WELLINGTON: Pakistan pacer Mohammad Asif’s triple strike reduced New Zealand to 70-3 at stumps in their daunting 405-run chase on the third day of the second Test at the Basin Reserve.
Asif, who took four wickets in the first innings, sent back Tim McIntosh (two), Daniel Flynn (20) and Martin Guptill (15) in the final session to put the visitors on course to a series-leveling win.
Earlier, Pakistan collapsed dramatically after a steady start in the middle session, squandering seven wickets for just 59 as Chris Martin and Grant Elliott both sat on hat tricks. However, neither bowler could complete the feat.
The fall of 11 wickets in prime conditions suggests another day of mediocre batting, hurtling the Test toward a swift conclusion. Perhaps it was, as Grant Elliott sparked a Pakistan collapse that saw them go from 197 for 3 to 239 all out and the New Zealand top order was ruthlessly shred apart by Asif.
But for nearly two full sessions, it was also an opportunity to see some old school Test batting, from the one solid rock in Pakistan’s order, possibly on either side.
Questions will always be there about Yousuf’s leadership, but for over four hours he led Pakistan as best he can: with bat in hand. The decision to send Umar in at No. 3 in the first innings was abominable, but atonement was at hand as the captain, fittingly, walked in at one-drop at a sketchy time yesterday evening. Whenever he faced, calm descended over proceedings, where elsewhere there was helter-skelter.
