat Sodhi’s outside edge from around the wicket with the batter at 36.
Television replays later showed the ball had taken a slight edge off the right-hander’s bat, but in that moment no Pakistan player appealed.
Sodhi brought up his 50 with a boundary off Abrar early in the second session. In the next over, Williamson reached 150 runs with a four against Hamza.
From that point on, Williamson took on the attack against Abrar and Nauman, thanks to some brilliant footwork and sweeping from the 32-year-old.
Sodhi became Pakistan’s first breakthrough of the day when a leading edge forced by Abrar found Pakistan captain Babar Azam on mid-off. The dismissal ended Sodhi’s 180-ball knock off 55 balls and his 154-run partnership with Williamson.
New Zealand tailenders Tim Southee and Neil Wagner were easily dismissed by Nauman and Abrar respectively, before Ajaz Patel hung around to ensure Williamson reached his 200.
“.. It was nice to be out there being a part of number of partnerships that were really valuable for us getting a competitive total,” said Williamson. “It has got us in a reasonably good position but there’s a lot of hard work to do and many things can unfold on the day five of a Test match.
Williamson said the Pakistan batters will have be careful playing on the Karachi surface but believed it was not too difficult to bat on.
“It has definitely deteriorated a bit, there’s a lot more rough,” he said. “There’s a few more things to negotiate as a batter, a little bit of variable bounce, but having said that it’s still a very good surface, lot of hard work and patience going in tomorrow.”
SCOREBOARD
PAKISTAN (1st Innings) 438 (Babar Azam 161, Agha Salman 103; Tim Southee 3-69)
NEW ZEALAND (1st Innings, overnight 440-6):
T. Latham c sub (Kamran) b Abrar 113
D. Conway lbw b Nauman 92
K. Williamson not out 200
H. Nicholls b Nauman 22
D. Mitchell c Sarfraz b Abrar 42
T. Blundell lbw b Wasim 47
M. Bracewell c Wasim b Abrar 5
I. Sodhi c Babar b Abrar 65
T. Southee c Shan b Nauman 0
N. Wagner c Salman b Abrar 0
A. Patel not out 0
EXTRAS (B-7, LB-11, NB-1, W-2, PEN-5) 26
TOTAL (for nine wickets decl, 194.5 overs) 612
FALL OF WICKETS: 1-183 (Conway), 2-231 (Latham), 3-272 (Nicholls), 4-337 (Mitchell), 5-427 (Blundell), 6-436 (Bracewell), 7-595 (Sodhi), 8-596 (Southee), 9-597 (Wagner)
BOWLING: Hamza 26-3-83-0, Wasim 34-6-105-1, Abrar 67.5-8-205-5, Nauman 63-5-185-3 (1nb, 2w), Babar 4-1-11-0
PAKISTAN (2nd Innings):
Abdullah Shafique c sub (Phillips) b Bracewell 17
Imam-ul-Haq not out 45
Shan Masood lbw b Sodhi 10
Nauman Ali not out 4
EXTRAS (NB-1) 1
TOTAL (for two wickets, 31 overs) 77
STILL TO BAT: Babar Azam, Saud Shakeel, Sarfraz Ahmed, Agha Salman, Mohammad Wasim, Abrar Ahmed, Mir Hamza
FALL OF WICKETS: 1-47 (Abdullah), 2-71 (Shan)
BOWLING: Southee 6-3-8-0, Patel 9-1-29-0, Bracewell 9-1-23-1, Sodhi 7-1-17-1 (1nb).
Published in Dawn, December 30th, 2022
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