“What a Test match, who said Test cricket is boring!”
As cliched as that was, those words summed up what a brilliant Test match it was between Pakistan and New Zealand in Abu Dhabi on Monday.
New Zealand beat Pakistan by four runs in a sensational finish to the fourth day, taking a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.
Set 176 to win, Pakistan were bowled out for 171 with debutant left-arm spinner Ajaz Patel finishing with 5-59 and fast bowler Neil Wagner taking 2-27.
Azhar Ali top-scored with 65 while Asad Shafiq made 45.
Despite Azhar Ali’s resistance, Pakistan couldn’t cross the finish line as they collapsed from 130/3 in a bizarre session, filled with inexplicable shots.
“T20s come and go in a haze but these are the matches players remember, win or lose,” said Simon Doull on air towards the end of the game, capturing the beauty of the longest format of the game.
Sarfaraz, Bilal Asif and Hasan Ali were especially guilty of playing ambitious shots while Babar Azam’s run-out was another instance of Pakistan completely losing the plot.
When the second session started on Monday, Pakistan were just 46 runs away from winning the first Test against New Zealand in Abu Dhabi. That they were in that situation was in itself a a story of recovery after early wickets in the morning left them reeling.
They then lost middle-order batsman Asad Shafiq in the last over before lunch.
Pakistan's fall of wickets
| Score | Batsman |
|---|---|
| 1/40 2/44 3/48 4/130 5/147 6/154 7/154 8/155 9/164 10/171 | Imam-ul-haq Mohammad Hafeez Haris Sohail Asad Shafiq Babar Azam Sarfaraz Ahmed Bilal Asif Yasir Shah Hasan Ali Azhar Ali |
Pakistan, set 176 to win the match, were 130 for four at the break with Azhar Ali unbeaten on 40 after an innings-reviving stand of 82 with Shafiq in the first session.
Shafiq was caught behind to left-arm paceman Neil Wagner after lifting Pakistan from a perilous 48-3 since resuming at 37 without loss.
Before his dismissal, Shafiq passed a personal milestone of 4,000 Test runs, becoming the 11th Pakistani batsman to do so.
Shafiq and Azhar rescued Pakistan after high drama at the start of the day, when Pakistan lost three quick wickets in the space of just eight runs and as many balls.
This is how Twitter reacted to the result with plenty of praise for New Zealand.
Ultimately, it was all about Pakistan, though.
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