1st Test: Pakistan v New Zealand at Lahore, 1-5 May 2002 Agha Akbar |
Pakistan 1st innings:
Pre-game: |
Nazir (100, 171 balls, 240 minutes, 13 fours, 3 sixes) and Inzamam (73, 153 deliveries, 10 fours) were both intent on throwing it away, they cut out the flamboyant stuff a bit. That meant that the run rate went down a trifle, for the first time coming under four in this innings. But both were successful in preserving their wickets and adding useful runs against a Black Caps attack which seemed stretched to the limit, especially with their left-arm spinner Daniel Vettori not making an impact.
Nazir scored his second hundred in his sixth Test, a magnificent, chanceless effort which must have made the selectors realise their mistake of keeping him out for about a year and a half. In this first-ever Test series in May in Pakistan, the Black Caps clearly looked out of sorts due to intense heat, with the mercury touching 39 Celsius. In a bid to conserve his bowlers’ energy captain Stephen Fleming kept on rotating his bowlers. Fleming used six bowlers in all, but none was to get him another breakthrough.
Both the Pakistani batsman reached the 100 runs partnership for the 3rd wicket in 119 minutes and in 190 balls, and before this15. Inzamam reached his 50 in 108 balls with an on-drive off Daryl Tuffey. He seemed to be well settled as he played shots all round the ground, while Imran preferred to rotate the strike with singles here and there. But whenever an opportunity presented itself Imran pounced on it, such as a fuller delivery in the slot from Harris which was despatched for his second six over mid-wicket, and another off the same bowler over deep long-on to bring off his hundred at the stroke of tea.
At the break, Imran Nazir, back in the side after being rested for the final one-dayer, looked in ominous form as he reached 63, including 11 fours and one towering six of the very first ball of left-arm spinner Daniel Vettori over mid-wicket. At the other end Inzamam-ul-Haq was settling down well with 29 including five fours. Imran is going great guns, as he is not only middling the ball to perfection but finding the gaps as well.
Stephen Fleming was so hopelessly short of options that he threw the ball to his brightest hope, left-arm spinner Daniel Vettori as early as the ninth over. But to give Fleming and Vettori an early warning of the things to come, Nazir clouted him over mid-wicket for six.
Pakistan reached 100 in the 24th over, at a run a minute, 104 minutes to be precise. This was quite a recovery after the impetuous Shahid Afridi was dismissed off only the third ball of the match by Daryl Tuffey. Afridi went fishing for the first ball he faced, and keeper Robbie Hart took his first catch within minutes of making his debut. In walked Younis Khan and along with Imran started to develop a good partnership. Both played some fine shots. Younis got a life when he was dropped on 17 by Matt Horne off the bowling of Chris Martin. He had made only 10 more when he was given out caught at first slip by Fleming off Vettori; the television replays showed that it was off the pads. The stand yielded 56 runs.
By the end of the first session both Imran and Inzamam had put on a 78-run unbroken partnership for the third wicket. And they had their runs at a fast clip, 4.31 per over. The first session was indeed a feast of strokemaking, with 22 fours and a six delighting the sparse crowd sprayed around the vast Gaddafi Stadium concrete bowl.
Earlier, Pakistan skipper Waqar Younis won the toss on a pitch which looked pretty flat, with almost nothing in it for the Black Caps seam bowlers. Pakistan left out their veteran all-rounder Wasim Akram and brought in leg-spinner Danish Kaneria, as the pitch was expected to be spinner-friendly. New Zealand also played two spinners in Daniel Vettori and Brooke Walker; they included opener Mark Richardson, who will partner Matt Horne.
Robbie Hart, the New Zealand wicket keeper makes his Test debut. Umpire Steve Bucknor makes his record equalling appearance in this Test match. He will go ahead of Dickie Bird's record of 66 appearances in the next Test match to be played at Karachi.
The teams are as follows:
Pakistan: Imran Nazir, Shahid Afridi, Yousuf Youhana, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Younis Khan, Abdur Razzaq, +Rashid Latif, *Waqar Younis, Saqlain Mushtaq, Danish Kaneria, Shoaib Akhtar.
New Zealand: MJ Horne, MH Richardson, L Vincent, *SP Fleming, CD McMillan, CZ Harris, +RG Hart, BGK Walker, DL Vettori, DR Tuffey, CS Martin.
The Umpires: SA Bucknor (West Indies) and RE Koertzen (South Africa) TV Umpire: Aleem Dar (Pakistan)
Match referee: Mike Procter (South Africa)
© CricInfo
Date-stamped : 01 May2002 - 14:25