Pakistan battle out a draw

Test captain Misbahul Haq scores an unbeaten 126 in the tour match.

The touring Pakistanis were made to look second best in their only warm-up match before the first Test as they conceded a 97-run first-innings lead but managed to draw against the New Zealand Cricket XI.

The tourists looked on-course for a poor total before Test captain Misbahul Haq rescued his side with an unbeaten 126 while other batsmen fell around him. The captain, who has scored three half-centuries in his last three Tests, owed much to the tail as well, which wagged when the team needed it to as the last four wickets added 139. The last-wicket stand between Misbah and fast-bowler Tanvir Ahmed yielded 51 runs as Pakistan aimed for damage control following its top-order failure.

The Pakistanis got early breakthroughs in the second-innings as they reduced the hosts to 25 for two, with first-innings’ double centurion Brendon McCullum falling for a 15-ball 18.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 5^th, 2011.