Pakistan Vs New Zealand 2nd Test 04 January 2023

2nd Test, National Stadium, Karachi

New Zealand

449/10 & 277/5 (82)

Pakistan

408/10 & 304/9 (90)

Match Drawn

Info

Fantasy

Live

Scorecard

Playing XI

Player of the Match Sarfaraz Ahmed

78(109) & 118(176)

New Zealand 1st Inns

449/10 (131)

Pakistan 1st Inns

408/10 (133)

New Zealand 2nd Inns

277/5 (82)

Pakistan 2nd Inns

304/9 (90)

Batters

Abdullah Shafique

0.00

b Tim Southee

Imam ul Haq

46.15

b Ish Sodhi

Mir Hamza

0.00

b Ish Sodhi

Shan Masood

53.03

c Kane Williamson b Michael Bracewell

Babar Azam

(C)

65.85

c Tom Latham b Michael Bracewell

Sarfaraz Ahmed

118

176

67.05

c Kane Williamson b Michael Bracewell

Saud Shakeel

146

21.92

c DJ Mitchell b Michael Bracewell

Agha Salman

75.00

b MJ Henry

Hasan Ali

50.00

lbw b Tim Southee

Naseem Shah *

136.36

Not out

Abrar Ahmed

53.85

Not out

Extras

(B: 16, LB: 5, NB: 0, W: 2)

TOTAL

(90 Ov, RR: 3.38)

304/9

Bowlers

EXT

2.15

3.29

3.28

3.75

4.57

1.25

Fall Of Wickets

Score

Over

Abdullah Shafique

b Tim Southee

1-0

0.2

Mir Hamza

b Ish Sodhi

2-0

2.5

Imam ul Haq

b Ish Sodhi

3-35

12.1

Babar Azam

c Tom Latham b Michael Bracewell

4-77

22.4

Shan Masood

c Kane Williamson b Michael Bracewell

5-80

24.3

Saud Shakeel

c DJ Mitchell b Michael Bracewell

6-203

67.5

Agha Salman

b MJ Henry

7-273

81.4

Hasan Ali

lbw b Tim Southee

8-282

84.4

Sarfaraz Ahmed

c Kane Williamson b Michael Bracewell

9-287

86.3

Player of the Match Sarfaraz Ahmed

78(109) & 118(176)

Commentary

With that, we come to an end of the two-match test series between Pakistan and New Zealand. It ends with a score of 0-0 and both sides will be looking to open their account for the tour in the ODI series starting only after two days of gap on Monday (9th January). In the meantime, do keep yourselves updated with further cricketing news and action from around the globe on this very platform. For the moment though, thanking you for joining us right through the course of this Test on behalf of the entire team here at Sportskeeda is the duo of Raghav Tikmany and Pradeep. See you around soon - goodbye for now!

Tim Southee (New Zealand captain): Yeah it came down to the final moments, great end to the ten days of grind. We got ourselves in a winning position but Sarfaraz's knock took the game away from us. The match was still up for grabs in the end. We are really happy for Sodhi, he did not play test cricket for a long time and he comes back to be the bowler of the series. Bracewell keeps developing too, it was a pretty tough surface, good to see the boys keep asking the right questions. We knew things could happen late in the test match and I feel Sarfaraz was the difference between the two sides. Pretty difficult tour so far, playing on the same ground for ten days, we look forward to the ODIs.

Babar Azam (Pakistan captain): The plan was to go through, if we're in a good situation then go for the runs, Saud batted well along with Sarfaraz. To keep things simple and see at the end, if the partnerships were good, big one's then we thought we could go for the win, that was the plan, once Salman got out the game turned a bit for us. As far as test series is concerned, we couldn't perform to the expectations but there were a lot of positives, we want to polish on the negatives ones and learn from it to improve in the upcoming games. Dream come back from Sarfaraz, the last four years was brilliant for him, he's backed himself whenever he got the opportunity and he's nailed it in this series.

Sarfaraz Ahmed is the Player of the Match for his 78 and 118! And is also the Player of the Series! Amassed 335 runs in the series. Here's what he has to say: Thanks to god. Brilliant come back from myself, from four years, didn't get the chance but I did my thing in the domestic circuit. When I came into bat in the first innings, there was a lot of turn and the ball was keeping low, captain gave the confidence and the form from domestic I backed myself to do well here. The plan was always with Salman with 140 runs to go, put the bad balls away and when we lost wickets, we had to take a step back otherwise we would've gone for the win. (On the hundred in the fourth innings) Definitely at the top and in the fourth innings. Karachi crowds have always supported me, to the entire team, request them to support us in the ODI series too.

New Zealand (1st innings) 449 all out
Pakistan (1st innings) 408 all out
New Zealand (2nd innings) 277/5 dec.
Pakistan (2nd innings, chasing 319) 304/9

One of the most dramatic ends to a test match and we have no winners. After five days of intense test cricket, we were moments away from a result but the bad light stole the moment from us as the players are forced to shake hands and accept a draw. The two match series ends 0-0 and the trophy will be shared between the two captains and they will have plenty to reflect back on from here.

New Zealand after winning the toss and opting to bat first got off to a pretty good start. Latham and Conway were once again among the runs but a middle-order collapse did not allow them to put on a mammoth total. Henry and Ajaz towards the end guided them to a competitive score.

Pakistan came out to bat and faced the scoreboard pressure. Imam, Sarfaraz and Saud stood up for them. They were in a good position to take a lead but the visiting spinners feasted and got rid of the last five batters for only 23 runs to give New Zealand a lead of 41 runs.

Latham, Blundell and Bracewell contributed for the Kiwis in the second innings and allowed them to set up a target of 319 for Pakistan in 93 overs. Their approach was criticized but they did a fine job to ensure that the New Zealand bowlers have plenty to defend.

Pakistan lost plenty of early wickets in their run chase. They were five down for 80 before lunch with the likes of Babar and Imam back in the shed. Then came the Sarfaraz and Saud resurgence. They batted out the entire second session. Sarfaraz scored freely while Saud was circumspect with his approach.

In the final session, Saud departed early but Salman supported Sarfaraz. The latter got to his century and runs were coming quickly for the hosts. However, Henry getting rid of Salman was the turning point as it exposed Pakistan's tail. Sarfaraz's cramps added salt to the injury. Southee took the new ball which played a major role in the departure of Sarfaraz and Hasan. New Zealand were one wicket away but the lights were only good enough to allow the spinners to bowl. Sodhi and Bracewell bowled with 9 fielders around the bat but couldn't quite get rid of Naseem or Abrar. With three overs remaining in the day's play, the umpires decided that the light would not be enough for the play to continue and the players had to settle for a draw.

That is it! The umpire's call it a day and the player's shake hands.

Another over survived. Another check for the lights.

overs

304 /9 score

runs

Naseem Shah

15 (11)

Abrar Ahmed *

7 (13)

Ish Sodhi

2 /59

89.6 Ish Sodhi to Abrar Ahmed, pulls the length back, was a slider on the stumps, Abrar camps deep inside the crease and keeps it out.

Southee was in two minds. The impact was missing to the naked eye, pretty clearly.

89.5 Ish Sodhi to Abrar Ahmed, LOUD APPEAL FOR LBW, NOT GIVEN! That strikes him well outside the off-stump, Abrar walks across off-stump and looks to defend but misses. Southee takes the review. UltraEdge confirms there was no bat involved. Ball tracking has IMPACT OUTSIDE OFF indeed, lets get back to the game, shall we?

A misfield from Sodhi and it's down to 15 now.

89.4 Ish Sodhi to Abrar Ahmed, floated a full delivery on the off-stump, Abrar drilled it back past the bowler, they come back for a quick brace. Need 15 now!

89.3 Ish Sodhi to Abrar Ahmed, OH! Drops it short, spinning into Abrar on the stumps, goes deep inside the crease and Abrar keeps it out.

89.2 Ish Sodhi to Abrar Ahmed, length delivery on the stumps, Abrar strides out to defend but that skews off the inside edge into the on-side.

89.1 Ish Sodhi to Abrar Ahmed, tossed up delivery, googly to start, on the off-stump, Abrar lunges and clips it away to short mid-wicket for no run.

Ish Sodhi will continue. The last over has just instilled some fear among the Kiwis. 7 fielders around the bat.

overs

302 /9 score