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Playing a 2-match Test series at home against New Zealand, Pakistan fought to a draw in the first match. New Zealand won the toss and scored 449 runs in the 2nd match of the series which started on 2nd January at the Karachi Cricket Ground. Tom Latham 71, Davon Conway 122, Kane Williamson 26, Henry Nicholas 26, Tom Blundell 51 were the key players for that team.
But tail-enders Matt Henry 68* and Ajaz Patel 35 runs surprised Pakistan by setting up a 104-run partnership for the 10th wicket and giving Pakistan the biggest trouble. Abrar Ahmed took the maximum 4 wickets on behalf of Pakistan, who bowled moderately, but the next team that came into the field managed to accumulate only 408 runs.
Thriller Match:
Abdullah Sabiq 19, Shaun Masood 20, Captain Babar Azam 24, the main players were out for few runs, while opener Imam-ul-Haq scored 83 runs and former captain Sarfraz Ahmed 78 runs, he scored 125* runs without getting out in the last over. Ajaz Patel and Ish Sodhi took 3 wickets each for New Zealand and after that New Zealand declared with a lead of 41 runs and accumulated 277/5 runs in their 2nd innings.
Tom Latham 62, Kane Williamson 41, Tom Blundell 74, Michael Breswell 74* were the top batsmen who scored the required runs. Chasing a big target of 319, Pakistan suffered early setbacks at the end of the 4th day at 0/2 as Sabiq and Hamza got out in quick succession. In that situation, the main batsmen like Imam-ul-Haq 12, Babar Azam 27, Shaun Masood 35 again cheated by getting out in few runs.
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So the former captain Sarfiraz Ahmed, who came in next to the team which fell to 80/5, showed his full experience and put the anchor and fought for victory. The pair, who showed more composure as time went by, put on a 123-run partnership for the 6th wicket and put the Pakistani fans at ease when Shaq, who played patiently till the end, was bowled out for 32 (146).
An innings of the highest quality, a superb century from Sarfraz Ahmad in a difficult situation ????✨#PAKvNZ #SarfarazAhmed pic.twitter.com/9hhqSjQWWx
– Abdullah Orakzai ???????????????? (@AbdullahOrkzy23) January 6, 2023
Even the New Zealanders were not expecting this decision ????#sarfrazAhmad #PakvNz #NZvPAK pic.twitter.com/bPlhbmMnZX
– Muhammad Noman (@nomanedits) January 4, 2023
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However, on the other hand, Sarbaraz Ahmed, who was brilliant, fought back to win the match and at least avoided defeat. But in the last one hour the lower order batsmen like Salman 30 and Hasan Ali 5 were dismissed with few runs, New Zealand struggled for victory. Sarfraz Ahmed, who was anchored by the drug shortage, was also bowled out for 118 runs in the last over.
In particular, New Zealand brought all the fielders into the inner circle with the intention of not letting Pakistan lose even a single wicket, but tail-enders Naseem Shah scored 15* runs and Abarar Ahmed scored 7* runs and remained wicketless. By then 6.30 pm had arrived, Pakistan scored 304/9 and failed to score 15 runs, while New Zealand failed to score 1 wicket.
Test Cricket – The best. pic.twitter.com/9NhCLmawd3
— CricketMAN2 (@ImTanujSingh) January 6, 2023
Stalemate ????
Pakistan and New Zealand play out a thrilling draw!#WTC23 | #PAKvNZ | ???? https://t.co/5TMMWQ0jQl pic.twitter.com/5Q5IpChBB5
— ICC (@ICC) January 6, 2023
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Also read this: Is the captain leading the way for this? Here are 3 legitimate questions fans ask Hardik Pandya
As this match, which caused more excitement than T20 cricket, ended in a draw, Pakistan, who had already lost the opportunity of the 2023 Test Championship final, bowed their heads without registering a win at home in the league round. Similarly, reigning champions New Zealand have already missed out on a place in the finals without winning a single series in the league this time around. In the end both the teams shared the trophy of the series.
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