NZ strikes twice late in day to boost victory hopes in 2nd Test

KARACHI: New Zealand set Pakistan a tricky victory target of 319 and then landed two late blows to boost its hopes of a series-clinching win in the second Test on Thursday.

Tim Southee bravely declared New Zealand’s second innings on 277 for five with three overs left on the penultimate day at the National Stadium. Pakistan could not open its account in those overs, but lost opener Abdullah Shafique and nightwatchman Mir Hamza in dying light to find itself in a hole.

Pacer Southee (1/0) breached Shafique’s defence with a ball that kept low while leg-spinner Ish Sodhi (1/0) bowled Hamza with a sharply turning delivery, with both dismissals indicating how the pitch might behave on Friday. Earlier, Sodhi bagged the final Pakistan wicket as the home side was all out for 408 in its first innings, conceding a lead of 41 runs.

When New Zealand came out to bat for the second time in the match, Tom Latham (62 off 103 balls, 11 fours) and Tom Blundell (74 off 135 balls, 7 fours, 1 six) smashed their second fifties of the game while Michael Bracewell made 74 not out (119 balls, 11 fours) to stretch the tourist’s overall lead past 300 runs.

Three wickets fell and several umpiring decisions had to be reversed in the eventful second session, with Pakistan spinner Abrar Ahmed (1/103) in the thick of things.

BRIEF SCORES: New Zealand 449 & 277/5 decl. in 82 overs (M Bracewell 74*, T Blundell 74, T Latham 62, K Williamson 41) vs Pakistan 408 in 133 overs (S Shakeel 125*, Imam-ul-Haq 83, Sarfaraz 78, A Salman 41, Ajaz 3/88, I Sodhi 3/95) & 0/2 in 2.5 overs