New Zealand have put themselves in the driver’s seat in the first test against Pakistan at National Stadium in Karachi.
Pakistan’s poor fielding efforts throughout the innings including a missed stumping chance of star Kiwi batter Kane Williamson have cost them big.
Sarfaraz Ahmed misses a regulation stumping chance, Pakistan pays the price
Pakistan team must have felt quite comfortable after they had put on a total of 438 runs in the first innings of the Karachi Test. However, New Zealand batters had some other plans in their minds as they came all guns blazing against Pakistan bowlers and didn’t allow them easy wickets.
New Zealand’s top three which comprises Latham, Conway and Williamson went on to score big as both Latham and Williamson scored tons while Conway missed out at the score of 92. Pakistan bowlers did create opportunities to dismiss the former Kiwi skipper Kane Williamson but they didn’t get enough support from their fielders.
In the 77th over of New Zealand’s innings, Pakistan’s left-arm spinner Nauman Ali created an opportunity to dismiss Williamson but it ended up in a big mess. The former Kiwi skipper, while batting at the score of 21 was drawn into the drive to a flighted off-stump delivery by Nauman Ali. The ball dipped and turned past his outside edge as Williamson found himself off-balance and outside the crease.
https://twitter.com/RajParm62232693/status/1608009980921401344
It was a regulation take for Pakistan’s experienced wicketkeeper Sarfaraz Ahmed and he had enough time to dislodge the bails and dismiss Kane but he made a mess out of it. Sarfaraz didn’t glove the ball properly and it fell on the ground as Williamson got enough time to slide his leg into the crease saving his crucial wicket.
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Williamson went on to score a ton and is still batting at 105 and has already hit eleven boundaries after facing 222 deliveries. At the end of the third day’s play, New Zealand have now placed themselves at 440-6 and have gone past the Pakistan total by 2 runs. With four wickets still in hand, the Kiwi side will now look to convert this into a handy first innings lead.