New Zealand wicketkeeper Tom Blundell accomplished a feat never before seen in 145 years of Men’s Test cricket on the first day of the first Test between Pakistan and New Zealand in Karachi, making it a day of firsts.
Before the toss, history was made when New Zealand returned to Pakistan for a Test series for the first time since 2002 and when Pakistan veteran Sarfaraz Ahmed was called up for what would be his 50th appearance and first Test on home soil. However, what happened during the first session was a first in Men’s Test cricket.
The veteran spinner Ajaz Patel was brought into the attack by Kiwi captain Tim Southee in just the fourth over of the day, and the move paid off almost immediately as Abdullah Shafique was out stumped by Blundell for seven.
Three overs later, the Kiwis got their second wicket, and Shan Masood was the victim this time. Blundell had left-hander Masood stumped off the bowling of Michael Bracewell. Because of this, the first two dismissals of the Test were stumpings, a feat that had never before been accomplished by men in a Test match.
Overall, it had happened twice before; the first time was during the Women’s Test between Australia and the West Indies in Jamaica in 1976, which also started with two stumping dismissals. Imam-ul-Haq was out-caught by Bracewell shortly after, giving New Zealand a strong start to the Test match and the series. Imam-ul-Haq is often dependable for Pakistan.
A draw last week having stopped a run of defeats for Pakistan and New Zealand, both sides will be seeking to go one better in the second and final Test in Karachi starting Monday.
The tame draw halted Pakistan’s four-Test losing streak at home including their first-ever 3-0 whitewash by England.
New Zealand also arrived in Pakistan on the back of a 3-0 drubbing by England.
Pakistan skipper Babar Azam vowed his team will play “positive and aggressive cricket” after they finished 2022 without a Test win at home.
“We need to take things session-by-session and day-by-day,” he said.
“We’re working on it. It’s not that we need to play different cricket.”
New Zealand were in a good position to win the first Test on the final day with Pakistan on 77-2, needing 97 runs to avoid an innings defeat.
But Saud Shakeel, who scored 55 not out, and Mohammad Wasim with 43 averted the danger with a 71-run eighth wicket stand eating up time and overs to salvage a draw.
Pakistan declared on 311-8 but a target of 138 in 15 overs under fading light was tough for New Zealand, who finished on 59-1.
“We need to credit New Zealand with the way they played and dominated,” said Azam, who finished the year as the highest scorer in Tests with 1,184 in nine matches.
The National Stadium pitch helped slow bowlers as 23 of the 28 wickets in the first Test went to the spinners.
At the same venue but on a different pitch, New Zealand will also look for a win after going without in their last five Tests.
“It does look different from the first Test… It has a bit more moisture,” said batting coach Luke Ronchi on Sunday.
“The preparations are shorter than normal, obviously we had just a two-day turnaround.
“It’s going to be a hard slog to get a result, you have to bat really well and need to take 20 wickets.”
Pakistan will look to bring in pacer Naseem Shah or Hasan Ali, while New Zealand may consider Matt Henry in place of a spinner if they find the pitch suitable for pace.
Teams (from):
Pakistan: Babar Azam (captain), Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Hasan Ali, Imam-ul-Haq, Kamran Ghulam, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Wasim, Naseem Shah, Nauman Ali, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Agha Salman, Saud Shakeel, Shan Masood, Zahid Mahmood
New Zealand: Tim Southee (captain), Michael Bracewell, Tom Blundell, Devon Conway, Matt Henry, Tom Latham, Daryl Mitchell, Henry Nicholls, Ajaz Patel, Glenn Phillips, Ish Sodhi, Blair Tickner, Neil Wagner, Kane Williamson, Will Young
Pakistan’s openers got among the runs on a placid pitch Friday as they took the home team to 181 without loss in reply to England’s mammoth 657 in the first Test in Rawalpindi.
At close on day two, Imam-ul-Haq (90) and Abdullah Shafique (89) were approaching hundreds when umpires called stumps with 17 overs remaining.
The home team still need 277 runs to avoid the follow-on.
The pitch was again unresponsive to bowlers as the England attack, led by James Anderson, toiled in the same manner as the home side earlier.
Shafique was lucky to survive a confident caught behind appeal by Ollie Pope off a rising delivery. Although umpire Joel Wilson gave a soft signal for out, television official Marais Erasmus overruled it.
Haq, who scored a century in each innings on the same pitch in a Test against Australia in March, pushed spinner Jack Leach for two to complete 1,000 runs in his 17th Test.
Shafique, who also scored a hundred against Australia in the March test, cracked two boundaries to reach his fifth half-century in his eighth Test, highlighting his rapid progress.
Haq followed suit soon after, taking a single off Joe Root for his fifth half-century.
Earlier, resuming at 506-4, England added 151 runs in 125 minutes, with Harry Brook taking his overnight score of 101 to 153 — one of four centurions in the innings.
Skipper Ben Stokes (41), debutant Liam Livingstone (nine) and Brook were all dismissed by pacer Naseem Shah, who finished with 3-140.
Leg-spinner Zahid Mahmood conceded 235 for his four wickets — the most by a bowler on a Test debut.
“I bowled my heart out,” he said later, adding that he thinks the pitch could take spin on day four and five.
Brook admitted it would be difficult to bowl a side out twice on the wicket.
“It would be tough to get 20 wickets, but we will definitely give it a crack,” he said.
“When we were batting it started to get a bit lower… hopefully, Stokes can figure out a plan to get wickets.”
England’s total is their highest against Pakistan in all Tests, improving on their 589-9 at Manchester in 2016.
On Thursday England became the first team to score 500 runs on the opening day of a Test match, bettering Australia’s 112-year-old record of 494-6 against South Africa in Sydney.
Zak Crawley (122), Ollie Pope (108) and Ben Duckett (107) were the other centurions in the innings.
The three-match Test series is England’s first in Pakistan for 17 years, having declined to tour in the interim because of security fears.
Pakistan strolled to a six-wicket victory over New Zealand in the first one-day international on Monday after fast bowler Naseem Shah took five wickets in Karachi.
The 19-year-old grabbed 5-57 for his second five-wicket haul in just four ODI appearances as New Zealand, sent in to bat, managed 255-9 in their 50 overs at the National Stadium.
Mohammad Rizwan (77 not out), skipper Babar Azam (66) and Fakhar Zaman (56) then helped Pakistan cruise to victory with 11 balls to spare.
The home team took a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.
The remaining matches are on Wednesday and Friday, also in Karachi.
Azam and Zaman put on 78 runs for the second wicket after Imam-ul-Haq (11) fell in the sixth over.
Zaman hit seven boundaries in his 74-ball knock before he was bowled by Michael Bracewell, while Azam was stumped off Glenn Phillips after facing 82 deliveries.
Rizwan, who added 60 with Azam, put on another 64 with Haris Sohail who made a quick-fire 32.
Off-spinner Bracewell was the best New Zealand bowler with 2-44.
Naseem was delighted with his role in Pakistan’s win.
Naseem’s statement
“You get the best fun out of your performance when the team wins,” said Naseem. “I was getting reverse swing so I bowled on my strength and got wickets.”
New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson admitted his side was short of runs.
“We would have liked a few runs,” said Williamson. “Pakistan were clinical with the ball and we had a number of mid-partnerships, but no one going on to score big.”
Earlier, it was Naseem’s fiery bowling that kept New Zealand in check.
The teenager dismissed opener Devon Conway in the first over of the match for nought to kickstart Pakistan.
Naseem returned for a second spell to account for Phillips (37), Bracewell (43) and Henry Shipley (nought).
Naseem, whose first ODI five-wicket haul was against the Netherlands in August, rounded off his night by dismissing Mitchell Santner for 21 in the final over.
Tom Latham (42) and Daryl Mitchell (36) stabilised the innings during a fourth-wicket stand of 56, while Phillips and Bracewell added 66 for the sixth — before Naseem dismissed both in successive overs.
Williamson scored 26 before he was beautifully bowled by debutant leg-spinner Usama Mir, who finished with 2-42.
Phillips hit a six and a four in his 53-ball knock, while Bracewell cracked four boundaries and a six.
Opener Finn Allen smashed six boundaries in his 27-ball 29.
Skipper Ben Stokes hailed England’s nail-biting victory in the first Test against Pakistan Monday as “one of the best” of his career — particularly given the state of the lifeless Rawalpindi pitch.
With just minutes to spare in dying light after five days of enthralling cricket, England finally halted a heroic last stand by Pakistan’s tailenders to win the first Test by 74 runs.
It was only the third time England have won a Test in Pakistan, although they haven’t visited since 2005 because of security issues.
Stokes’ statement
“To be able to get a result on this type of wicket is mind-blowing,” Stokes said ahead of the second Test starting in Multan on Friday.
“I think it’s probably one of the best. The effort that everyone has managed to put in this whole week is just incredible.”
England have “Bazball” to thank for their victory — the free-wheeling brand of cricket coined from the nickname of new head coach Brendon “Baz” McCullum, a New Zealander.
McCullum was an aggressive batter in his playing days — he holds the record for the fastest individual Test century — and under him, and skipper Stokes, the English have brought one-day cricket to the five-day game.
Records tumbled in Rawalpindi with England becoming the only team in history to score 500 runs on the first day of a Test — courtesy of four individual centuries, another record.
Overall, some 1,768 runs were scored in the match — the third-highest aggregate since Test cricket began.
Still, Pakistan did well to peg back England’s daunting 657-run first-innings total to trail by just 78 runs.
England again turned on the fireworks in their second innings before a bold Stokes declaration left Pakistan seeking 343 runs for victory.
For a while, it looked as if the home team would do it — but a devastating last session saw England shine as the light dimmed for a famous victory.
“We’re pretty lost for words,” said Stokes, who now has seven wins in the last eight Tests.
“I feel very honoured and feel a very privileged position to be able to lead these guys.
“Jimmy Anderson was saying he felt a bit emotional, so having a bloke with near enough 180 Test matches (176) feeling like that at the end of this is proof that we’ve achieved something very special.”
Stokes suggested “Bazball” was here to stay.
“Test cricket is generally exciting when England are playing,” he said. “That’s what we set out to do from day one.”
And he praised the fighting spirit of his players in dealing with a mystery virus that threatened the start of the first Test.
“The way in which the lads just dealt with it and just cracked on was a credit to them as individuals and as a team,” he said.
Stokes also had praise for the home crowd — delighted to see England visit at last, but disappointed not to win.
“I’m not going to lie, the reception that we got walking off the field as winners in Pakistan was very special,” he said.
Teenage leg-spinner Rehan Ahmed became the youngest debutant to take five wickets in an innings and set England on course for a victory after three days of play in the third and final Test in Karachi on Monday.
Ahmed, who at 18 years and 126 days old on Saturday became the youngest man ever to play a Test for England, grabbed 5-48 to bundle Pakistan out for 216, giving his team a target of 167 runs with 75 minutes and two days to play.
Openers Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett plundered 87 by the 12th over before spinner Abrar Ahmed dismissed Crawley for 41 and Rehan Ahmed for 10.
Duckett was unbeaten on 50 and skipper Ben Stokes 10 as England, 112-2 at the close, need just 55 runs to inflict a first-ever whitewash on Pakistan on their home soil.
England, on their first Test tour of Pakistan in 17 years, won the first Test in Rawalpindi by 74 runs and the second in Multan by 26 runs.
Pakistan fell prey to a spin-assisting National Stadium pitch, losing their last seven wickets for a mere 52 runs, with skipper Babar Azam scoring 54 and Saud Shakeel 53.
Rehan Ahmed said he felt great after his performance.
“I don’t think it has sunk in yet, but yes I am very grateful,” he said, admitting Azam’s scalp was special despite it being a poor ball.
“I bowled better balls and not got wickets, so to get a wicket is nice, especially when it is Babar.”
Rehan Ahmed built on fellow spinner Jack Leach’s three wickets off just six balls in the morning session by taking his first three off just 17.
He left Australian fast bowler Pat Cummins behind who, at 18 years 193 days old, took five wickets in his debut Test against South Africa at Johannesburg in 2011.
Surprisingly, Ahmed had not bowled in the first session, which saw Pakistan reach 99-3.
Azhar’s last stand
Ahmed came on after Azam and Shakeel had put on a valiant rebuilding effort through a fourth-wicket stand of 110 runs.
The pair took Pakistan to 164 before the skipper made an uncharacteristic misjudgement, soon after he reached 1,000 Test runs for the year.
Leach had Pakistan reeling after he knocked over openers Shan Masood and Abdullah Shafique and veteran Azhar Ali, appearing in his last match, with only one run added.
Ahmed oversaw an equally brutal passage of play, removing Azam, Mohammad Rizwan (7) and Shakeel in the space of six overs for the addition of a paltry 13 runs.
Mohammad Wasim (two) and Agha Salman (21) also fell to Ahmed.
Shakeel admitted his side had made key mistakes in their innings.
“We committed mistakes, especially Babar and I played loose shots and that caused a collapse… which it was tough to overcome,” he said.
Pakistan started the fourth day on nearly even footing, with openers Shafique and Masood looking set and erasing England’s 50-run lead without the loss of a wicket.
But any optimism was snatched away by England’s methodical spinners.
Leach bowled Shan — attempting an ill-advised reverse sweep — for 24, the dismissal sparking the first cluster of wickets.
Top-order stalwart Azhar Ali was denied a fairy-tale ending to a storied career that has spanned 97 Tests and 7,142 runs.
Azhar was beaten by spin as he played a forward push on the final ball of Leach’s momentum-changing double-wicket maiden. His stumps shattered, Azhar walked off the field for the last time, ending 12 years as a first-team regular.
The England players clapped as Azhar trudged back to the dressing room, while Pakistan’s players raised their bats at the boundary for a ceremonial guard of honour.
Among the handful of spectators were Azhar’s wife and two sons.
