Relentless Pak eye series win in Dubai

Pakistan will continue to attack a hapless New Zealand with spin as they eye a series win in the second Test starting here on Monday.

Pakistan inflicted a big 248-run defeat on the Kiwis in the first Test in Abu Dhabi for a 1-0 lead in the three-match series with left-arm spinner Zulfiqar Babar and leggie Yasir Shah posing serious problems.

Besides a spin web, paceman Rahat Ali, man-of-the-match for his six wickets in the game, reverse swung the ball to pile further problems on the New Zealand batting, which folded for 262 and 231 on a flat Sheikh Zayed Stadium pitch.

There seems to be no change in fortune for the tourists as the Dubai stadium pitch promises more help for spin and in turn multiplies the problems for the struggling New Zealand batsmen.

New Zealand’s best batsmen against spin, Kane Williamson (3 and 23) and Ross Taylor (nought and eight), were both all at sea against the Pakistani bowling. Opener Rod Latham showed some grit against spin, scoring his maiden hundred in the first innings but that wasn’t enough to thwart Pakistan.

Skipper Misbah-ul Haq said he was still not eyeing a white-wash, like his team did against Australia with a 2-0 scoreline just a week before the New Zealand series. ‘We should just take it one by one and it’s really important to just focus and do things right and if there are weak areas do that right,’ said Misbah, who captained his 15th Pakistani win, a national record.