Neil Wagner and Trent Boult yesterday left Pakistan’s second innings in tatters to put New Zealand in sight of a comprehensive first Test victory at the end of the third day in Christchurch.
The tourists lost six wickets in the final session at Hagley Oval to reach 129-7 at stumps, ahead by only 62 runs with two days remaining.
Boult had 3-18 off 15 overs, while Wagner, who started the wicket spree, had 2-21.
“We’ve been outplayed so far,” Pakistan coach Mickey Arthur said, but he refused to concede defeat, saying they would not need many more runs to set up a tight finish.
“We feel that 150-170, we could have a real chance, because there’s still enough in the wicket,” he added.
Not out for Pakistan were Sohail Khan on 22 and Asad Shafiq on six, with the Test likely to be all over in three playing days after the scheduled first day was washed out.
Until Wagner struck, Pakistan were clawing their way back into the Test having started the day on the back foot. They ripped out the last seven New Zealand wickets for only 96 runs and Azhar Ali and Babar Azam were painstakingly building their second innings — accumulating 37 runs in 23 overs.
However, in the sixth over after tea Azam, on 29, attempted to fend away a Wagner ball targeting his ribs only for it to skim the gloves and wicketkeeper B.J. Watling completed the dismissal. It gave Wagner his 100th scalp in his 26th Test, making him the second-fastest New Zealand cricketer to claim a century of wickets after Richard Hadlee reached the mark in 25 matches.
Younis Khan lasted only eight balls before he gloved a Wagner bouncer to Watling and Pakistan had gone from 58-1 to 64-3.
Wagner said the short ball was part of the game plan when conditions did not offer much swing.
“You’ve got to find a way of creating doubt in a batter’s footwork... It’s obviously about picking the right moments and adapting to the conditions and then you’ve got to execute it and lucky it was one of those days it worked,” he said.
Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq tried to knock Tim Southee out of the attack with a four and two off successive balls, but he pulled the next delivery to Boult running around the long-leg boundary and he was gone for 13.
An inspired Boult then bowled Azhar to end the opener’s marathon innings, in which he faced 173 balls in more than four hours for only 31 runs.
Boult, on a roll, bowled Sarfraz Ahmed for two and had Mohammad Amir caught for six.
Until the late collapse, Pakistan had been all concentration, with only 44 runs scored in the middle session to reach 50-1 at tea.
Colin de Grandhomme, whose first innings 6-41 was the best bowling performance by a New Zealander on debut, made the opening breakthrough in Pakistan’s second innings when he had Sami Aslam, who faced 57 deliveries, out for seven.
After New Zealand resumed the day in a commanding position at 104-3, some impetuous shotmaking saw them all out for 200 as they tried to hurry the score along under cloudy skies and a pitch that suited seam bowlers.
Overnight batsmen Jeet Raval and Henry Nicholls were gone in the first four overs, with Raval unable to add to his overnight 55 and Nicholls adding only one run to be gone for 30.
De Grandhomme, who has rarely been out of the spotlight in his maiden Test, belted a quick-fire 29 that included six boundaries, while Southee (22) and Wagner (21) also plundered quick runs in their brief cameos.
The New Zealand innings folded in 55.5 overs, just four more than Pakistan’s first innings of 133.
Rahat Ali was the chief destroyer for Pakistan with 4-62, while Sohail Khan and Mohammad Amir took three wickets each.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
The lights dimmed and the crowd hushed as Karoline Kristensen entered for her performance. However, this was no ordinary Dutch theater: The temperature was 80°C and the audience naked apart from a towel. Dressed in a swimsuit and to the tune of emotional music, the 21-year-old Kristensen started her routine, performed inside a large sauna, with a bed of hot rocks in the middle. For a week this month, a group of wellness practitioners, called “sauna masters,” are gathering at a picturesque health resort in the Netherlands to compete in this year’s Aufguss world sauna championships. The practice takes its name from a
Japanese players are moving to English soccer in record numbers and more look set to follow with clubs attracted by their quality, strong work ethic and value for money. Kaoru Mitoma is the standout talent of five Japanese players in the English Premier League, with eight more in the Championship and two in League One. Liverpool midfielder Wataru Endo, the captain of Japan, believes his compatriots are “being held in higher esteem” by English clubs compared with the past. “The staff at Liverpool ask me about lots of Japanese players, not necessarily with a view to a transfer, but just saying this or
Taiwan yesterday survived Bosnia and Herzegovina to win their Davis Cup World Group I tie at the Taipei Tennis Center. The tight series started on Saturday with world No. 123 Jason Tseng losing 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 to Mirza Basic in the opening singles matchup. However, teammate Tony Wu kept the tie even, dominating world No. 86 Damir Dzumhur 6-2, 6-1. Yesterday, 24-year-old Ray Ho and partner 25-year-old Hsu Yu-hsiou kept up the momentum, making short work of Basic and Nerman Fatic, winning 6-3, 6-4. Tseng then suffered another defeat, losing 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 to Dzumhur in a brutal match that lasted more than two