New Zealand vs Pakistan: Neil Wagner bowls with a fractured toe; picks up two wickets on Day 3

Neil Wagner has set a benchmark for his fellow teammates and budding cricketers. Such instances set the right example for the quote “Never Give Up”. The Kiwi pacer did not feature in the early part of Pakistan’s first innings owing to an injury as he was struck on the toe by a yorker bowled by Shaheen Afridi in the first innings on the second day while batting in the ongoing first Test.

He was then checked on the field, immediately by the Kiwi medical team. He took the field in the latter part of the day and went wicketless in his first spell of three overs. However, it was evident that the blow did not stop the left-arm pacer from creating havoc in the Pakistani batting line up. There wasn’t any change in his intent and he stuck to his strength of bowling short balls and victimized Pakistani batsmen with it.

X-ray reports revealed that Neil Wagner’s fourth right toe was fractured. He was advised by the medical team to carry on with the game if he can bear the pain. However, a final call will be made on his availability for the next Test. His absence though looks unaffected as the Kiwis have a pace trio of Kyle Jamieson, Trent Boult, and Tim Southee who have troubled all the touring teams to date.

Neil Wagner ended up picking two wickets in the first innings

Pakistan was initially reeling at the start of Day 3 having lost quick wickets courtesy to the Kiwi pace quartet. They found their saviors in the form of Mohammed Rizwan (71) and Faheem Ashraf who fell 9 short of a brilliant century.

Neil Wagner, Tim Southee, and Trent Boult shared two wickets each and Kylie Jamieson picked 3 wickets. Pakistan skipper Mohammed Rizwan and his team have a daunting task ahead of them, though they have managed to avoid the follow-on. Wagner picked Fawad Alam and Shaheen Afridi’s wickets. Pakistan gave NZ a lead of 192 runs and the visitors will need nothing less than a miracle to end up on the right side of the result.