After 49 years, New Zealand conquer Pakistan away
William Somerville and Ajaz Patel took three wickets each to help bowl Pakistan out for 156 and seal the series 2-1
William Somerville and Ajaz Patel took three wickets each to help bowl Pakistan out for 156 and seal the series 2-1
Scorer: Chandan Duorah | Commentator: Akshay Gopalakrishnan
3.39pm Williamson put down Hafeez to deny New Zealand their breakthrough in this fourth innings, and he takes the catch to dismiss the last man. What a turnaround this has been! Not many might've anticipated this result, not after how the match was poised at the end of the fourth day's play. But New Zealand came out and put up a ruthless display. It was evident right from the outset as they pillaged 81 runs in nine overs, and then reduced Pakistan to five down at lunch. Pakistan were hapless, really, and all of New Zealand's bowlers came to the party. Not quite the ideal farewell for Mohammad Hafeez.. he'll carry memories, but unfortunately not many of them from this Test. he barely escaped a pair in his final Test and then has had to watch his team crumble from the dressing room. Jubilation in the New Zealand camp, heartbreak for Pakistan. This defeat will sting them badly for several months ahead. New Zealand have beaten Pakistan in a series away from home for the first time in 49 years.
Noel: "Just shows that, if a captain and his / her team are brave enough, and trust each other, what can be done.... similar to life, I suppose... great away series victory, one of the very few, these days."
Jawad Ahmed: "So in the end, those 4 runs loss of the 1st test match became series decider for Pakistan! Well played Kiwis!"
Naveed: "If you want to win a series in subcontinent? Get a left arm off spinner from indian origin and an right arm off spinner from ur own country. last time it was monty panesar and swann against india and this time there is patel and somerville.. WELL DONE"
Phil Knight: "In my lowly opinion this is our third greatest test series victory: 1st - 1985 in Australia 2nd - 1999 in England 3rd - THIS!!!!"
Anas Aamir: "All of Nz's victories in this tour have come in Abu Dhabi bar one (2nd Odi)."
Alright, let's hear from the captains and award winners.
Kane Williamson is Man of the Match.. duh!
And Yasir Shah is Man of the Series. "I feel very happy, because I have won man of the series after a long time," he says. "I just try to repeat the right things, and I fixed glitches in my action after working with the video analyst. I just try to focus on doing my best. It's unfortunate that we couldn't win the series despite the good performance."
"If you look at the series, it was in our hands and we let it slip. We had our opportunities," says losing captain Sarfraz Ahmed. "Unfortunately, our lower order couldn't score runs.. even 50-60 from them could be handy but we aren't there yet. The run-scoring responsibility is the batting order's, but f it comes down to it, the tail should be able to chip in. If we go till the fifth day, we need to bat well, especially with the new ball. That's an area to work on. South Africa will be tough, but we need to be positive in our thoughts."
Says Williamson, the winning captain: "I didn't wait 49 years. It was fantastic. Beating Pakistan in their backyard is very tough. It feels pretty special, and this will be one that the guys remember for a long time. We knew there's a lot of hard work to do. We felt we had a good first-innings total, but Pakistan played well in their first innings. we know the game can ebb and flow very quickly but we came out and played very well today. The spinners that came along in this tour.. to come here and stand up and play the way they did, you have to bowl a lot of overs to get rewards, but they played a huge part in our win. It's (is 139) was just about coming out and bucking down.. Nicholls played really well as well. It was a great fighting effort, and one that we will remember for a long time. Congratulations to Hafeez on a fantastic career. Unfortunate today, but he's been a great player."
Scenes at Abu Dhabi as New Zealand lift the trophy. This has been well-deserved, and a series they and their fans will remember for a long, long time. Got to feel for Yasir Shah, who had one of the great series for a spinner in modern times, but for all the impact he ends up on the losing side. Pakistan will do some searching inside and attempt to find a fix after this defeat, which no doubt would have come as a shock to them. They don't lose series in the UAE like this. But this is New Zealand's day and rightfully so. Now for them to let their hair down, and for me and Hemant to rest our fingers up. Thanks for your comments and company. Do log back in for all the post-match content from this historic day. From the comms desk, it's goodbye!
Razeen: "Pakistan is probably the only team who can lose a test on the last day after securing the lead in first innings. Twice. Goddd. Hail the patience of those supporting. Kiwis well played. Pak under played!!!"
Adnan Ejaz: "Simply the winner of this match & series in only KW, not only his bating, experience, fielding, captaincy he wins also in courage. Memorable exemplary captaincy after Imran Khan & MS Dhoni."
Hasan Ali c Williamson b Patel 4 (7b 1x4 0x6) SR: 57.14
It was a memorable win in Abu Dhabi for New Zealand; the team completed their first away Test series triumph over Pakistan since 1969. Former captains were among those celebrating a fantastic performance
'If I make mistakes, or it is because of me that the team is losing then I will definitely think about it, and if there is someone better than me to do the Test captaincy, then he should'
Edgbaston, the MCG, Hamilton. Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi. A litany of final-day meltdowns just grew a little longer
Williamson's 228 runs were the most by a New Zealand batsman in a Test against Pakistan
Kane Williamson's batting was inarguably great, but the captain preferred to focus on the several contributions that made up the series victory