Pakistan 88 for 4 (Shafiq 16*, Misbah 15*, De Grandhomme 3-23) v New Zealand
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Colin de Grandhomme helped justify Kane Williamson’s decision to bowl first © Getty Images
Colin de Grandhomme made an immediate impact on Test debut, picking up three of the four Pakistan wickets in a session of contrasting halves on a green Hagley Oval surface in Christchurch. Under sunny skies, a stark contrast to the clouds that brought rain to abandon play on the opening day, Pakistan’s openers defied the pace bowling pair of Tim Southee and Trent Boult for an hour, before a succession of poor strokes brought about by uncertainty because of the swinging ball led to a proper wobble.
Misbah-ul-Haq, who became the first Pakistani to captain in 50 Tests, and Asad Shafiq, slotted back in at No. 6 after the experiment to have him at No. 3 against West Indies didn’t yield fruit, were left to rebuild after Pakistan were, predictably, sent in by Kane Williamson. They ended the session on 88 for 4, with Southee being the other wicket-taker.
Even though the new ball pair didn’t make the batsmen play as much as they would have liked to – Southee’s first spell read 4-4-0-0 – openers Sami Aslam and Azhar Ali were content on crease occupation and seeing off the new ball, instead of picking runs. For 12 overs, there was deadbat defense, byes or easy deflections – the first boundary came in the eight over off a leg-stump half-volley – before de Grandhomme drew first blood after two ordinary overs.
After taking two deliveries away, he got one to nip back in off the seam to beat Azhar’s forward push to rattle the off stump. He should have had another wicket two overs later, but for the returning Todd Astle, who put down a regulation chance at gully off a full-blooded cut shot from Babar Azam. In an intense 15-minute passage that followed, there were a number of plays and misses. The chirp from the slip cordon, absent in the first hour, was back too.
Williamson reintroduced Southee from the opposite end, and the move paid off immediately as he worked Sami Aslam over. Getting the ball to jag away, he had the batsman jabbing hard as the late movement resulted in a thick edge to second slip, where the other debutant Jeet Raval took a comfortable catch in the 18th over. It was Azam’s turn six balls later, when he was sucked into a drive by an away-swinger that was pouched by Ross Taylor at second slip.
When Younis Khan’s flashy cover drive to a delivery he could have left alone off de Grandhomme was pouched by Raval at second slip, Pakistan had sensationally slipped from 31 without loss to 56 for four in a half-hour passage. There was enough seam movement to keep the fast bowlers interested all morning, and Neil Wagner kept the pressure on Misbah and Shafiq with a succession of lifters that kept pushing them onto the backfoot.
It wasn’t just the batsmen who were tested. The umpiring too came in for early scrutiny when a confident lbw appeal off Aslam was turned down in the first over, bowled by Southee. New Zealand lost a review when they reviewed S Ravi’s decision, only to be told the ball would have missed leg stump. By the end of an extended session, however, they had ensured the home summer was started just the way they would have liked.
Shashank Kishore is a senior sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo
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Source: ESPN Crickinfo