Misbah finished the day on 70 not out,
following on from his 99 in the first innings, as Pakistan reached 226 for five
at the close of play, 48 runs short of their victory target of 274, to wrap up
the two-match series 1-0.
Adnan Akmal was two not out as the visitors claimed their first
series win since they beat the West Indies 2-0 at home five years ago. "It's pretty pleasing, we've been through some rough
times but we've played some really good cricket in this series, we've been very
disciplined," Pakistan coach Waqar Younis told reporters.
"Full credit to Misbah and the boys, I think they all
stuck to the task and managed to win the series."
Misbah had shared in an 118-run stand with Younus Khan (81) —
their second century-stand of the match — after New Zealand had threatened to
spoil the visitors' day when they reduced them to 42-3 in the first session.
Chris Martin was particularly aggressive in the first session,
taking 2-24 off nine overs and had the Pakistani batsmen frantically trying to
see him off. New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori also
provided some concerning moments for the visitors, introducing himself in the eighth
over and getting bounce from the harder ball and some turn out of the
footmarks. "
Misbah and Younus, however, slowly but assuredly ground down
the attack and for long periods during the session between lunch and tea looked
to have given up any pretence of chasing down the target before they slowly
began to increase the scoring rate.
New Zealand were given the slightest hope of a final session
victory when Younus was caught by Reece Young off Tim Southee in the final over
before tea.
"That was the key partnership, Misbah and Younus
Khan," Vettori said. "They're pretty experienced players and they
know their game pretty well.
"The wicket was good and we just couldn't get that breakthrough
early enough.
"I think even when we got Younus out before tea there
was a chance there but we just needed to keep getting those breakthroughs to
get into their inexperienced middle and lower order and we didn't get
them."
Misbah, who faced 172 balls and hit his fifth boundary to bring
up his 50 after 255 minutes at the crease, and Asad Shafiq, however, continued
to combine stoic defense and flirting with the possibility of launching a
frantic final assault.
In the final hour, Vettori trapped Shafiq in front for 24 to
leave Pakistan 215-5 and while the New Zealand bowlers attempted to rattle them
with several vociferous appeals, Akmal and Misbah negotiated their way through
until the close.
Martin finished with 2-63 off 24 overs, leaving him on 199 Test
wickets.
