'Trying to be a hero': The worst wicket of Pakistan's choke

While an inexcusable and avoidable run out kicked off Pakistan’s collapse, perhaps nothing summed up the choke quite like Balil Asif’s dismissal.

The hosts were just 22 runs away from victory and still with four wickets up their sleeve when Balil went for broke on just his second ball.

Despite No.3 batsman Azhar Ali set on 48 at the other end, Balil attempted to smack New Zealand’s debutant spinner Ajaz Patel for six – and missed everything.

The ball did not miss his middle stump.

“Bilal, trying to be a hero and heave it over mid-wicket for six, has missed and is gonesk,” commentator Danny Morrison said.

The wicket came two dismissals after Babar Azam was run out in a mix-up with Azhar.

Yasir Shah was out the next over and Hasan Ali was gone 3.2 overs later before the Black Caps won when Patel trapped Azhar lbw.

“I think our team was not able to handle the pressure,” rued Pakistan captain Sarfraz Ahmed.

“Babar Azam’s run out, when 40 runs were left in the chase, can be termed as the turning point as it initiated the collapse.

“We have given away soft wickets. Nobody played a long innings. It is very disappointing to say the least. The way we started off yesterday we felt we will get through to the target easily.

“But then we lost three wickets and it was important for set players to play on but that did not happen and you have to praise New Zealand’s bowlers, especially Patel.

“A batsman needs to spend time on this wicket. There has been a trend, of both teams, losing wickets in clumps. We should have chased it down. It is indeed very disappointing.

“The message for the batsmen was to continue playing positive cricket like we had the last day. Our dismissals have been very soft. This is what we must look at as a batting unit. Our batsmen have taken starts but haven’t been able to prolong their innings.”

New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson described the narrow four-run win as “one of our best” in cricket.

It is the fifth narrowest margin of victory in terms of runs in Test cricket history.

“It certainly was dramatic,” Williamson said.

“Throughout the four days both teams were put under pressure. I think at the end of the day it was a great advertisement for Test cricket.”

Williamson said the Abu Dhabi pitch, which saw produced scores of 153, 227, 249 and 171, wasn’t easy to play,

“The wicket was challenging and both teams had to fight hard, and certainly Pakistan had the upper-hand, but some of the characteristics we held very dear is the attitude to fight on,” he said.

“I think the fighting attributes of this team really shone through and certainly today, it’s important to build on a number of parts to go in to the next game, for sure.”

The captain now has nine wins in 18 Tests in charge and will seek a series victory when the second Test starts in Dubai on Saturday.

The teams will return to Abu Dhabi for the third and final match of the series, which begins on December 3.

with AFP