Pakistan batting sensation Fawad Alam ends 11-year wait in style

LAHORE: 4218 days between Test centuries for Fawad Alam. The last one he scored was way back in 2009 when he hit 168 on Test debut against Sri Lanka while opening the innings. Since then Alam has played just six Tests having made a comeback in 2020. Only Warren Bardsley (5093) and Mushtaq Ali (4544) have a longer gap between two Test centuries. Alam’s century is also the only one by a Pakistan batsman in the fourth innings of a Test in New Zealand. There are nine batsmen who have played more than 250 deliveries in the fourth innings after coming in to bat at No. 5 or below. Only five faced have more than the 269 that Alam did. The last player to achieve this feat was Moeen Ali against Sri Lanka in Leeds. Only six players have achieved this in New Zealand and just two since the turn of the century. 380 balls faced by Alam and Mohammad Rizwan during their 165-run partnership was the second-longest stand for Pakistan in Tests where ball details are available. The highest is still Shan Masood and Younis Khan’s 400 deliveries faced against Sri Lanka in 2015. There are three partnerships that have added more runs than Rizwan and Alam’s 165 in the fourth innings for the fifth wicket in Tests. The pair of Jos Buttler and Ben Stokes and AB de Villiers and Faf du Plessis added 169 and 205 respectively against India in 2018 and 2013 respectively. This is also the second-highest stand by a Pakistan pair away from home in the fourth innings and the fourth-highest by any pair in New Zealand. Pakistan faced 123.3 overs in the fourth innings of this Test. Only four times has a team survived more overs in New Zealand. Pakistan have played more overs only on three other occasions in their Test history. Only once did they manage to draw the game though.