Daily Times

KARACHI: Former captain Sarfaraz Ahmed played a superb knock of 118 to help Pakistan draw the second Test and the series against New Zealand at National Stadium here on Friday. The two-match series ended 0-0 after the first Test – also in Karachi – ended in a draw, depriving New Zealand of their first series win in Pakistan for 53 years. All four results were possible going into the final hour but a flurry of wickets saw the Black Caps push for the win amid increasing gloom in Karachi. They only needed one more wicket when bad light stopped play with Pakistan 304 for the loss of 9 wickets, 15 runs short of their target. Michael Bracewell took 4-75 with the ball for New Zealand. As dusk settled, Naseem Shah was on 15 and Abrar Ahmed on seven in pursuit of a 319-run target when umpires Alex Wharf and Aleem Dar declared the light unfeasible to continue with three overs remaining.

Earlier, the hosts began the day on 0-2 needing 319 runs to secure the win but slipped to 80-5 before lunch. A 123-run partnership between Saud Shakeel and Sarfaraz raised hopes of a dramatic win, with a further 140 runs required going into the evening session. Shakeel eventually fell for 32 but Sarfaraz went on to complete his fourth Test century from 135 deliveries, before a spritely 30 from 40 balls from Agha Salman accelerated the scoring and brought the victory target within sight. However, Salman, Sarfaraz and Hasan Ali fell in quick succession, prompting last batters Naseem and Abrar to change approach and attempt to bat out the match. New Zealand fielders surrounded the bat and failed with two DRS reviews amid increasing tension, before the umpires took the players off with three scheduled overs still to play.

The previous best winning chase in a Test in Pakistan was 314 by the home team against Australia in Karachi in 1994. Sacked as captain of all three formats in October 2019, Sarfaraz staged a comeback in the drawn first Test – also in his hometown of Karachi – and top scored the series with 335 runs with three fifties and a hundred. In all, Sarfaraz batted for four hours and 48 minutes, hitting nine boundaries and a six – an improvement on his previous highest of 112 made against the same opponents in Dubai eight years ago.