NZ v PAK, 2nd Test Day 2 Review: New Zealand back on top as visitors collapse

Following their early woes with the bat, the hosts New Zealand have effectively fought their way back into the grand scheme of things with some impressive bowling as well as some ingenious batting, to say the least. Jeet Raval was once again in terrific form as he managed a half-century, the only one to do so in the match. Colin de Grandhomme, BJ Watling, and Tim Southee also made decent contributions with the bat to help the Kiwis to a decent total.

The day began once again with Pakistan striking first with a few quick wickets. However, the first half hour was spent witnessing some decent batting from Jeet Raval in spite of the wickets tumbling at the other end. Raval reached his half-century, a cautious batting performance as Ross Taylor’s revival with the bat effectively came to an end with some good outswing bowling from Sohail Khan.

Wahab Riaz steamed in as Henry Nicholl’s innings also came to an abrupt end soon after. However, the biggest wicket came in the morning’s play when Jeet Raval’s defenses were finally breached by the impressive Imran Khan who had been toiling away for the most part of the morning session. Mohammad Rizwan completed the catch at slip while the off-stump line issues continued for Raval.

In spite of the wickets falling, the hemorrhage was stemmed by all-rounder Colin de Grandhomme and wicketkeeper-batsman BJ Watling. While many have seen de Grandhomme’s impressive performances in recent times with the ball, it was time for Watling to step up to the plate and impress with some good batsmanship, something not many had a chance to witness in the subcontinent.

The duo began what would become one of the very few 50 plus partnerships in the outset of the series, so to speak. What was even more impressive was the fact that the duo managed to complement each other. De Grandhomme was clearly the aggressor of the partnership as he was also the first to lose his wicket in terms of the partnership.

BJ Watling however, would remain unbeaten and have a chance to carry his bat into the second innings. Imran Khan once again made amends to provide the breakthrough for the Pakistanis as it was de Grandhomme who had to leave the scene after amassing what was a watchful yet aggressive 37 runs. Mitchell Santner announced his return to the New Zealand side with some impressive batting, something that the Kiwis have been missing for the most part.

Sohail Khan, however, once again made a comeback with a wicket as it was the safe pair of hands of Younis Khan who completed the catch. While BJ Watling was making amends with some impressive batting, it was Tim Southee’s batsmanship that was the talk of the town as he managed to heave the Pakistan bowlers to different parts of the ground.

After a whirlwind 29, Southee was cleaned up by Sohail yielding the latter’s fourth wicket. Matt Henry’s brief resistance was also concluded by Mohammad Amir as the Kiwis were rattled out for 271. However, little did the visitors know what was to come from Tim Southee in the first spell for the 28-year old.

Southee’s outswing did the trick for the most part as Sami Aslam (5), Azhar Ali (1), and Younis Khan (2) were all dismissed in quick succession. Ironically, all three wickets were taken in the slips with two catches being picked by BJ Watling. Younis Khan and Babar Azam were able to make a few amends with the bat for some part as they went on to add a few runs before disaster struck once again in the form of Neil Wagner.

This time around, it was Asad Shafiq who lost his wicket, something that was considered a bonus as far as someone like Wagner was concerned. Mohammad Rizwan paid the price for attempting to be too cheeky and aggressive as Wagner stood on the brink of a hat-trick, something he would not be able to complete on the day. At the close of play, Pakistan crucially had Babar Azam unbeaten who had amassed 34 runs to his name.

Brief Scores:

New Zealand, 1st innings: 271 (J Raval 55; Sohail 4/99)

Pakistan, 1st innings: 76/5 (B Azam 34*; T Southee 3/26)