At Karachi National Stadium: New Zealand 449 versus Pakistan 407-9 (Saud Shakeel 124 not out, Imam-ul-Haq 83, Sarfaraz Ahmed 78, Agha Salman 41; Ajaz Patel 3-88).
It was as if Pakistan had bored themselves into stupidity.
That’s a tad harsh on the application of New Zealand on day three of the second cricket test, which saw seven hours of tedium capped by 20 minutes of madness.
But any other explanation was hard to fathom as the hosts lost four wickets for 12 runs in the dropping sun in Karachi.
At stumps, the hosts were 407-9 in their first innings in reply to the Black Caps’ 449 on a grinding day only given late spark when Michael Bracewell’s sharp second-attempt catch to remove Agha Salman in the final hour lit a fuse.
That was followed by two wild swipes from Hasan Ali and Naseem Shah that were completely out of character with all that came before it – almost as if Pakistan had become tired of their own approach which saw them score at 2.26 runs per over in the final session.
But to break their respective runs of tests without a victory, one of the combatants is still likely to have to produce more moments out of the ordinary in the remaining two days.
The hosts had hauled themselves back to near parity on what had been for the vast majority a desperately dull day on a desperately dull wicket. Saud Shakeel, a key figure in Pakistan staving off defeat in the first test last week, batted all day to end unbeaten on 124 from 336 balls – after being dropped on 102.
Pakistan resumed on day three at 154-3, with Imam-ul-Haq unbeaten on 74 and possible thoughts among the visiting side how the left-handed opener self-destructed in the second innings in Karachi in the first test when within touching distance of a century.
When again closing in on three figures on Wednesday, he chased a delivery from Tim Southee which deliberately offered some width outside off stump and was caught behind off the toe-end of his bat following a rare DRS request that went in Southee’s favour.
Southee and Matt Henry plugged away without luck while legspinner Ish Sodhi got a few past the bat as the hosts crawled their way to 224-4 at lunch.
Following the break, jaunty wicketkeeper-batter Sarfaraz Ahmed pushed into attacking mode, partly dragging Shakeel along with him as New Zealand’s bowlers lost a little of their discipline and accuracy while using the second new ball.
After Shakeel registered his maiden ton, part-time medium-pacer Daryl Mitchell looked to have struck with his first ball, having his forehead vein-popping lbw appeal against Sarfaraz granted – only for the decision to be reversed via DRS with a faint inside edge detected, while the unrequited ball-tracking may have also revealed the ball would have missed leg stump.
But just two balls later, Sarfaraz perished to a marvellous piece of glovework by his opposite behind the stumps as Tom Blundell produced a slick leg-side stumping as TV umpire Ahsan Raza eventually ruled the batter had air between his spikes and the turf after overbalancing on his second attempt at safety.
Sodhi, who almost bowled New Zealand to a win on the final day of the first test, was less effective without the aid of the bowlers’ footmarks which made him more of a threat then until picking up successive-ball wickets in the tail. First-choice slow bowler Ajaz Patel was again disappointing before getting his second and third wickets of the innings courtesy of late juggling efforts by Bracewell and Devon Conway.
Big moment
The best chance New Zealand had to eke out a decent advantage crashed to the ground when Tom Latham dropped the century-maker.
Shakeel had become becalmed since reaching his century and offered the simplest of opportunities off Southee to Latham at short point, only for the ball to bounce hard out of his reverse-cup hands and on to the turf.
The hosts at that stage still trailed by 100, when a wicket would have opened up the unpredictable lower-order.
Best with the bat
Shakeel appears an unruffled character, ideally suited to the sedate nature of how most have batted in this series on a wicket few bowlers will ever wish to sight again.
After already showing an ability to be tough to dismiss early in his innings, the left-hander this time went the distance to bring up his first test century from 240 deliveries.
But if there was to be a criticism to be levelled at the day’s best performer, he seemed unwilling to drive the hosts towards a position where they could apply added pressure on day four.
The visitors took six wickets on day three – one of them a leg-side stumping and two more to ungainly heaves from the lower order – so not one for many plaudits for the bowlers.
But the new skipper has not shirked the challenge of being a swing-seam bowler at a venue offering neither. Southee’s lines and variations made it challenging for Pakistan to get ahead and he should have been rewarded with Shakeel’s scalp – not that he would have minded seeing his spinners profit in the dying stages.
Big picture
Both teams should be aching for a test victory – Pakistan haven't won at home in almost two years, and NZ’s last win came in Christchurch last February – but which one will show the greater urgency on the penultimate day?
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