Date-stamped : 12 Feb94 - 14:26 Pakistan v New Zealand, T1, Auckland, 10-14 Feb 94 ====> Day 1, 10 Feb 94 Pakistan collapsed to 61-4 at the end of the first day after bowling out New Zealand for just 242. The four wickets took the gloss off a strong Pakistani bowling display in which paceman Waqar Younis and Wasim Akram excelled. Younis took his 150th Test wicket when he bowled Ken Rutherford and Akram took his 200th with the scalp of Tony Blain. New Zealand's total looked modest but with just one hour to bat Pakistan collapsed to 48-3 before ending the day 181 runs adrift. Contributed by goo-chie (jdw5@*.ukc.ac.uk) ====> Day 1, MORE Comments: With the Eden Park wicket looking like a designer strip for Wasim and Waqar, New Zealand left out Matthew Hart, the slow left armer, from the 12. This gave them a very unbalanced attack, but one which was deemed suited to the conditions. They had to take the field without either their best bowler (Morrison) or their best batsman (Crowe). For Pakistan, Mushtaq was able to take his place in the side, whilst the 3rd seamer's slot went to Ata over Ashfaq and Nazir who both played in the second game. They felt able to leave Shoaib Mohammed out of the line up altogether, an excellent de- fensive batsman who has ground NZ into the dust many times before and who would surely walk into most other test batting line ups. By the end of the day's play, the Pakistan selectors may well have been regretting that decision. In the first hour, the two regular Pakistani openers showed that you don't have to be express to be good. Waqar, who bowled with 5 slips and a gully, was up to 135kph and Wasim only 120, but they were doing so much either way that the batsmen hardly got a single ball in the middle of the bat. Blair Pocock was good enough to edge one to Rashid from Wasim that was angled across him and moving further away off the pitch. Young and Jones were luckier, and survived until drinks. At one stage Wasim had 1 for 1 off 6 overs and finished his 9 over spell with only 6 taken. These bowlers don't pepper the batsmen with bouncers, rather they bowl just enough to prevent the batsman from think- ing "forward" before the ball has arrived. Even so, Jones had problems with the hook and was lucky at least twice. In many ways the ball was doing TOO much and Pakistan would have been hoping for more than just the one wicket from their openers. Te- nacious is the best word to describe Young and Jones during this first hour. Wouldn't give in. When W&W were off, the pressure eased quite a bit. That is not to say Ata and Mushtaq bowled badly - far from it - but both players were able to take boundaries on the off side from each bowler. Ata was coming through at about 127, and looks a reason- ably promising bowler at only 18. There was much comment about Mushtaq getting a bowl so early, but he was unlucky on a couple of occasions and his googly was a big mystery to Bryan Young. He didn't get much turn but seemed, if anything, to turn his googly more than his leggie. So NZ went in with only the one down for 67, but what was going to happen when W&W got the older ball? After lunch the game loosened up even further. First ball - Waqar on - Young forgot he needed to play himself in again and played too freely to a straight one just outside the off stump. Rashid took a good one off the nick diving low to his right. Rutherford, next in, was determined to get on top of the bowling. However, on 14, he wasn't quite as determined to get on top of the BALL, aiming to swat one from Waqar through the covers without moving his feet. With no control, he dragged it on to his stumps. Pakistan now had their tails right up, and another quick wicket would have been disastrous for NZ. Enter Mark Greatbatch. He started off confidently against the seamers, but soon saw them off. Mushtaq was back on (with Ata) and Greatbatch decided to belt him out of the attack. He so, oh so very, nearly succeeded. He raced to 48 off 33 balls, most of them off Mushtaq with sweeps and square drives. It was vitally important for Pakistan that he be dismissed, and just as vital that it be Mushtaq who dismissed him. Mushtaq had bowled 5 balls of his 10th over, looked as bemused as he'd ever done, and may not have remained at the bowling crease for an 11th over. However Greatbatch got right under that last one, a googly, skying it to cover. So 3-170, the NZ innings high water, became 4-170 and the rot set in. He got Jones as well soon after with another googly that went through the gate. He got a little inside edge and was taken by the keeper. His innings was recognisable Jones, but it wasn't vintage Jones. He was a bit reluctant to go in the end. The rest of the innings folded up, although Thomson and Blain got some welcome runs. During the course of the play, Waqar took his 150th and Wasim his 200th test wicket. One of the plays of the day was the slower one Waqar bowled to Simon Doull first ball. Doull must have wondered how fast this guy was, then found himself playing miles too early for an excellent c&b. But all this gave Pakistan more than just a couple of overs to face. It gave NZ a real chance of wickets tonight with 15 overs to bowl, and a fresh start next day. Which is what happened. Cairns, bowling at 120-130kph, started the slide when he got Saeed Anwar to fiddle outside the off stump. Anwar had started with a hiss and a roar and looked a good stroke player and excel- lent timer, but a boundary off a very loose one from Owens showed a willingness to chase wide ones. The no. 3 player Asif Mujtaba is also a lefty but more solid looking. During his brief innings he always tried to show the full face, but he was out to a good catch at the wicket. This was in Simon Doull's first over, an over in which the first two balls were full tosses, and the third short outside off. Asif was out to the 4th. With the other opener Sohail being taken by Jones in the gully - a real screa- mer this one off a full blooded cut - Pakistan had lost their top three for only 48. Night-watchman Mushtaq also went at 50 from a regulation edge to 2nd slip. In the last couple of overs, the batting looked in total disarray with both Basit Ali and Salim Malik having narrow squeaks. There is a sameness about that top order. Three left handers in a row negates the value of the left hander in destroying a bowler's line. Three stroke players and no grafter leaves the in- nings vulnerable if things go wrong. Better, surely, to play Shoaib up there to break things up a bit and to provide a bit of solidity. But tomorrow is another day. The game is there for the taking if anyone wants it. The weather doesn't look likely to play a part and there must surely be a result, even though the wicket will play much easier and is unlikely to take much turn. The possibilities tomorrow are too obvious to state and neither side can afford a bad day. Contributed by Geoff Bethell (srlnser@*.gns.cri.nz) ====> Day 2, 11 Feb 94 Wasim Akram produced a career best burst of 6-43 to set Pakistan up for victory against New Zealand. Akram's haul helped reduce the Kiwis to 110 all out in their second innings leaving Pakistan needing a modest 138 to win. New Zealand crashed to 44-6 at one stage and were saved from complete humiliation thanks to a defi- ant 31 by all rounder Chris Cairns. Umpires Dickie Bird and Steve Dunne were given a ticking off after losing count of balls bowled six times in the first two days. Contributed by goo-chie (jdw5@*.ukc.ac.uk) ====> Day 2, MORE Comments: From a reasonably even overnight position there was a chance for both sides to achieve dominance today. It was pretty clear from pitch core samples that there would be no change today and that batting would be just as hard as yesterday. There was still a considerable amount of moisture in it. In the pre-lunch session Pakistan scored 3-101, and that was far too many in a low scoring game on this wicket. All the bowlers except de Groen bowled too many "four" balls. With the Pakistan batsmen realising that it was only a matter of time be- fore each got the "out" ball, they were only too ready to capi- talise. Salim Malik and Basit Ali, although both were out with the addition of only 32, set the standard here. Each had a bit of luck, as was necessary to survive, but each hit the bad one to the boundary, Basit especially. Doull and Cairns opened for New Zealand, and it was in the latter`s 4th over of the morning that Basit played a half hearted pull-cum-hook to a ball on or just outside the off-stump that took a bottom edge. Those are hard on the keeper, tending to drop on him, but Blain snaffled it quite readily. Basit had previously played strongly off the front foot both straight, and to square leg. The shot he played was not required in the circumstances. Six runs later, Salim Malik played freely to Doull outside the off stump without moving his feet too much and was taken in a good catch at 2nd slip which Bryan Young made look easy. Young is excellent in the slips, yet he never seemed to be standing there in that last test at Brisbane. This form will pretty well ensure him that opener`s berth against others of equal batting ability. The two-wicket success did not inspire the bowlers to work harder on their line and length. Inzamam and Rashid put on a quickfire 48 with Rashid, would you believe, very much the dom- inant partner scoring wise. His 30 included 7 boundaries. Significantly, from the point of view of the quality of the bowling, they came all round the wicket. At 141 he was ad- judged lbw to Doull. Rashid was squared up and there was no doubt about the ball hitting the stumps on the angle, but I thought it hit him just outside the line playing a shot and that Rashid was a bit unlucky. Pakistan suffered no further loss to lunch when they were 7-162. It may have been more but for some good bowling by de Groen. Ominously Inzamam, who had been pretty subdued most of the morning was beginning to get those back foot shots working. New Zealand needed him out quickly in the second session. And they succeeded. He was out to de Groen at 176 to one that ballooned up in the air to the direction of the slips. The ball may have hit any of pad/bat/glove on its way through. After that, it was some big hitting from Wasim - particularly in one over from Cairns - before the innings finally closed at 215. There was time for Simon Doull to get a 5 w/i, a good reward for some movement both ways even if he was expensive. There was time for de Groen to pick up his best test figures of 3-40 off 17.4 - the most consistent of the NZ bowlers today. NZ had a little lead of 27 to take into their 2nd knock. In low scoring games, that 3rd innings can be crucial. Failure leaves the unfortunate side with no backstop. In about 1 and 1/2 sessions, NZ were bowled out for a miserable 110. The first four wickets were taken by Wasim who bowled unchanged for 16.1 overs - this after looking as if he could hardly move at the end of New Zealand`s 1st innings. Currently, he is "strug- gling" with a hamstring and a back injury. No point in catalo- guing a procession, so just to say that Rutherford got the classic, stinging, fast inswinging Waqar yorker which he got no- where near, nowhere near early enough. Until then, he gave NZ some hope that at least one top order player would stick it out. EVERY other member of the top six was out caught in the cordon, some playing defensively or evasively, some hitting, some just waving the bat. After that, Cairns and Doull put together an unorthodox 36 which, at least, has given NZ a dog`s show to- morrow. It is tempting just to say that W&W bowled better than in the 1st innings, but in reality it is just one of those things. Some days the catches are offered, other days the bats- men aren`t good enough to nick them. Small margins can produce big swings and this is what today was all about. So Pakistan need 137 (134 more) to win with all wickets in- tact. Lower targets than that have been missed. A year ago, New Zealand required less than that to beat Pakistan at Hamilton and failed. Tomorrow, New Zealand can still win this game. The wicket is producing variable bounce and sideways movement - often for the same delivery - and it shouldn`t improve markedly tomorrow. They will need three things: 1. Early wickets. 2. Tight follow-up bowling. 3. Panic to set in amongst the Pakistani batsmen. Anything less than that and the inevitable will happen, probably mid-way through the scheduled day`s play. Contributed by Geoff (srlnser@*.gns.cri.nz) ====> Day 3, 12 Feb 94 Opener Aamir Sohail hit a superb 78 to steer Pakistan to a five wicket win over New Zealand. Sohail finished the match as top scorer as the tourists wrapped up victory after just two and a half of the scheduled five days. Pakistan set 138 to win struggled early on and were in some danger as they slumped to 73 4. Sohail and Inzamam ul Haq steadied the ship and wicketkeeper Rashid Latif sealed victory in style with a six off Shane Thom- son. Contributed by goo-chie (jdw5@*.ukc.ac.uk) ====> Day 3, MORE Comments: This was an enjoyable, good quality, and, for the most part, tense final day. Pakistan would have known how easy it is to freeze on the job when only a low total is required. New Zealand knew that it had to select a balance between attack and defence, stick to the plan, play well, and hope Pakistan ran out of wickets before New Zealand ran out of runs. So it was Richard de Groen who was selected to be New Zealand's trump card this morning. Someone who could plonk the ball on the spot for over after over and wait for the pitch to do its work. He bowled ever so well in that first hour and had all the batsmen he faced very watchful. He wasn't able to have a super-attacking field - the lack of runs to play with saw to that - but eventually patience had its reward when Saeed Anwar got one which reared steeply off a good length. He was unable to get out of the way and spooned a catch to the cordon where Young was waiting. 1-21. Cairns opened up this morning with de Groen, but was an im- mediate disappointment, getting neither line nor length right most of the time in a three over spell. With so few to play with he was soon off in favour of Doull. During the time Doull and de Groen were on together, New Zealand were well on top of their op- posites. Asif Mujtaba didn't last long. He got one that stopped a shade and gave a return catch to Doull. 2-25. With so few runs coming, and with a wicket always likely, Pakistan were in some danger. Aamir Sohail recognised the problem and tried a couple of attacking moves. Firstly, he was always on the lookout for a quick single. Secondly, he was looking to play the cross-batted shots - particularly to leg. Just before drinks, de Groen bowled an over to Sohail who was able to take 10 off it. That over, in many ways, was the turning point of the in- nings. Those shackles were looking decidedly slack. Although New Zealand got two wickets pretty quickly after drinks and had the promising position of 4-73, they never again really got on top of the batsmen. Whatever Salim Malik and Basit Ali were unable to do (and they both played bad shots), it didn`t really matter in the end because Sohail had things so well under control. Malik, in fact, was out fiddling outside the off stump, exactly as he did in the 1st innings. Basit Ali played too early to a slow fullish one from Doull and gave a c&b. Just on lunch, Rutherford gambled on off spinner Thomson for his first over of the match. This was the second major turning point of the innings. Sohail smashed the first one through the covers for 4 but was was given a bit of a hard time for the remaining 5. From an attempted cut, Sohail got a bottom edge but was put down by Blain. At lunch, 5-88 would have given New Zea- land a real chance but, as it was, they needed to get the remain- ing two recognised batsmen out very quickly afterwards. Which, of course, they failed to do. Sohail, particularly with 4s to the point/cover boundary, and Inzamam who didn't put a foot wrong all day didn't quite see it through to the bitter end. But they did do enough to make it easy for no.7 Rashid Latif to come in and throw his weight around a bit at the end. The coup- de-grace was a straight 6 off Thomson. As well as the Wasim/Waqar milestones yesterday, there were also a couple of catching records made in this game. Bryan Young, with 6 catches in the match, broke the New Zealand record for a non-wicket keeper. Apparently, Rashid Latif broke the Pakistan wicket-keeping record yesterday as well according to Qamar Ahmed. Contributed by Geoff.Bethell (srg3lib@*grace.cri.nz)