Pakistan vs New Zealand: 3rd Test- Who Said What

New Zealand managed to beat Pakistan in the third Test at Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi by 123 runs. Midway into the Black Caps’ second innings, it seemed as if the hosts would run away with the match, but Kane Williamson and Henry Nicholls had other ideas. With their stupendous victory, they also managed to win an overseas Test series against Pakistan since 1969.

Nicholls scores a century

Williamson and Nicholls were the overnight batsmen with 272 on the board, but the former fell prey to speedster Hasan Ali in the very first over of the day. The Kiwi captain scored 139 from 283 balls to take his team to a position of command. Colin de Grandhomme didn’t die wondering and churned out a breezy knock of 26 runs from 19 deliveries with two fours and as many sixes.

In the meantime, Nicholls didn’t throw his wicket away and notched his third Test century. The left-hander went on to remain not out on 126 from 266 balls with the help of 12 boundaries. Tim Southee played a cameo of 15 runs to propel the Black Caps’ score. Yasir Shah finished with a four-wicket haul and New Zealand declared at 353/7, therefore setting a target of 280 runs.

Pakistan fall short  

The run-chase didn’t turn out to be a memorable one for Pakistan. In the 25th over, they lost half their side with 55 runs on the board. Among the top five batsmen, only Imam-ul-Haq looked solid. Unfortunately, he fell prey to Ajaz Patel after scoring 22 runs from 54 balls with four boundaries. Sarfraz Ahmed and Babar tried to resurrect the innings with a stand of 43 runs.

However, William Somerville dismissed Sarfraz to further dent the hosts’ chances of a comeback. Babar Azam played a decent hand of 51 runs from 114 balls with five boundaries, but he got out to a rash stroke off Patel. The lower order couldn’t provide much resistance. From the Kiwis’ perspective, Tim Southee, Patel and Somerville got three wickets while Grandhomme picked up one.

Sarfraz Ahmed, Pakistan’s captain, said

As a batting unit we have failed to get big lead in this series, this is the main reason of our defeat. Our lower order has done a lot of hard work but unfortunately they haven’t contributed as we would have liked. We have failed in 4-5 matches now on fifth day. We need to work on playing against the new ball in second innings. We need to be mentally tough, specially on the final day of the match. We need to be positive in South Africa to win, it’s a difficult away series.

Kane Williamson, New Zealand’s captain and Player of the Match, said

 I didn’t wait for 49 years (smiles) — when asked about his wait for the series win against Pakistan away from home which came in 1969. Fantastic performance to be a part of. Pakistan are a very difficult team to beat and showed how strong they are in Dubai. We knew there was a lot of hard work to do. After the first innings, we felt we had a good total but Pakistan came back well. To get a good second innings target and to come out today to perform like that was superb. The spinners came on this tour and showed their experience, which was massive for us. It was just about coming out and bucking down (on his performance). We (himself and Nicholls) were able to get that partnership and a bit of momentum as well. To come out here and to perform the way we did was special. We will remember this win for a long time. I want to wish Hafeez on his fantastic career as well. He’s been a great player for Pakistan.

Yasir Shah, Player of the Series, said

I am happy as I am the Man of the series. I wanted to bowl in good areas consistently. I saw some videos too and I am grateful that I got my rhythm back. I don’t look at records. I am pretty disappointed as we have not won the series.

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