Medium pacer Hasan Ali and leg-spinner Yasir Shah took five wickets apiece to set Pakistan on the path to victory on the third day of the first Test against New Zealand in Abu Dhabi on Sunday. Hasan collected his maiden five-wicket haul with 5-45 while Yasir finished with 5-110 - the 14th time he has taken five in a Test innings - as New Zealand collapsed from 220-4 to 249 all out soon after tea.
That left Pakistan needing 176 to win. By close they were 37 without loss with Imam-ul-Haq on 25 not out and Mohammad Hafeez unbeaten on eight. Pakistan needed another 139 to win with all ten wickets in hand and two days to play. Yet New Zealand can take heart from the fact that Pakistan lost a Test here against Sri Lanka by 21 runs after being set 136 to win last year.
BJ Watling and Henry Nicholls defied Pakistan after lunch as New Zealand added 67 in the second session without losing a wicket. Yasir broke the fifth-wicket stand at 112 after tea to start a burst of four wickets in 15 balls. After Pakistan took the new ball at 201-4, Yasir had Nicholls caught beautifully by wicketkeeper Sarfraz Ahmed for 55. Nicholls hit three boundaries in his 171-ball knock.
In his next over, Yasir trapped Colin de Grandhomme leg-before for three. An over later, Yasir ended Watling's 145-ball, 59-run, defiance leg-before. He then bowled Neil Wagner for nought. Hasan then wrapped up the innings by bowling Ish Sodhi for 18 and had Trent Boult caught off a miscued drive for nought to improve on his previous best figures of 4-51 against England at Lord's in May this year.
In the morning, New Zealand seemed in danger of losing the Test before the end of the day as three quick wickets fell for just 22 runs with Hasan taking two in the same over. But, on 15, Watling survived a leg-before decision on review after umpire Bruce Oxenford raised his finger off Bilal Asif. Hasan said he was pleased with his effort.
"It's pleasing to record your first five-wicket haul," said Hasan. "I kept it simple and even when there was a partnership we knew we needed just one wicket to run through them." The second Test is in Dubai (November 24-28) and the third in Abu Dhabi (December 3-7).
Scoreboard New Zealand first innings 153 (K.Williamson 63, H. Nicholls 28; Yasir Shah 3-54) Pakistan first innings 227 (Babar Azam 62, Asad Shafiq 43; T. Boult 4-54)
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New Zealand 2nd innings (overnight 56-1)
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J. Raval c Sarfraz b Hasan 46
T. Latham b Hasan 0
K. Williamson b Yasir 37
R. Taylor lbw b Hasan 19
H. Nicholls c Sarfraz b Yasir 55
BJ Watling lbw b Yasir 59
C. de Grandhomme lbw b Yasir 3
I. Sodhi b Hasan 18
N. Wagner b Yasir 0
Ajaz Patel not out 6
T. Boult c Hafeez b Hasan 0
Extras: (b 4, nb 1, w 1) 6
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Total: (all out; 100.4 overs) 249
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Fall of wickets: 1-0 (Latham), 2-86 (Williamson), 3-105 (Taylor), 4-108 (Raval), 5-220 (Nicholls), 6-224 (Grandhomme), 7-227 (Watling), 8-227 (Wagner), 9-249 (Sodhi)
Bowling: Abbas 22-10-31-0, Hasan 17.4-3-45-5 (1nb, 1w), Yasir 37-6-110-5, Sohail 7-1-12-0, Asif 14-3-43-0, Hafeez 3-1-4-0.
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Pakistan 2nd innings
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Imam-ul-Haq not out 25
Mohammad Hafeez not out 8
Extras: (b4) 4
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Total: (no loss; 8 overs) 37
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Still to bat: Azhar Ali, Haris Sohail, Asad Shafiq, Babar Azam, Sarfraz Ahmed, Hasan Ali, Bilal Asif, Yasi Shah, Mohammad Abbas
Bowling: Boult 3-0-16-0, de Grandhomme 3-0-15-0, Patel 1-1-0-0, Sodhi 1-0-2-0
Toss: New Zealand
Umpires: Ian Gould (ENG) and Bruce Oxenford (AUS)
Tv umpire: Paul Reiffel (AUS)
Match referee: Javagal Srinath (AUS).
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