Pakistan made a bright start to the opening Test against New Zealand at Abu Dhabi as they wrested the early initiative.
After New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson won the toss and elected to bat first, Pakistan bowlers bundled out the visitors for just 153 runs in their first innings. In reply, Pakistan had reached 59-2 by the time stumps were drawn on day one.
Haris Sohail starred for Pakistan with both bat and ball on Friday. Here, we take a closer look at the southpaw’s display.
BOWLING STATISTICS
OVERS BOWLED: 8
RUNS CONCEDED: 11
WICKETS: 2
MAIDENS: 2
ECONOMY-RATE: 1.37
BATTING STATISTICS
RUNS: 22
BALLS FACED: 40
BOUNDARIES: 3
SIXES: 0
STRIKE-RATE: 55
30-SECOND-REPORT
With the pitch giving assistance to spinners, Sohail was given the ball by Sarfraz Ahmed and he immediately found sharp turn with his left-arm spin. The 29-year-old tightened Pakistan’s grip on the game by pinning Ish Sodhi and the last recognised batsman in BJ Watling lbw to reduce the Kiwis to 133-8.
Sohail was soon called into action with the bat when Pakistan openers Imam-ul-Haq and Mohammad Hafeez fell in quick succession and avoided further damage by putting together an assured stand along with Azhar Ali. The left-hander safely negotiated a tricky period towards the close of play and put Pakistan in a strong position to push ahead on day two.
WICKET! Haris Sohail strikes, traps Ish Sodhi right infront! Ball-tracking shows three reds! NZ 128/7
— Cricingif (@_cricingif) November 16, 2018
Ball-by-ball clips & live-blog: https://t.co/8HtdlyrjWQ#PAKvNZ pic.twitter.com/y7asidANtw
GOT RIGHT
With the ball, Sohail got prodigious turn and managed to bamboozle Watling. Squaring the New Zealand wicketkeeper batsman up with a beautifully flighted delivery, Sohail extinguished any hopes the tourists had of salvaging their first innings.
With the bat, he came in at a time that Pakistan were pegged back early. Sohail looked assured in his 40-ball unbeaten stay at the crease and had settled down well at the crease by the time the day’s play ended.
Sohail got the ball to turn sharply on day one.
GOT WRONG
There was not much Sohail did wrong with either ball or bat on day one. He is not a specialist spinner and did as well a job as Sarfraz could have asked for with the ball. With the bat, he barely made any mistakes with his shot selection and was largely comfortable at the crease.
VERDICT – 8/10
Having been unlucky with injuries in the past, Sohail is slowly becoming a regular member of Pakistan’s Test squad. The talented all-rounder is clearly relishing being given an extended run for the first time and helped Pakistan seize control on day one with valuable contributions.
His job, however, is not yet done and he has a big day with the bat coming up on Saturday. Sohail has made a habit of getting starts in his previous matches but not converting them and he now has the chance to register his first Test half-century in over a year. Should he do that, he could put Pakistan in an even stronger position.
