Tags: New Zealand tour of Pakistan, 2022-23,
New Zealand,
Pakistan,
Pakistan vs New Zealand, 2nd Test at Multan, Jan 02-06, 2023,
Timothy Grant Southee
Printed on: Jan 07, 2023
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New Zealand captain Tim Southee has expressed disappointment on the two-match Check sequence in opposition to Pakistan ending in a draw. Unhealthy gentle performed an element in each Checks because the hosts escaped with a draw, leaving the Kiwis a bit pissed off. Within the first Check, New Zealand wanted 77 runs for victory with 9 wickets in hand when the sport was known as off. Within the second Check, the Kiwis have been just one wicket away from victory, regardless of Sarfaraz Ahmed’s good ton. Nonetheless, Pakistan’s last-wicket pair of Naseem Shah and Abrar Ahmed held on to safe a draw for the hosts.
Set a goal of 319, Pakistan have been 304/9 after 90 overs when the Check led to tantalizing vogue. The hosts started the day having misplaced two wickets in a single day with none runs on the board. Sarfaraz Ahmed (118 off 176) continued his dream comeback and gave the crew hopes of an sudden victory.
Ahmed, was nevertheless, dismissed within the 87th over as New Zealand’s hopes of victory have been rekindled. The last-wicket pair managed to make sure the Kiwis didn’t stroll away with a well-known win. Reflecting on the drawn sequence, New Zealand skipper Southee mentioned, “You play to win Check matches and we obtained ourselves in, most likely, positions to win each of them. It was fairly robust going however the guys toiled away and we have been one ball away from a sequence victory.
“So yeah, disappointing to stroll away [with a drawn series] and I am certain Pakistan are the identical. You stroll away, you toil away for 10 days and a drawn sequence. Loads of good cricket was performed in and amongst these 10 days,” he added on the post-match convention.
The Kiwi quick bowler additionally opened up concerning the pitches in Pakistan, which have been a matter of debate in cricketing circles. Whereas there was been some criticism of the surfaces, Southee was not too harsh. He responded, “We felt the surfaces was nonetheless a reasonably good floor if you happen to wished to only bat. Powerful if you happen to wished to attain runs. So it was a little bit of a balancing act to try to get the correct amount of overs left and the correct amount of runs. And I suppose to get a little bit dip at them [2.5 overs] final evening and get them two down, that was an amazing begin.”
Within the wake of Pakistan escaping with a draw after being 9 down, the plain query of New Zealand’s declaration late on Day 4 got here to the fore. Though the Kiwis did declare a few wickets, they obtained to bowl solely 2.5 overs earlier than the shut of play. Revisiting the choice, Southee mentioned, “I suppose you at all times look again and there is methods you can enhance and you can get higher with hindsight. However that was a call we made on the time.
“The blokes that have been batting felt that it wasn’t simple to only exit and hit the ball. So it was a type of ones that you just needed to weigh up. Final evening we declared and made the a lot of the three overs we had,” he defined.
The drawn match means Pakistan have didn’t win three dwelling Check sequence in a row. They went down 0-1 to Australia, earlier than being embarrassed 0-3 by England’s ‘bazball’ squad.
–By A Cricket Correspondent
