Sharjah (Web Desk): New Zealand crushed Pakistan in 3rd Test Match of the Test Series 2014. Series drawn 1-1 between Pakistan and New Zealand.
New Zealand 690 (McCullum 202, Williamson 192, Rahat 4-99) beat Pakistan 351 (Hafeez 197, Craig 7-94) and 259 (Shafiq 137, Boult 4-38) by an innings and 80 runs.
Trent Boult ran through the Pakistan top order in a menacing new-ball spell that extinguished early any chance the home side had of batting five-and-a-half sessions to save the Test.
The spinners then chipped away at the rest – Mark becoming only the third New Zealand spinner to register a ten-wicket haul – to set up one of the biggest New Zealand wins against Pakistan that also helped them level the series.
It was the first time since 1969-70 that Pakistan failed to beat New Zealand in a home series of at least three Tests. It was also, possibly, Daniel Vettori’s farewell present.
In Sharjah, it happened twice: in the first innings, they lost the bottom half after Mohammad Hafeez’s big century to be restricted to 351, and in the second, under the weight of a 339-run deficit, they lost the top in no time. Asad Shafiq smashed his way to a fifth Test century in the company of the lower order, but the innings just delayed the inevitable.
It was almost a repeat of Pakistan’s first innings: one batsman hitting a big century but no one else even making it to fifty.
