KARACHI: Having spent over five hours at the crease and played 240 deliveries, Saud Shakeel reached the landmark that defines a Test batter. His ability was never in question but it was about delivery. It was some stage to reach his maiden century; at his home ground, in front of fans from his hometown. There was also the captain of his club, region and franchise team at the other end when he completed the single to raise his 100.

As soon as Sarfraz Ahmed reached the batting end, he raised his hands, beating his bat, to applaud the 27-year-old whose innings — slow, by the standards with which runs are being scored by teams looking to force a result in a Test match, but assured — had held together Pakistan’s innings and put them close to New Zealand’s first innings score of 449. He had racked up five half-centuries in the first eight innings of his nascent Test career. Finally, he’d converted it into triple figures. The question remains whether the innings by Saud, who was at 124 not out at the close after having batted the entire day, was a match-winning one.

It’s more of a match-saving one with Pakistan at 407-9 in their first innings with two days of the match to go. Having lost home series to Australia and England prior to the New Zealand series, they seem on course to end with a draw in the season-ending one. So far, Saud has spent 488 minutes on the crease. During that time, only once was he close to being dismissed. He also had a stroke of luck when he was closing in on his hundred.

When Saud was on 94, the same as his previous best, at the National Stadium on the third day of this second and deciding Test of the series, he saw his defensive stroke fall just in front of the close-in Tom Latham. But he would soon move to 95 with a single down the leg side and sweep Michael Bracewell for his 14th boundary to move within a run of his century before a quick run took him there and Sarfraz wrapped his arms around him.

Sarfraz, though, couldn’t stay long with him and reach a century himself. The former Pakistan captain, recalled for the series, raised his third half-century in three innings since his return to the side after nearly four years but was on 78, having belted 10 boundaries, when part-time medium pacer Daryl Mitchell’s delivery flew past his legs. Off-balance, it was in the split-second moment where his back leg was in the air that his New Zealand counterpart Tom Blundell removed the bails. It was close, a shred of doubt remained but the TV umpire Ahsan Raza decided it was out.

It was disappointing for Sarfraz, his dismissal marking the end of a 150-run partnership with Saud that had started early on Wednesday morning after Imam-ul-Haq’s dismissal for 83, and Pakistan went into sleep mode. Instead of powering on with the milestone in the bag, Saud went into a shell. The 10 overs after tea, with Saud joined by Agha Salman at the crease, yielded just nine runs. In the over immediately after, Saud was dropped by Tom Latham at point off New Zealand skipper Tim Southee.

LABORIOUS PARTNERSHIP

In a laborious 53-run partnership between Saud and Salman, it was the latter who did the bulk of the scoring. Salman scored 41 with seven fours before his 78-ball knock came to an end when his top edge, as he attempted to sweep Ajaz Patel, hit his shoulder and flew to first slip where a diving Bracewell held a juggling catch. Saud got his first boundary since reaching his century after Salman’s dismissal, launching Mitchell over extra cover.

None of the batters that came afterwards hung around for too long. The incoming Hasan Ali swung his bat and got a four before holing Patel out in the deep. Naseem Shah lifted Ish Sodhi for four over mid-on before he was cleaned up by the leg-spinner for his 50th Test victim. Sodhi would get No 51 off the very next ball, rattling Mir Hamza’s stumps with a delivery that went through the gate. Saud then got consecutive fours off Patel before last man Abrar Ahmed saw off the day.

“The plan is to try and take the lead tomorrow,” Saud would reflect on the day’s play, clarifying his slow scoring was due to New Zealand’s pacers consistently trying to pitch the ball outside his off-stump.

Pakistan had started the day at 154-3 and opener Imam, resuming on 74, began with a four off his backfoot on the first ball of the day by New Zealand pacer Matt Henry. But he was dismissed almost an hour after the start of the day’s play when the faintest of edges off Southee was grasped by Blundell. New Zealand went up in appeal immediately and got the dismissal on review.

Saud, who was on 13 overnight, had been painstakingly slow after arriving with Pakistan at 99-3 on Tuesday. He’d taken 42 deliveries to open his account and although he’d got three boundaries — two off Bracewell and one off Sodhi — but it was after Sarfraz’s arrival that Pakistan’s run-making quickened.

Sarfraz’s first boundary came with a delightful drive through covers off Southee and he then picked up Sodhi for a four through midwicket. Sodhi was being taken on and left-arm spinner Patel was also not spared.

Saud reached his half-century before New Zealand took the new ball and then Sarfraz raised his fifty off 61 balls. The left-handed Saud got fours off Bracewell, the second off a top-edge, and then saw an edge of Southee fly past slip for a boundary. Patel was then swept for four before Saud picked up the spinner over midwicket for another boundary. Sarfraz fetched boundaries with a cut and sweep of Patel and after Saud went ton-up, he went down the track and lofted Bracewell over his head for a four. But he departed soon after.

Scoreboard

NEW ZEALAND (1st Innings) 449 (D. Conway 122, T. Latham 71, M. Henry 68 not out; Abrar Ahmed 4-149)

PAKISTAN (1st Innings, overnight 154-3):

Abdullah Shafique c Patel b Henry 19

Imam-ul-Haq c Blundell b Southee 83

Shan Masood c Conway b Patel 20

Babar Azam run out 24

Saud Shakeel not out 124

Sarfraz Ahmed st Blundell b Mitchell 78

Agha Salman c Bracewell b Patel 41

Hasan Ali c Conway b Patel 4

Naseem Shah b Sodhi 4

Mir Hamza b Sodhi 0

Abrar Ahmed not out 0

EXTRAS (LB-7, NB-3) 10

TOTAL (for nine wickets, 132 overs) 407

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-27 (Abdullah), 2-56 (Shan), 3-99 (Babar), 4-182 (Imam), 5-332 (Sarfraz), 6-385 (Salman), 7-393 (Hasan), 8-397 (Naseem), 9-397 (Hamza)

BOWLING: Southee 25-7-62-1, Henry 28-9-58-1 (1nb), Patel 17-2-88-3, Bracewell 26-3-87-0, Sodhi 26-3-94-2 (1nb), Mitchell 10-6-11-1.

Published in Dawn, January 5th, 2023