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Abid Ali cleared to resume his international career after angioplasty
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BAN vs PAK | Abid Ali misses out on consecutive centuries but guides Pakistan to easy win
Chasing more than 200 in a Test match is a dangerous proposition and in the subcontinent, it becomes even more precarious given the amount of turn that the pitches offer. However, for Pakistan openers, it turned out to be a walk in the park as they chased down the target of 203 set up by the Bangladeshi team in the fourth innings with much ease. Abid Ali and Abdullah Shafique, the two openers played a great role in the victory as they did not give even a window of opportunity for the Bangladeshi bowlers to make inroads. Taking a leaf out of their first innings partnership of 146, the duo stitched together 151 this time around. They remained unbeaten on the fourth day, making the fifth day just a formality as only 93 runs were required for the win. Bangladesh, on the other end, might have harboured hopes of getting back into the game on the last day with their spin duo of Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Taijul Islam. However, it took too late for them to come to action and even as Mehidy broke the opening partnership by removing Shafique for 73. Tailjul also removed Abid for 91, but by that time Pakistan required only 31 runs to win. Skipper Babar Azam and senior Azhar Ali made sure that the target was reached without any further breaches. Earlier Bangladesh, even after claiming 44 runs lead in the first innings courtesy of Islam’s brilliant 7-116 spell, wasn’t able to capitalise on it and could only make 157 in their second innings. Even getting to that would have been difficult if it wasn’t for the half-century from Liton Das as the rest of the batters literally threw their wickets away. Courtesy of this win, the Pakistani team moved to second position in the Points Table of the World Test Championship 2021-23. They have 66.66 Percentage of Points courtesy of two wins from three completed games. Sri Lanka lead the table with one win from one match.
BAN vs PAK | 1st Test: Abid Ali notches up ton but visitors still in trouble
Pakistan opener Abid Ali made headlines with a hundred against Bangladesh in the first innings of the first Test in Chattogram. The visitors had a solid start to the proceedings in reply to Bangladesh’s 330 as Abid and Abdullah Shafique stitched a first-wicket stand of 146 runs before the latter departed for 52. He was trapped in front of the stumps by Taijul Islam. Shafique’s dismissal certainly broke the shackles and Pakistan lost wickets at regular intervals to get reduced to 217/6 including the priced scalp of Abid who was undone by Taijul for 133. At the time of writing, the spinner had already picked four wickets while Ebadot Hossain and Mehidy Hasan had a wicket each under their belt. Azhar Ali who came in at number three was dismissed for a golden duck while captain Babar Azam could only manage to score 10 during the course. Earlier, Bangladesh rode on a century from Liton Das and 91 from Mushfiqur Rahim to out 330 on the board. Pacer Hasan Ali returned with a five-wicket haul for Pakistan in the first innings. The two teams are battling it out in a two-match Test series. The second fixture will be held in Dhaka from December 4.
Pakistan Test squad members to leave for West Indies on July 26: PCB
The Pakistan players who have not travelled with their limited-overs side to England would be going directly to West Indies by boarding a flight from Lahore on July 26 to Barbados. “The 11 players that will join the remaining Test players in the West Indies finished their 10-day training and conditioning camp at the National Stadium Karachi today,” A release by Pakistan Cricket Board said. “The players will now enter a bio-secure bubble in a Lahore hotel on 22 July before departing for Barbados. Before entering the bio-secure bubble, the players will undergo Covid-19 tests at their respective hometowns on Monday, 19 July,” it added. After the first round of testing, the players would undergo another round of testing on their arrival in the team hotel in Lahore on Thursday, 22 July. And post these two tests, a final round of testing will be conducted on Saturday 24 July. This series will also mark the start of Pakistan’s World Test Championship 2021-23 journey as well. Both the Tests in this series would be played at Sabina Park, Kingston, Jamaica with the first one starting from August 12. The 11 players who would be travelling to Barbados are: Abid Ali, Azhar Ali, Fawad Alam, Imran Butt, Mohammad Abbas, Naseem Shah, Nauman Ali, Sajid Khan, Shahnawaz Dahani, Yasir Shah, Zahid Mahmood
ZIM vs PAK | 2nd Test: Pakistan in pole position as Zimbabwe collapse after Abid Ali's double hundred
It was Abid Ali’s day at the Harare Sports Club in Harare as he hit his maiden double century in Test cricket, aided and supported well by spinner Nauman Ali, who unfortunately missed out on a maiden Test ton, getting stumped off 97. Pakistan’s debutants Sajid Khan and Tabish Khan picked their maiden Test wickets as the host Zimbabwe were pushed to 52/4 at the end of Day two’s play of the second Test. Hasan Ali and Shaheen Afridi, the usual suspects took one each as well. Coming to bat after having let their opponents score freely and reach 510-8 in their first innings, Zimbabwe didn’t get off to a good start as Tisiarai Musakakand became 36-year-old Tabish Khan’s first international wicket. Tabish was lucky as the in swinger clearly seemed to be missing the leg stump on replays. Regis Chakabva, who was promoted to number-3 did well to build a small partnership with the other opener Kevin Kasuza. But a nipping inswinger from Hasan Ali saw Kasuza’s off-stump cartwheel to Pakistan wicketkeeper Mohammad Rizwan. Zimbabwean skipper Brendan Taylor’s poor run of form continued as he edged a climbing short ball, bowled by an aggressive Shaheen from around the wicket, to Rizwan behind the stumps. Sajid Khan’s arm ball then got Milton Shumba and the Chevrons were reeling at 47-4 in 25 overs. The nightwatchman Tendai Chisoro then played out the remaining five overs alongside Chakabva to see off the day. Earlier in the day, starting from their overnight score of 268-4, Pakistan were anchored by Abid, who even in the face of wickets falling at regular intervals, kept ongoing. At 341-7, with no recognize batsman left to stand at the other end with Abid, it seemed that Pakistan will fold out under 400. However, 34-year-old Nauman had other ideas. Not at all a mug with the bat, the Sindh born utilised all his First class experience where he has 10 half-centuries and over 2000 runs, and played a blinder of an innings, hitting 104 balls 97, in which 41 off his last runs came off just 17 balls. The left-hander hit nine fours and five sixes in total as well. Once he got out, Babar Azam declared the innings at 510-8. Both Abid and Nauman added 169 for the eighth wicket, the 13th highest in the world and second for Pakistan. The highest eighth-wicket partnership for Pakistan also came against Zimbabwe when Wasim Akram and Saqlain Mushtaq added 31 runs in 1996.
ZIM vs PAK | 2nd Test - Abid Ali hits maiden double ton without hitting a single six
Pakistan opener Abid Ali hit a four to reach his maiden double hundred in Test cricket, albeit without hitting a single six, which is one of the rare occasions in modern-day Test cricket. Playing the second Test of the two-match series against Zimbabwe, the right-hander held one end even as most of the stalwarts of the teams disappointed with the bat. Abid, 33, opened the innings with Imran Butt and has carried on since then, playing 393 deliveries to get to the milestone. Batting with patience, he built various partnerships, including the 236 runs stand for the second wicket with former skipper Azhar Ali. After some small contributions with others in the middle order, the Lahire born’s second-best partnership is the one going on between him and spinner Nauman Ali. At the time of writing this, Nauman, 34, had hit 70 out of the 132 run partnership between the two. Abid has so far played 11 Tests for Pakistan, scoring 629 runs at an average of 37 with two centuries to his credit. Pakistan after struggling with wickets falling in a bunch at the Harare Sports Club are now in a commanding position with 473 runs on the board at the loss of seven wickets.
Unstoppable Jamieson gives New Zealand clean sweep over Pakistan and no. 1 rank
New Zealand achieved a perfect ending to their Test home summer by bowling out Pakistan for just 186 and consigning them to an innings and 176-run defeat. The day was always expected to be a tough one for the visitors as Kyle Jamieson had looked threatening on day 3 itself and the likes of Tim Southee and Trent Boult were expected to have an impact at some stage. The first wicket, as expected, was of the night-watchman Mohammad Abbas who nicked one from Boult to wicketkeeper BJ Watling. Surprisingly, Abbas decided to review, only to find out that he indeed got an edge. Then came the most promising partnership of the day, between Abid Ali, the overnight batsman and Azhar Ali. The two played some delightful shots and resisted the Kiwi attack for 86 balls, scoring 29 runs together. But a magnificent one-handed catch from substitute Will Young ended that partnership. Young dived to his right and took a slightly aerial square drive by Abid with his right hand, giving Jamieson his second. He also dismissed Haris Sohail later and Pakistan were 4-down for just 79. However, Azhar Ali was playing really well and Pakistan’s hopes rested on him. Unfortunately, New Zealand, especially Jamieson, adopted a new strategy against him. The tall left-armer came round the wicket and started bowling at Azhar’s ribs. Eventually, the tactic worked as the former Pakistan captain moved towards the off side and fended a ball into the wicketkeeper’s gloves. With Azhar gone, Pakistan were pretty much done and dusted. Captain Mohammad Rizwan received a peach of a delivery as Jamieson got one ball to swing into the right-hander a long way and go through his defences to shatter the stumps. Jamieson eventually ended with 6/48 which, along with 5/69 in his first innings, gave him his first 10-wicket haul in a match. Some late fireworks were provided by Zafar Gohar but they were only dying flickers of a doomed flame. The match ended with him getting out for 37 as New Zealand achieved the top spot in ICC rankings, for the first time in their history. This also meant that they won all their home matches this season. Skipper Kane Williamson won the Man of the Series Award while Jamieson took home the Man of the Match trophy.
Day 3: Record Williamson-Nicholls partnership crushes Pakistan's confidence
Pakistan endured another miserable day on their tour of New Zealand with Kane Williamson completing another double century, his second of the season, and Daryl Mitchell reaching three figures for the first time in his career, on day 3 of the second Test going on at Christchurch. The day started with both Williamson, not out on 129 overnight, and Henry Nicholls, unbeaten on 89, resuming the grounding down of opposition. It didn’t take much time for New Zealand to reach 300 from their overnight score of 286, and for Nicholls to complete his second hundred of the season. However, keeping with the trend of missed chances yesterday, Nicholls was dropped twice again today, first, at the score of 92, then, after he had reached his 100. Williamson too, was dropped once in the morning. The two batsmen continued to pile on the agony for the visitors as the Pakistani bowlers looked deflated. The partnership swelled to epic proportions, becoming the highest for any wicket in Pakistan vs New Zealand matches. The 369-run stand is also the third-biggest for any wicket by a New Zealand batting pair. Nicholls managed to reach his 150 while an unrelenting Kiwi captain completed his second double hundred of the season. But before Williamson’s milestone, Pakistan finally got a breakthrough when Nicholls got a top edge to a rare bouncer from Mohammad Abbas. He scored 157. BJ Watling missed out on the fun when he was dismissed cheaply by Shaheen Shah Afridi, for just seven. But Daryl Mitchell, in the team due to Neil Wagner’s injury, made full use of this opportunity. He and Williamson went on the offensive and started to smash the Pakistan bowlers to all round the ground. Williamson’s innings finally ended when he attempted an upper cut which landed in the hands of the third man fielder. This shot and the way the two batsmen were batting was a clear sign that the Kiwis wanted to declare soon. It was now a race against the time for Mitchell to get to his maiden Test hundred. Williamson was poised for declaration after tea but gave enough time to the all-rounder to complete his ton. The New Zealand innings ended at 659/6, a lead of 362 runs. When Pakistan came out to bat, the two openers – Shan Masood and Abid Ali – showed great restraint, not scoring a run for the first few overs. Then, the in-form bowler Kyle Jamieson came into the attack and made an impact immediately, getting Masood to edge a delivery to slip on the second ball of his first over. He was out for a 25-ball duck. Abid Ali also seemed to have succumbed to Jamieson when the umpire gave him out lbw. But he survived thanks to a nick that even he wasn’t aware of. Eventually, Pakistan ended day 3 on 8/1, trailing by 354. An innings defeat looms large on the horizon for Pakistan. Unless, someone plays a really special knock.
Gritty resistance by skipper Rizwan and Faheem saves Pakistan from follow-on
Pakistan was able to avoid the follow-on on day 3 of their first Test against New Zealand taking place at Mount Maunganui. But that would hardly compensate for the terrible collapse their batting order suffered in the morning session. At the start of play, hopes were high from Abid Ali and other batsmen of a fightback. But the New Zealand bowling attack showed why they have been so good in the last few years. On the same pitch where Pakistan's bowlers couldn't dislodge the masterful Kane Williamson and later, the gritty BJ Watling, the Kiwi pace attack ran riot. First, Kyle Jamieson ended Abid Ali's promising innings with a delivery that jagged back in and hit the stumps. The extra bounce generated by the tall bowler prevented Abid from coming forward and the ball went through his defences. Mohammad Abbas, the night-watchman, went soon after, edging a delivery from Trent Boult. Then, Tim Southee, on the brink of 300 Test wickets, got into the act. Azhar Ali, the mainstay of Pakistan's batting, was done in by a wonderful delivery that swung away just a little bit to take the edge of Ali's bat. Southee got his 298th scalp soon after when Haris Sohail sliced a delivery to gully. Pakistan were now tottering at 5/52. The new captain Mohammad Rizwan and Fawad Alam got together and showed some resistance. They put together 28 runs but then, Neil Wagner made an impact in his usual way. A short delivery got Fawad to attempt a pull. He only managed a faint top edge that was gleefully accepted by the wicketkeeper BJ Watling. At 80/6, Pakistan seemed set to follow on. But then Rizwan showed the same determined batting that has led him to the captaincy position. He teamed up with Faheem Ashraf who batted with such authority that he could easily have been mistaken for a top-order batsman. Ashraf was especially impressive with his pull shots, which were played in a most clinical manner. Rizwan, at the other end, also showed a solid technique and composure to keep his team from further harm. The conditions had become easier for batting and now, the New Zealand bowlers seemed much less menacing. There were a couple of chances. An aerial drive by Faheem was dropped at short cover, a difficult chance. An edge of Rizwan's bat went through the gap between slips and gully. Rizwan reached his fifty in 106 balls. Faheem also got to the milestone, in 87 balls. The two batsmen batted with much more application than was expected of them. They even dealt with the second new ball well. Eventually, what ended this brilliant partnership was some fielding brilliance. An attempted second run ended in disaster for the Pakistan captain as Mitchell Santner, who hardly bowled, sent a slingy, low arm throw from the deep that hit the stumps at non-striker end as Rizwan dived to make it to the crease, but was found short. The skipper departed for a well-made and fighting 71. This opened the door for New Zealand to wrap up Pakistan's innings before they could avoid the follow-on. Boult got a ball to swing back into right-hander Yasir Shah and smash the stumps. Shaheen Afridi parried an awkward bouncer to short-leg fielder Tom Latham. Meanwhile, Faheem saw an opportunity to get to his hundred. He had managed to take Pakistan past the follow-on mark. The lower order batsman seemed intent on getting his hundred before the close of the day's play. In the final over, he hit a boundary to move to 91, but Jamieson got a delivery outside off stump to just climb a little and take the edge. It was taken by Watling to end Pakistan's innings at 239, trailing the hosts by 192 runs. Jamieson finished with 3/35 off 23.2 overs in another impressive performance. Boult, Wagner, and Southee picked up two wickets each.
New Zealand seal advantage by grinding Pakistan further on day 2
More pain and struggle was in store for Pakistan on day 2 of the first Test at Mount Maunganui as the ever-efficient BJ Watling led his team past the score of 400 in their first innings. The Kiwis ended up with a score of 431. Pakistan, in reply, were 30/1 when the day's play ended. In the first session, the spotlight was on Kane Williamson who was batting on 94 overnight. His masterful display of discipline and determination was chiefly responsible for getting his team in a good position. He duly brought up his hundred with a silky smooth off drive - his 23rd century in Tests, just three less than Steve Smith and four less than Virat Kohli. The other overnight batsman Henry Nicholls had also reached a milestone, of his fifty earlier. The two batsman were now looking very comfortable on a pitch that seemed to have lost most of its venom. A sharp rising delivery from Naseem Shah ended Nicholls' vigil as the ball took the edge, to be taken behind the stumps. But Williamson looked at his elegant best, reeling off those gracious drives through the off side that distinguish his batting. It took a brilliant delivery from Yasir Shah to end Williamson's knock at his personal score of 129. A delivery on a good length pitched and turned to take the edge of the New Zealand captain's bat, which was taken very low at first slip. At 281/5, Pakistan would have fancied their chances of restricting the home side to a manageable total. Unfortunately for them, BJ Watling, the defiant, nuggety wicketkeeper-batsman again stood like a fort and didn't let the visitors get any more breakthroughs. He showed the solid technique and determination that his captain possesses to carve useful partnerships with Mitchell Santner first and Kyle Jamieson later. In this period, Pakistan surprisingly didn't use their most reliable bowler Mohamamd Abbas. Yasir was used and bowled well, but on a pitch that didn't give much help. Eventually, Faheem removed Santner with a wide delivery that the all-rounder tried to play, to be caught by the wicketkeeper. Jamieson, who was playing a highly irritating innings for Pakistan was dismissed by a good delivery by Abbas that bounced just a bit extra on a very tight off-stump line. His 32 though, formed part of an invaluable 66-run stand for the seventh wicket. After the tea break, Yasir ended the innings of Tim Southee. The pacer looked on edge against Yasir throughout his innings and was bowled by the leggie for a duck. Watling's innings ended at the score of 73 when he tried to guide a short ball from Shaheen Afridi over the slip cordon but was caught superbly by a diving Yasir at gully. Shaheen now wanted his fifth but Neil Wagner and Trent Boult kept surviving his deliveries in the most ungainly manner. Eventually, it was Yasir who got the final wicket when an attempted slog sweep by him got the top edge that was taken by the midwicket fielder. Shaheen's 4/109 were the best figures of the innings while Yasir's 3/113 were the second best. Faheem, Naseem, and Abbas got one each. When Pakistan started their innings, the focus was on Tim Southee as he is just four wickets short of becoming only the third New Zealander to get 300 Test wickets. However, openers Shan Masood and Abid Ali looked more than capable of taking on the famed new-ball duo of Southee and Boult. Abid, especially, played some brilliant shots. Masood though, was very unlucky to be dismissed when a delivery down the leg side was nicked by him to the wicketkeeper. Pakistan ended the day on 30/1 with Abid on 19 and night-watchman Abbas not having opened his account.
Pakistan's A team registers strong win against New Zealand A
Pakistan Shaheens, or as they would more informally be called, Pakistan A, registered a morale-boosting win over New Zealand A in the one-off unofficial Test at Whangerei on Sunday. Chasing a target of 298, the home side was bowled out for 226, losing by a margin of 89 runs. For the Shaheens, three wickets each were picked up by pacers Naseem Shah and Amad Butt while Yasir Shah, the leading leg-spinner in Test cricket today, took a couple. One wicket each went into the account of seamers Mohammad Abbas and Sohail Khan. The day started with Pakistan's second-string side, at least nominally, at 318/9 and leading by 286 runs. The pair of Naseem Shah and Mohammad Abbas added 11 runs more to the total before Matt Henry wrapped up the innings at 329, picking up his sixth wicket of the innings. The Kiwi seamer ended up with figures of 6/53. In response, no New Zealand A batsman could score even a half century. The highest scorer in the innings was Nathan Smith with 45. Captain Michael Bracewell and Joe Carter scored 30 each in the middle order. This loss for New Zealand A came after their emphatic 2-0 triump over West Indies A in the previous unofficial Test series. But this loss won't hurt that much because the Pakistan team was stacked with regular members of the main Test squad of the country. The batting line-up consisted of batsmen such as Shan Masood, Azhar Ali, Abid Ali, Fawad Alam - all part of the Test set up. The bowling line-up also included Test bowlers like Mohammad Abbas, Yasir Shah, and Naseem Shah. The biggest takeaway from this match would be the century by Fawad Alam. An enigmatic player who has been in and out of the Pakistan team's set up and treated unfairly by selectors very often, he laid another strong claim to a spot in the Test team. Since he played in the team's last series, in England, he should get reselected. For the hosts, the form of Matt Henry is encouraging. New Zealand have a top class bowling line-up with Tim Southee and Trent Boult forming, one of the best bowling duos in the world. They are backed up by the indefatigable Neil Wagner and prodigious young talent Kyle Jamieson. But Henry, who has been a regular member of the ODI team, has made the selectors take note of him and may be the back-up for either Southee or Boult, if they miss any of the matches.
Ravindra and Abbas impress in 'unofficial' Test against New Zealand A
Upcoming all-rounder Rachin Ravindra made another good impression by scoring 70 for New Zealand A against Pakistan Shaheens (Pakistan A) in the ongoing one-off unofficial Test at Whangerei. At the end of play on day 2 of the match, Shaheens were 15/1 in their second innings after the home side scored 226 in response to the visitors' 194, leading by 47 with two days to go. Opening the innings for his team, Ravindra, who is coming off a fantastic all-round showing against West Indies in the recently-concluded series agianst that team, ended up as the top scorer for his side. The day began with the hosts at 23/1 in response to Shaheens' 194. Ravindra didn't receive much support from the rest of the batting line-up with only one other batsman reaching half-century. That was wicketkeeper Cam Fletcher with 57. The only other score of consequence was Nathan Smith's 40. For Pakistan, seamer Mohammad Abbas picked up four wickets for 40 runs in 21.5 overs. Three wickets each were taken by Yasir Shah and Amad Butt. In Shaheen's second innings, with only seven overs bowled till the close of the play, the batting side lost one wicket in the form of Abid Ali who was dismissed by Ed Nuttall, the bowler who picked up five wickets in the first innings. Shan Masood was batting on 10 while Azhar Ali was not out on 2.