Report - 2nd Test, Day 2 : New Zealand in control after yet another Pakistan batting collapse

Abdullah719

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Toss: Pakistan won the toss, Azhar Ali opted to bowl first.

Teams

New Zealand: TWM Latham, JA Raval, KS Williamson (c), LPRL Taylor, HM Nicholls, C de Grandhomme, BJ Watling (wk), MJ Santner, TG Southee, MJ Henry, N Wagner.

Pakistan: Sami Aslam, Azhar Ali (c), Babar Azam, Younis Khan, Mohammad Rizwan, Asad Shafiq, Sarfraz Ahmed (wk), Mohammad Amir, Sohail Khan, Wahab Riaz, Imran Khan.

The Pakistan bowlers started off the day in a much better manner than they began the previous one, bowling good lines and consistent length to make life tough for the batsmen. Sohail had Taylor caught behind in his 4th over with one that seamed in sharply. A few overs later, Raval got his second reprieve of the innings with Amir once again the bowler, Sami dropping a simple chance in the slips. The opener got to a fifty but soon fell as Imran came around the wicket and induced an edge, with Rizwan (who replaced Sami) taking a good catch in the slips. Soon there after, Nicholls also fell as he nicked a full delivery by Wahab to Sarfraz as the left-armer got the ball to seam away a tad. Man of the match from the 1st Test, de Grandhomme, was circumspect at the start but counter-attacked towards the end of the session as he built a 50-run partnership with Watling.

The first ball after Lunch saw Imran strike again as he made de Grandhomme drive a full delivery which he edged through to Sarfraz. Santner frustrated the bowlers with a few delicate boundaries to third man while Watling was solid at the other end. Sohail returned to get his third wicket as he got Santner to nick one with Younis grabbing a good, low catch. Southee began slowly but then took Sohail for a six and two fours in trademark fashion. Sohail had the last laugh in his next over as he bowled a good slower ball which Southee tried to send out off the park, only to see his bails disturbed. Henry came out swinging, hitting a few fours before Tea as the New Zealand tail continued to wag, frustrating Pakistan.

Amir struck in his first over after Tea with the second new ball as Henry tried to clear mid-off but could only find Sohail who took a good catch. Imran finished off the innings in his next over as Wagner edged one with Younis at second slip taking another good catch as New Zealand ended at 271.

Pakistan's innings got off to another disappointing start as Sami edged one to Raval at slip in the 5th over. Azhar followed suit on the last ball of the over, feeling for one outside off and nicking it through to Watling with Southee the beneficiary. A few overs later, it was Younis who went for an extravagant drive and edged behind, giving Southee his third wicket. Babar was solid amongst the carnage while Shafiq came out to bat with a positive frame of mind, going after the bad deliveries as Pakistan looked to put the pressure back on New Zealand. Raval dropped one off Shafiq in the slips. However, Shafiq went for a big drive off Wagner and perished, inside edging it onto his stumps. Rizwan bagged a golden duck as he went after a first ball bouncer from Wagner, sending it straight down Henry's throat at fine-leg. Babar was solid through to the end, aided by Sarfraz as Pakistan finished at 76/5, 195 runs behind New Zealand's total.

Summary: Same old story for Pakistan. Another day, another batting collapse. They started off the day strongly with the bowlers putting in much better shifts and bowling good lengths to put the New Zealand batsmen under pressure. At 170/6, Pakistan would have hoped to wrap up the NZ innings quickly but the last four partnerships frustrated the bowlers, putting on just over a hundred runs. The bowlers were partly at fault for that with some loose bowling at times. However, restricting NZ to under 300 meant that Pakistan had a chance if they batted well - it wasn't to be. The openers were unusually loose outside off-stump while Younis again perished to a big drive. Shafiq looked good but went after one without moving his feet while Rizwan simply had a rush of blood. Babar stood head and shoulders above the rest and any hopes of Pakistan coming back into this match rest on his and Sarfraz's shoulders.

Fall of wickets:

3-90 (Taylor, 25.1 ov)
4-113 (Raval, 37.1 ov)
5-119 (Nicholls, 40.4 ov)
6-170 (de Grandhomme, 55.1 ov)
7-203 (Santner, 67.3 ov)
8-239 (Southee, 75.6 ov)
9-270 (Henry, 82.1 ov)
10-271 (Wagner, 83.4 ov)

1-7 (Sami Aslam, 4.1 ov)
2-8 (Azhar Ali, 4.6 ov)
3-12 (Younis Khan, 8.5 ov)
4-51 (Asad Shafiq, 21.1 ov)
5-51 (Mohammad Rizwan, 21.2 ov)
 
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We can still come back. Sarfraz needs to come good. Hasn't been a good knock since Lords. Babar needs to prove that he is the best batsman in Pakistan and get a ton. Pathetic batting by everyone else
 
Sami got a beauty, he's the only batsman that should have an excuse.

The rest of the bunch were impulsive and in-capable of managing pressure.
 
Batting is a complete shambles as always. They consistently let the bowler's down with their awful technique and poor shot selection. Azhar is no opener at all, don't know what Rizwan was doing with a man standing at the boundary line. Asad was a bit unlucky though, that's Cricket!
 
Woke up on a Saturday (with no work) at 6 AM only to witness us help NZ tail enders add 100 runs and then collapse to 76/5.....Sometimes I just wanna...............

Khair we need to score around 230ish to even make a game of it now.....WinViz shows only 7% chance of a Pakistan win right now !!
 
Certainly more than Rizwan getting out to Wagner


We're talking about a guy who predominantly plays on the leg side, doesn't move his feet and doesn't have a defensive game.
 
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Very poor performance , 2-0 seems imminent and australia will eat this weak team alive.
 
We can still come back. Sarfraz needs to come good. Hasn't been a good knock since Lords. Babar needs to prove that he is the best batsman in Pakistan and get a ton. Pathetic batting by everyone else

Haris Sohail is the best.
 
NZ have won the match unless we miraculously don't lose a wicket in next session
 
Just not playing with the same conviction as we did in Eng series. Looks like this team has peaked.
 
Great FTB flops against lateral movement. What a surprise.

getting out the same way he did in the first test. this guy thinks of scoring 10k runs... He started this NZL tour with career runs of 9661. I dont see him cross 9670 or even 9669 at the pace he is going at the end of this NZL tour... And it looks like will unfold as such he wont cross 9750 at the end of AUS tour provided the openers didnt save him from facing the new ball..
 
Pathetic batting besides unlucky Shafiq and brave Babar, everybody was brainless. Loose shots from Azhar, YK and Rizwan. Hopefully we can come back tomorrow, but that's what I hoped for in the last match and they failed so... Insha'Allah Pakistan will bat well on the next day and get to a reasonable score maybe even a small lead.
 
Pathetic batting besides unlucky Shafiq and brave Babar, everybody was brainless. Loose shots from Azhar, YK and Rizwan. Hopefully we can come back tomorrow, but that's what I hoped for in the last match and they failed so... Insha'Allah Pakistan will bat well on the next day and get to a reasonable score maybe even a small lead.

Asad wasnt unlucky he was already dropped
 
Is this calculated on the assumption Pakistan will lose the current test and get whitewashed in Aus?

Looks very worrying...

You can't walk in to a 5 day game with JUST your bowling department clicking. Lets just say, the stars had miraculously aligned themselves previously to gift Pakistan the Test mace.

Sami Aslam is by far the slowest reaction kid i've seen in the team, after Asad Shafiq. The time he took to open his palms off that edge in the 1st over by Amir, against how he came onto front foot to edge today to 1st slip is enough for me to make a cup of tea!

Babar Azam is just fabulous. I mean, i cant admire his body position behind the ball enough, the soft dabs to cause low edges to slips. Dont get me started on the square cuts!

Rizwan won't sleep tonight. Atleast he wouldn't, had Imran Khan been the captain.

Yuni is so unforgiven, that the moment I start spitting venom, I could see a double century happening. Should I?

Lastly, Shane Bond on-air reflected well today seeing Pakistans batting card: Their batting doesn't prove them being at 2nd spot in Test Rankings.
 
Really thought the batsmen would be back strong after the last test match but No, still awful. Need Barbar & Safaraz to bat long and big or 2-0 down to what has to be said to an average New Zealand team.
 
Idk if its just me . . but I just don't see the same drive in the team . . it's as if their mind isn't there . . In England, there was a vibe in the team . . you could see they were loving being in the competition . . they were fighting . . I look at Sarfaraz for such things, and even his celebrations at wickets are very muted . . Overall, I just sense that the team is mentally not there . . they are not enjoying their cricket . . and I sensed that in the last game as well . .
 
You can't walk in to a 5 day game with JUST your bowling department clicking. Lets just say, the stars had miraculously aligned themselves previously to gift Pakistan the Test mace.

Sami Aslam is by far the slowest reaction kid i've seen in the team, after Asad Shafiq. The time he took to open his palms off that edge in the 1st over by Amir, against how he came onto front foot to edge today to 1st slip is enough for me to make a cup of tea!

Babar Azam is just fabulous. I mean, i cant admire his body position behind the ball enough, the soft dabs to cause low edges to slips. Dont get me started on the square cuts!

Rizwan won't sleep tonight. Atleast he wouldn't, had Imran Khan been the captain.

Yuni is so unforgiven, that the moment I start spitting venom, I could see a double century happening. Should I?

Lastly, Shane Bond on-air reflected well today seeing Pakistans batting card: Their batting doesn't prove them being at 2nd spot in Test Rankings.

Spot on Pakistan needs a transition in 2017 since they have to England and SA in 2018. Too many spin and FTB in the batting.

Need to see Shafiq, Aslam and YK especially be replaced. The former 2 are timid and YK is just finished. Would be a good time for Misbah to retire after the Aus series since he can't play on forever either.
 
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