DUBAI: Azhar Ali and Haris Sohail struck half-centuries as Pakistan reached 207-4 at stumps on the opening day of the second Test in Dubai on Saturday. Former captain Ali was run out after scoring 81 runs while Haris Sohail was unbeaten on the same score at the close of play. They had added 126 runs for the third wicket after Pakistan had lost their first two wickets for just 25 runs. Babar Azam (14) will resume second day’s play along with Ali. Earlier Pakistan, who won a crucial toss and batted, were hit hard by medium pacer Colin de Grandhomme’s double strike in successive overs in the first session, dismissing openers Mohammad Hafeez and Imamul Haq for nine each.
Azhar, who made a valiant 65 in Pakistan’s narrow four-run defeat in the first Test, was shaky at the start as he edged the second ball he faced off Grandhomme through the slips. He then settled to play some exciting strokes, hitting seven boundaries and a six as he made his 31st fifty. Grandhomme, preferred over the more experienced Tim Southee for the second match running, gave New Zealand an ideal start. He had Hafeez caught in the slip by Tom Latham in the eighth over. Hafeez has managed just 66 runs in six innings since scoring a comeback hundred against Australia at the same venue last month. Imam, dropped on nine by Latham, fell in Grandhomme’s next over. Left-arm spinner Aijaz Patel dismissed Asad Shafiq for 12, late in the day. Both teams fielded unchanged lineups, with Pakistan resisting the temptation of playing teenage quick Shaheen Shah Afridi. Pakistan need a big first innings total as they bid to level the three-match series after suffering a morale-shattering four-run defeat in the first Test in Abu Dhabi.
Published in Daily Times, November 25th 2018.