Pakistan suffer another fourth-innings collapse, New Zealand win first Test by four runs

[cricketindiafan]

Another chase in 4th innings, another team collapsing from a winning position. Beauty of test cricket.

Serious issues for Pakistan to consider, the way the lower middle order and tail tried to slog away was atrocious to watch. No game sense at all. That run out of Babar perhaps spooked the others who came after him.

 

[loves_cricket]

What a great test match and both team played equally well
In the end it was to be NZ but Pak wasn't far behind
It's going to be a very interesting series

 

[mrtaim3]

No need for over reaction had we got those 4 runs do you think NZ fans would be asking for complete team change. Many players performed really well to put us in the winning position. Seniors like Hafeez Azhar and Asad let team down. The only two changes I agree with you is Hafeez and Bilal.

Even if we had won this match, it was still disgraceful. Pakistan should have never been in this position in the first place. This is not the first time Pakistan has done this. Need a transformational change if you want to compete. This newzealand side is a weak team. What are these going to do against the teams like South Africa? Need to make unpopular and tough decisions now if we are to compete.

 

[Nikhil_cric]

Search twitter for 'Hasan Ali celebration' and see what some of the latest replies are on it and what opposition fans think of it.

Heck, put yourself in the batsmen's position, how would you feel if someone sent you off like that?

He's entitled to celebrate however he wants and others are equally entitled to mock him when he fails. Don't see the problem with either. Btw congratulations Aman. Just goes to show that winning the toss at Abu Dhabi is absolutely crucial.

 

[Sadozai]

The whole batting lineup is the culprit. Can't pin point anyone but Sarfaraz should take the blame and step down from test captaincy.

 

[Zakaz]

I am proud pakistani but today, even I am laughing at this

 

[moghul]

Lets arrange series against Zimbabwe or BD ASAP, we need to justify Sarfraz and Hafeez'z position in the team and make sure Hafeez is "injured" in SA and don't let him face any decent fast bowler. Lets keep our tradition, individuals are more important than country in cricket.

 

[GLORY OF '92]

Yes it's horrific and hard to stomach.

But we can still win 2-1. If we do that this won't hurt as much. Bilal must go.

 

[MMHS]

I think, the turning point of this game was in 1st innings of PAK's batting - when Sarfraz got out to an unnecessary attacking sweep. At 175/5 with 20 ahead and set Babar at one end, PAK could have killed the game with another 100 added for last 5 wickets. This was going to be a tight game when Kiwis won the toss, but bowlers gave PAK an excellent chance to effectively close the game in one innings - didn't happen for that one shot. Asad & Azhar played really well to take it to 130-3, then Babar ran himself out, hence it looks (happens to be) such a close game, but in reality 175 was always a tricky chase.

Game was lost to 2 sweeps - and I thought he is decent against spin!!!!

 

[Amjid Javed]

Pathetic feeble batting overall in both inns when in 1st inns we should have got a huge lead and in 2nd inns we should have chased with ease.

 

[ARK Rafay]

Well well, Pakistan missed the 4th innings master Younis Khan. These trundlers with the bat won't win you games.

 

[the Great Khan]

Well well, Pakistan missed the 4th innings master Younis Khan. These trundlers with the bat won't win you games.

you mean like Haris?

 

[starbuck]

Great test match. Well played New Zealand

 

[the Great Khan]

Pathetic feeble batting overall in both inns when in 1st inns we should have got a huge lead and in 2nd inns we should have chased with ease.

yes true..they should have got another 70-80 at least..mentally pretty weak..

 

[Mainul]

Hasan Ali )

Sorry if it triggers some of you, but his celebrations are so annoying for opposition fans. If this was an opposition player doing this to you, you'd understand.

There is nothing wrong in it.
I just find no offence in celebration in way of Nagin dance, boom boom celebration of Hasan. Why so serious? Without these cricket would have been boring.

 

[Amjid Javed]

Regardless of how rest of this series goes the selections of players like hafeez, Asif and lack of bottle shown by our senior players needs to be under review.

Also the none selection of Fakhar at top of the order was a joke as well.

 

[srh]

Sarfraz deserve this humiliation after the huge injustice he committed against Mir Hamza dropping the youngster after only 1 test

 

[HGhazanfar]

Major Flaws with all our sides - the below lineups will work well.

Test
Fakhar Zaman (Needs to work on technical aspects of his batting, but we can persist with him as he plays for the team)
Azhar Ali (Can grind it out and give the team the opening balance with Fakhar)
Haris Sohail
Babar Azam (Batting too low in the order currently) C
Saad Ali/Saud Shakeel
Asad Shafiq
M Rizwan W
Faheem Ashraf / Shadab Khan (Depends on Conditions)
Hasan Ali
Yasir Shah
M Abbas

ODI
Fakhar Zaman
Babar Azam C
Kamran Akmal WK
Umar Akmal (Youre best batsmen must play, must look beyond off field issues)
Shadab Khan (He needs to work on his batting but needs to take a middle order spot to chip in 30 runs consistently)
M Hafeez (Can be useful down the order to play a more finishing role, selected over Malik due to bowling)
Asif Ali (Must persist with him as a lower order hitter/Floater)
Faheem Ashraf
Hassan Ali
Shaheen Afridi
Abbas

 

[HGhazanfar]

Can't win much when 3 of your 7 batting spots belong to Hafeez, Sarfraz and Imam

 

[Snowflake]

What a great test match and both team played equally bad
In the end it was to be Pak but NZ wasn't far behind
It's going to be a very interesting series

Fixed. This was a pretty low-quality test match. Both teams missed way too many opportunities to wrap up the game earlier.

 

[Aman]

So we just need to win one of the next two matches to win the series.

How will the next two pitches be?

Hopefully the batsmen will improve from this experience and we can secure/draw the series.

If Pakistan prepare dead wickets, I think we have a chance of drawing one of the Tests and walking away with a drawn series.

 

[BaankeJi]

It seems Indians and their descendants are more triggered by that celebration than anyone else, why else would you be waiting for a loss to post that? Totally random.

Anyway Pakistan's batting as usual below standard, this is always where the issues are.

You had to bring India into it. Can't live without blaming India for each and everything.

 

[SarfiBabarHaris]

Sharamful loss, cant believe it. :/

 

[Abdullah719]

I'm from NZ but haven't come here to boast. Sincerest commiserations. It was a magnificent test in which it was very sad that one team lost. Perhaps a tie would've been a fairer result. It was great to see the respect between the two teams and I hope the other two tests are played in such great spirit.

Congrats on the win.

 

[BunnyRabbit]

Congrats to NZ for their good performance.

If only Sarfraz had contributed 10 runs in the match. Pleaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaseeeeeee bhai, take some freaking responsibility. Captaincy is an honor not a right. Go big or go home.

 

[MMHS]

So we just need to win one of the next two matches to win the series.

How will the next two pitches be?

Hopefully the batsmen will improve from this experience and we can secure/draw the series.

If Pakistan prepare dead wickets, I think we have a chance of drawing one of the Tests and walking away with a drawn series.

PAK actually is better team, led by a novice. Otherwise, a better Captain would have made lot more out of that 74 lead in 1st innings, in fact after bundling a side for 153 on Day 1.

Apart from that, three things went for NZ's favor (no credit taken away) -

- Toss
- PAK's over reliance on posedu all-rounders; one genuine SLAO spinner and you were toast, trust me
- That little luck of run-out; even had Babar stayed instead of Azhar, he probably would have lofted couple of boundaries to win from there

Next 2 Tests will be played on similar surface - UAE is such a place, where wicket is probably out of Curators control; even they try might not be able to change the wicket!!!! I think, both Test will end in direct result.

I don't think PAK is going to take a genuine SLAO spinner, may be couple more series loss then the English coach would understand the key to UAE success. If Will wins both tosses, almost certainly NZ will win the series - 1-0, 2-0, 3-0, 2-1 ... I don't know, but I back them to win at least one more Test.

But, must praise your skill of getting under the skin in last line It's deserving as well, for playing such "nonsense" Test cricket.

 

[Aman]

PAK actually is better team, led by a novice. Otherwise, a better Captain would have made lot more out of that 74 lead in 1st innings, in fact after bundling a side for 153 on Day 1.

Apart from that, three things went for NZ's favor (no credit taken away) -

- Toss
- PAK's over reliance on posedu all-rounders; one genuine SLAO spinner and you were toast, trust me
- That little luck of run-out; even had Babar stayed instead of Azhar, he probably would have lofted couple of boundaries to win from there

Next 2 Tests will be played on similar surface - UAE is such a place, where wicket is probably out of Curators control; even they try might not be able to change the wicket!!!! I think, both Test will end in direct result.

I don't think PAK is going to take a genuine SLAO spinner, may be couple more series loss then the English coach would understand the key to UAE success. If Will wins both tosses, almost certainly NZ will win the series - 1-0, 2-0, 3-0, 2-1 ... I don't know, but I back them to win at least one more Test.

But, must praise your skill of getting under the skin in last line It's deserving as well, for playing such "nonsense" Test cricket.

What dig?

I'm use to slow flat wickets in UAE, where runs are slow and wickets are tough to come by.

 

[Aman]

There is nothing wrong in it.
I just find no offence in celebration in way of Nagin dance, boom boom celebration of Hasan. Why so serious? Without these cricket would have been boring.

I'm fine with celebrations, even the Afridi one was nothing, but this one rubs me the wrong way. Seems more like a send off than a celebration.

 

[rhony]

It's surprising how subcontinent teams are falling for spin. Patel bowled well but succumbing to him is shocking. Couple of months ago Moeen bamboozled India in UK. We can't play bounce, we can't play swing. That was always the case. Now we can't play spin.

 

[rhony]

Ramiz thought ajaz is a recent migrant and thought he spoke little english. he asked if he is comfortable in speaking in hindi only to hear him respond in a heavy new zealand accent

Lol. That was so hilarious. I know Rameez gets a bad rap here but he's folksy and often entertains.

 

[the Great Khan]

Well played NZ. Gave us a lesson in never giving up no matter what [MENTION=132954]Aman[/MENTION] congrats..should be proud of them.

P.S. hate that celebration by the way..

 

[ARK Rafay]

you mean like Haris?

If he continues to underperform then yes he too

 

[Aman]

Well played NZ. Gave us a lesson in never giving up no matter what [MENTION=132954]Aman[/MENTION] congrats..should be proud of them.

P.S. hate that celebration by the way..

Thanks, it was a great win. There's 2 Tests to go and it wont be easy, I think Pakistan are still capable and favorites of winning the next two.

 

[Savak]

Thanks, it was a great win. There's 2 Tests to go and it wont be easy, I think Pakistan are still capable and favorites of winning the next two.

Don't think so. NZ will gain immense confidence, they didn't even bat at 100%, their batting will only get better from here and Williamson is due a big knock.

Pakistan messed this up and at the very best they can consider themselves lucky if they can draw this series.

 

[Seen Sheen]

I think, the turning point of this game was in 1st innings of PAK's batting - when Sarfraz got out to an unnecessary attacking sweep. At 175/5 with 20 ahead and set Babar at one end, PAK could have killed the game with another 100 added for last 5 wickets. This was going to be a tight game when Kiwis won the toss, but bowlers gave PAK an excellent chance to effectively close the game in one innings - didn't happen for that one shot. Asad & Azhar played really well to take it to 130-3, then Babar ran himself out, hence it looks (happens to be) such a close game, but in reality 175 was always a tricky chase.

Game was lost to 2 sweeps - and I thought he is decent against spin!!!!

You can look at it from various angles and yes Pakistan losing the golden opportunity to shut the door on NZ was criminal and it was horrendous batting in the 1st innings; frustrating and soft dismissals indicative of the fact that the batting unit as a whole is soft and gets itself in a rut which eventually results in poor and un-test like dismissals.

Still there is no excuse in collapsing when you have only 39 runs to chase with 7 wickets in hand. It was not outrageous spin by any stretch and most sides would have chased even 200 here. When Azhar and Asad were rotating the strike and putting the loose balls away, the NZ attack looked completely innocuous. Only the odd ball was spinning from middle stump and Ajaz didnt' look threatening with the arm ball either so they just covered off-stump and countered the turners nicely. We saw only one ball spin prodigiously from middle and leg and that was the last ball of the test match - without the brain explosion from lower order, the match would have finished atleast ten overs before that prodigious spinning ball from Ajaz.


It was classic case of Pakistani team creating pressure for themselves out of nowhere and then exacerbating that pressure with shambolic shot selection. Once you decide to hit your way out of a tricky situation, you hoist the white flag and tell the opposition that you have given up. This is what the lower order did; they chickened out of the battle and allowed Kiwis to come roaring back with renewed belief.

Talking strictly about 4th innings, I wouldn't give any solace to the team and would say even 200 was chaseable on this particular track. (Yes, they shouldn't even have been chasing 176 to begin with but like I said let's talk about this innings only)

 

[princeuk]

7 wickets in hand when you had next to nothing to chase is quite unbelievable.

 

[cricketAXEpert]

Don't understand why everyone is so Negative. This was a typical low scoring test match, When a partnership was broken it was followed by multiple wickets. both teams struggled to put a decent score on. Azhar Ali should have played a couple of Misbah like shots to spinners to relieve the pressure instead Tail-enders like Hasan Ali & Bilal Asif tried and got out. However it was an exciting test Match. The other team won however ever performance both team performed equally. Hafeez is more suited to limited overs cricket We should have played Fakhar Zaman especially since he performed so well in the last test.

 

[leatherface58]

NZC gonna NZC and cancel the remaining tests for T20s?

 

[cricketAXEpert]

Cograts to New Zealand, What a great Test. Both teams performed equally. this was 5th smallest Margin of victory

 

[Saurav]

And people were talking of India's struggle in overseas 4th innings chases

 

[Mainul]

It's surprising how subcontinent teams are falling for spin. Patel bowled well but succumbing to him is shocking. Couple of months ago Moeen bamboozled India in UK. We can't play bounce, we can't play swing. That was always the case. Now we can't play spin.

Spot on. Pakistan will be whitewashed in NZ ,so does other subcontinent teams except India. But they succumed to NZ's spin at home!!! It's not acceptable at all.

 

[Snowflake]

I'm fine with celebrations, even the Afridi one was nothing, but this one rubs me the wrong way. Seems more like a send off than a celebration.

Stop being so sensitive.

 

[KingKhanWC]

Batting second is never easy but after dominated NZ for most of the match to lose it because of stupid cricket for a couple of hours isn't a nice feeling.

It's sport it happens, the positive is this defeat hasn't led to a series defeat. NZ are a decent but nothing special team, Pakistan will win the next two tests easily imo.

 

[UP]

I have lost count and God knows how many Tests we have choked upon within the 150ish range. We cant chase a jack. Its such a fragile batting line up. Anything above 230 in ODI’s and above150 in Tests is too much for us. A hint of pressure and we collapse like no tomorrow.

Today’s drama reminded me of the ODI game against SA years ago in Sharjah where we lost 6 odd wickets for 17 runs I think and ended up losing by 1 run

We have seriously fallen to suchs pathetic depth that its not a joke anymore.

Where are the Wasims, Waqars, Shoaibs, Anwars, Yousafs, Younus’, Imrans we used to produce?

Imagine what will happen to this batting line-up against SA next month.

 

[GrandMaster]

I'm fine with celebrations, even the Afridi one was nothing, but this one rubs me the wrong way. Seems more like a send off than a celebration.

I loved Wasim Akram's celebrations, 100% natural and genuine. Whether the batsman was a top order or a tailender, he used to celebrate it every time and exactly the same way.

 

[MenInG]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Don’t you just love Pakistan Cricket .. so so unpredictable .. 130 for 3 needing a further 45 to win the Test & lose by 4 .. Test cricket is alive & kicking .. We have witnessed some great games over the last few months .. Pitches are the key ..</p>— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) <a href="https://twitter.com/MichaelVaughan/status/1064466632783904768?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 19, 2018</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[Amjid Javed]

When a wicket is taking so much turn why play a high risk shot playing sweep when you are new to the crease?

Sarfraz played same stupid shot against SL and cost us another match.

I remember damien martyn playing a stupid rash shot in a low run chase against S.A and been dropped for a few years.

Our skipper needs to get the boot.

 

[Smbhayi]

oh man Pakistan lost, that's unbelievable... when I last checks they just need 22 runs with 5 wickets left... that's really poor from Pakistan side...

 

[Rayyman]

There is something behind the scenes we don't see. Logically, Hafeez doesn't deserve to play. He must have some connections.

 

[BDfanforever]

I'm fine with celebrations, even the Afridi one was nothing, but this one rubs me the wrong way. Seems more like a send off than a celebration.

Let him celebrate man, after working hard to get wicket. It shows he is very passonate about getting his wickets even if it can be annoying to opposition. I agree its a bit over the top, but he bowled very well after getting smacked around in recent ODIs.

Are you an Indian Kiwi like Ish Sodhi? Aman can be both an Indian name or a Kiwi name I guess.

 

[hadi123]

I'm so angry. Was following the match in class and honestly how did we manage to screw this up. Pakistan cricket team, you should be ashamed of yourselves!

 

[ayemgilani86]

Agree and Abbas should be blamed most of all. Didn’t give Azhar enough support.

How is Abbas to be blamed?

 

[Chief Destroyer]

I blame this on [MENTION=100918]Square Drive[/MENTION] for being too arrogant.

 

[Abdullah719]

I blame this on [MENTION=100918]Square Drive[/MENTION] for being too arrogant.

And [MENTION=138254]Syed1[/MENTION]

 

[Space Cat]

*Crawls out of the woodwork*

What a fantastic test match that was. Invigorating.

 

[Savak]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Don’t you just love Pakistan Cricket .. so so unpredictable .. 130 for 3 needing a further 45 to win the Test & lose by 4 .. Test cricket is alive & kicking .. We have witnessed some great games over the last few months .. Pitches are the key ..</p>— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) <a href="https://twitter.com/MichaelVaughan/status/1064466632783904768?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 19, 2018</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Lol Michael Vaughan is being a drama queen and is reacting as if this is the first time a team batting last has failed in chasing a small target. England failed many times in the UAE batting last.

 

[Square Drive]

I blame this on [MENTION=100918]Square Drive[/MENTION] for being too arrogant.

Idc man, I'm gonna roll the way I do. Not scared of these wannabe fans who come out every time we lose.

At the end of the day it's a game, they're humans, and they didn't do it on purpose.

I've been cocky my whole life during which we have managed to win a T20 WC and a CT.

Onto the next one.

 

[barah_admi]

Batting collapses are becoming far too common in modern test cricket but they really are giving us some tremendous matches. As much as I hate this as a Pakistan fan, as a lover of cricket it turned a very good test match into a remarkable one, possible NZ's greatest ever test win against Pakistan, certainly their most entertaining.

 

[Robert]

Oh, Pakistan, what a bad slip-up. You were walking it! I really wanted you to beat NZ.

 

[gazza619]

We left too much to do for our long tail which starts from no.8 (Bilal asif)

 

[Napa]

Oh, Pakistan, what a bad slip-up. You were walking it! I really wanted you to beat NZ.

Just curious, why did you want NZ to lose? ICC Test rankings perhaps?

 

[Ilan Bluestone]

Embarrassment of all embarrassments.

Well played to the NZ bowlers obviously but chasing on your home ground, really is pathetic.

 

[SarfiBabarHaris]

Still cant get over the loss.

Gave them the match in a plate.

 

[Khan12]

Still cant get over the loss.

Gave them the match in a plate.

For me it's the final nail in the coffin won't be watching much till we get rid of the trash ie sarfraz,hafeez,bilal and Asad.

 

[CricFan2012]

I don't know why people are surprised, we barely beat an Australia B team without Warner, Smith, Hazlewood, and Pattinson.

Pakistan really needs these upcoming batsmen to fill Younis and Misbah's shoes in the UAE, outside of it we will have the same performances as before.