PAK vs NZ, 1st Test, Day 4: Pakistan 438 and 77 for 2 (Imam 45*, Sodhi 1-17) trail New Zealand 612 for 9 dec (Williamson 200*, Latham 113, Conway 92, Abrar 5-205) by 97 runs

In the first Test in Karachi, Tim Southee declared the innings with his side 174 ahead after New Zealand posted a staggering 612 for 9 thanks to Kane Williamson’s fifth double-hundred in Test cricket. The visitors had scored twice before stumps, making Pakistan 77 for 2, still 97 behind.

Williamson was concerned about his performance going into this game because he had given up the captaincy of the red ball. His away record over the past few years was also not very good; He has scored just 233 runs in eight away Tests since the beginning of 2019 at an average of 15.53 and a best of 48.

However, to nearly double that total on Thursday, he displayed remarkable patience, control, and footwork against spin. He hit 395 balls and scored an unbeaten 200; ESPNcricinfo’s logs show that he was in charge 93% of the time. He skipped down the track several times to Nauman Ali and Abrar Ahmed, but instead of trying to hit the ball for a six, he focused on chipping it over the bowler’s head for a four. He hit 21 fours and one six all together.

Williamson contributed 159 for the seventh wicket, along with Ish Sodhi, who set a career high with 65. In the first session, Pakistan were kept wicketless by the two overnight batters, who appeared to have borrowed their winter morning laziness. In that session’s 32 overs, New Zealand only scored 79 runs, with Sodhi contributing more than Williamson.

However, after lunch, both batters, Williamson especially, scored more. With a four off of Abrar, Sodhi scored his fiftieth century. Williamson took Mir Hamza to the deep third boundary in the next over to reach his 150. Williamson lofted Nauman over mid-field for an additional four shortly after, whipping him to the fine-leg boundary. New Zealand scored 47 runs in the first ten overs after lunch due to the new strategy.

To stem the progression of runs, and to get through, Mohammad Wasim bowled a blast of short balls to Sodhi, beginning around the wicket and afterward changing to over. He even smashed Sodhi’s helmet. However, the hitter pulled the extremely next ball, one more short one, to the square-leg limit.

Nauman started bowling outside leg stump from the opposite end, moving over the wicket. With the reverse sweep, Williamson countered by scoring consecutive boundaries to keep the scoreboard moving.

After surpassing his previous best of 63, Sodhi promptly fell, miscuing Abrar to mid-off. Southee, who was also taken at mid-off off Nauman, did not last long either. Neil Wagner was bowled by Abrar in the subsequent over, completing his five-for and New Zealand’s two-run loss of three wickets.

At that point, Williamson was on 186 with No. 11 Ajaz Patel, for company, attempting to minimize the strike’s impact. He skipped down the track to Abrar on 195 and chipped him for four wide of long-off. He reached the double-hundred with a single on the following ball. When he reached the milestone, New Zealand announced.

A simple missed stumping that cost 179 runs #PAKvNZ #Cricket pic.twitter.com/1K0ADoEHhI

— Saj Sadiq (@SajSadiqCricket) December 29, 2022

Imam-ul-Haq and Abdullah Shafique responded by getting a solid start against a brand-new ball that was turning from the rough. All through the 31 overs New Zealand bowled at night, they had turned essentially from one end, for the most part from both. Ajaz shared the new ball with Southee, who threw the ball to Michael Bracewell after only bowling three overs in his first spell.

When Shafique skidded down the track and hit one straight to midfield, Bracewell broke the 47-run opening stand. Sodhi struck in the closing seconds, trapping Shan Masood lbw for ten. Imam was batting on 45 at stumps, with nightwatcher Nauman on 4, keeping him company.

Sodhi’s primary concern in the morning was safeguarding his wicket

He attempted to score just when the bowlers truly failed in their lines and lengths. Sodhi scored four by cutting through the point after Wasim pitched one short and wide. He went for the pull when spinners dropped it short and went down the leg side, but he couldn’t get the timing right on a slow pitch.

Wasim was experimenting with his field. He had two catching short midwickets for Sodhi, a leg gully, and a catching backward square leg at one point. He went somewhat round-arm, looking for the converse swinging yorker, yet couldn’t get his length right, and Sodhi confronted little difficulty obstructing those. One of these deliveries struck Sodhi’s pads after finding the inside edge. Aleem Dar did not respond to the suppressed appeal for lbw; however, Babar Azam burned Pakistan’s final review because he was more hopeful than anything else.

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Abrar, in the interim, blended his leg breaks with googlies. He also switched up his speed, going from 70 kph to 90 kph in a split second. However, Williamson and Sodhi were unperturbed. Williamson skipped down the ground to Abrar and punched him over the head for four after almost procrastinating for the first 11 overs of the day, when he scored just six runs off 29 balls.

Pakistan utilized the third new ball as soon as it became available, as the bowlers had little to do. Hamza got a chance right away, hitting Sodhi on the outside of the bat, but it went for four through the empty second slip. No one seemed to notice the one that hit Sarfaraz Ahmed’s gloves shortly after, off the same bowler. That was Sodhi’s second life; He had earlier been thrown off Nauman’s leg side by Sarfaraz.