Pakistan top order makes history in Abu Dhabi

Cricket365
November 10, 2014

New Zealand faced an uphill task in the first Test against Pakistan in Abu Dhabi, reaching stumps on 15 for none after the hosts racked up a whopping 566 for three declared over the first two days.

The hosts made Test history by becoming the first team to have all five of their top order score more than 80 runs each. Younis Khan and Misbah-ul-Haq had unbeaten centuries at the declaration.

Pakistan began the day on 269 for one, with Ahmed Shehzad already well past his century, while Azhar Ali was a few runs short of a half century. The pair reached new milestones in the morning, with Shehzad becoming the youngest Pakistan batsman to score 150.

Shehzad was out for 176 to bring about lunch, as New Zealand finally got a breakthrough as the hosts sat on 347 for two. He ended up with a fractured skull though, which scans later revealed.

Shehzad was struck on the helmet grill by Corey Anderson, which caused him to spin around and drop his bat, but it landed on the wickets and when he came around from the blow, looking very groggy, he was told he was out.

The afternoon saw the single wicket of Ali falling, as he departed for 87, a failure compared to the other batsmen in his team. He was beautifully bowled by leg-spinner Ish Sodhi, who removed the top of off stump.

But that was all the Kiwis celebrated on the day, as they dropped three catches to boot. Younis and Misbah continued their sublime run of recent form, adding yet more tons to their records, and Younis becoming the fourth player to reach 1000 Test runs this year.

Their centuries prompted the declaration, Misbah making his off 162 balls and Younis off 141. This left the Kiwis to see out seven overs, and at stumps Brendon McCullum was on nine and Tom Latham on five.