Pakistan demolish New Zealand in first Test


Career Best Bowling
By News Sources
May 5 2002

Pakistan scored one of the most emphatic victories in recent times as they wiped the floor with New Zealand in the first test in Lahore. Inzi, Shoaib, Danish and Imran cashed in with career best performances. The victory was so crushing the New Zealand had next to nothing to write home about!

Fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar ended with career-best figures of six for 11 as Pakistan humiliated New Zealand by an innings and 324 runs on the third day of the first Test on Friday. The Black Caps, skittled for 73 in the morning, followed on a massive 570 runs behind, but struggled again despite the absence of Shoaib with a swollen ankle as they were dismissed for 246. Leg-spinner Danish Kaneria took 5 for 110 as 14 New Zealand wickets fell in the day.

In a match of extraordinary performances -- Inzamam-ul-Haq made 329, the 10th highest score in Test history, out of Pakistan's 643 and more than both the New Zealand innings put together -- the result also represented the fifth biggest defeat by an innings in Test history.

Lou Vincent and skipper Stephen Fleming, who top-scored with 66, made battling half-centuries in the second innings but the tourists crumbled away after reaching 186 for 3. Shoaib, who took a personal best of 6 for 16 in the first One-day International against New Zealand in Karachi last week, continued where he had left after scything through the New Zealand top-order with a spell of four wickets for four runs on Thursday evening.

New Zealand, resuming their first innings on 58 for 6, soon lost Daniel Vettori and Robbie Hart before Shoaib polished off the tail with two wickets, pinning Brooke Walker lbw and then firing in a yorker to uproot Chris Martin's middle stump first ball. The innings had lasted 30.2 overs.

Things got even worse when opener Matthew Horne was caught down the leg side off skipper Waqar Younis by wicketkeeper Rashid Latif for a third-ball duck after the follow-on was enforced. Mark Richardson and Vincent took the score to 69 before the former was caught behind off spinner Saqlain Mushtaq and Rashid took his third catch to remove Vincent for 57 off Kaneria.

Chris Harris helped Fleming put on 85 before he fell for 43, lbw to all-rounder Abdul Razzaq, and McMillan lasted two balls before he, too, was lbw to Kaneria. Hart quickly followed in his second innings of the day, bowled by Kaneria for a duck and Fleming, the key wicket, became his fourth victim as he top-edged a pull to midwicket. Pakistan are chasing their first home series win in four years. The second and final Test in Karachi starts on Wednesday.

The New Zealanders' first-innings deficit was also almost unprecedented. Australia were forced to follow on 702 runs behind against England in 1938, although England, who made 903 for 7 in that match, only needed to take eight wickets with two batsmen, including Don Bradman, absent hurt.