‘Game on’- Twitter excited for Day 3 as New Zealand make strong comeback against Pakistan’s 438 in first inning
Pakistan cricket has had a torrid year so far. They lost the Asia Cup 2022 final as well as the 20-20 World Cup final under the captaincy of Babar Azam. Even in Tests, they are struggling after being whitewashed by the England side at home.
Pakistan now need a win against New Zealand to end the year on a high. Their current course in the first Test match against New Zealand however seems to be inching toward disappointment.
After winning the toss at the National Stadium in Karachi, Babar Azam chose to bat first and put a challenging total on the board. The opener batters Abdullah Shafique (7) and Imam-ul-Haq (24) however foiled their plan after getting out early on.
Number 3 batter Shan Masood also failed to string up a decent partnership and left the team in limbo. It all again came down to captain Azam to save Pakistan from a disappointing batting performance. The right-hand batter showed great composure and class to bring out his 8th century in Tests. The 28-year-old thwarted every challenge from the Kiwi bowlers to get to a well-fought-out century.
The middle-order batter Agha Salman also helped his captain with a century of his own to take Pakistan’s score to a respectable 438. Captain Tim Southee took 3 wickets followed by Ajaz Patel, Michael Bracewell, and Ish Shodhi who took two each. The host team would have been quite content with the score however the Kiwi openers made them think twice about it. Both the New Zealand openers Tom Latham and Devon Conway remain unbeaten at the crease with respective scores of 78 and 82.
Currently, the New Zealand team have amassed a total of 165 at the loss of no wickets at the National Stadium and Pakistan’s hopes for a first-innings lead look bleak. There is however still a lot of game to be played and it would be interesting to see the respective plans of both teams going into Day 3.
Let’s look at how fans reacted at the end of Day 2:
https://twitter.com/HHH34511726/status/1607702056927887361
Devon Conway becomes fastest ever for New Zealand to have scored 1000 runs in Test cricket history. pic.twitter.com/q2yXc779R9
— CricketMAN2 (@ImTanujSingh) December 27, 2022
The combined bowling experience of Pakistan's bowlers coming into this match was total of 16 Tests only. They were up against Devon Conway, the fastest player to reach 1000 Test runs for New Zealand and Tom Latham, who averages 44 as Test opener in last five years. #PAKvNZ
— Farid Khan (@_FaridKhan) December 27, 2022
It was a masterstroke by New Zealand to promote Devon Conway from three to open. Quite possibly, 438 was an under par score by Pakistan. Time will tell. The ball is round, the pitch is flat.
— Iceland Cricket (@icelandcricket) December 27, 2022
Runs by openers in last 5 years. Tom Latham has been brilliant. The low averages in these stats tell us how difficult opening in Tests has been in the recent years. Without a surprise, no Pakistani in this list cos if their opener is averaging in 30s he is dropped. #PakvNZ pic.twitter.com/iPAqGdQajg
— Mazher Arshad (@MazherArshad) December 27, 2022
Still he is performing but yesterday someone in the space was saying that Agha Salman is a parchi and he was the reason we lost from eng 😭😭 pic.twitter.com/sJhbmEnCgU
— Hassan (@HassanAbbasian) December 27, 2022
3-4 years down the line , New Zealand Cricket will face a talent drought . Average age of players for #PAKvsNZ is 31+ years. This is total audacious. those on bench are also 30+ years. high time there is transition soon. #ict #NewZealand
— ronnie (@QuarantinoGuy) December 27, 2022
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