Pakistan, NZ aim for much-awaited Test win
Karachi: Pakistan and New Zealand will be targeting a much-awaited test victory and leave a disappointing 2022 behind in red-ball cricket when they lock horns in the second test of their two-match series from Monday.
New Zealand had made a strong bid to chase down 138 in the last hour of the first test on Friday after Pakistan captain Babar Azam made a daring declaration before poor visibility halted the Black Caps at 61-1 in the eighth over to draw the game.
The Pakistan Cricket Board was forced to organize both test matches in Karachi due to weather concerns in Multan where winter smog and fog have delayed flights and may have disrupted hours of play.
Friday's draw broke both team's four-match losing streaks that included Pakistan's 3-0 whitewash at the hands of England and its aggressive style.
England swept away New Zealand in the summer before handing Pakistan its first-ever 3-0 defeat at home last month through its relentless aggressive batting on flat and slow-turning pitches. Pakistan is languishing at No. 7 in the ICC world test championship table while New Zealand has endured even more disappointment and is 8th despite beating India in the inaugural WTC final at Lord's last year.
Pakistan's poor form prompted a change in the leadership of the Pakistan Cricket Board where Ramiz Raja was sacked as chairman shortly after the 3-0 loss to England with former PCB chairman Najam Sethi reinstalled as the head of the new cricket board management committee.
Babar Azam finished 2022 as the top run-scorer in test matches with 1,184 runs in nine test matches with four centuries, but Pakistan batters have generally struggled to come close to their skipper's form except for the late emergence of lefthanded batter Saud Shakeel.
Shakeel has scored consistently since making his test debut against England at Rawalpindi. He scored five half-centuries in four test matches and saved Pakistan from defeat in the last test with an unbeaten 55 when Ish Sodhi's six-wicket haul in the second innings threatened to take the game away from Pakistan.
The middle order has consistently collapsed as Pakistan lost four tests in a row at home for the first time in its cricketing history while drawing the remaining three games twice against Australia and one against New Zealand.
Despite the poor run, Babar says that competing against much higher-ranked teams Australia, England and New Zealand gave his squad plenty of experience.
"We didn't perform the way we had expected in red-ball cricket," Babar said on Sunday. "Three sides ranked above us played in Pakistan that provided us a huge learning opportunity."
