NZ vs PAK

That concludes our coverage for the only Boxing Day day test match that went into Day 5 and oh what a contest it was! With all four results on the cards till the very last session, both teams played some good cricket but it was New Zealand who played better for a large part of the game and thoroughly deserve that win. Pakistan can take a lot of positives from the game though, as they never gave up, right till the end! We couldn't ask for a better way to end international cricket in 2020, with three very enjoyable test matches! We hope you enjoyed our coverage as much as we enjoyed brining it to you. Lastly, we'd like to wish everyone a happy and safe new year! That's it from me, Pratyush and my colleague, Prashanth! See you in 2021 as the cricketing action resumes. Bye bye for now!

Mohammad Rizwan : Not disappointed, that's the beauty of Test cricket. We fought very well, we did very well. New Zealand did more hard work than us. We made the right decision at the toss, fielding is very important in cricket. We collapsed in few catches. But after that, we must give credit to Williamson and his team. We went for that (win) after they declared. But, they took early wickets, that put us on the back foot. We thought of going for the chase again but they again picked a wicket in the second over today. New Zealand did very well, our guys fought well, but I must give credit to Wagner who bowled with an injured toe. We lost this match, but we are still in the series. We need to improve a bit in the batting department, our bowling is superb.

Kane Williamson : They (bowlers) were outstanding today, in fact they were outstanding throughout the whole game to be honest. The conditions were little different to what we experienced against the West Indies, but at the same time the conditions were fantastic as it brought spin into play as well. Huge effort from the bowlers to get across the line. A lot of credit goes to Pakistan for the way they fought, it looked a draw. In the end we are fortunate. We have a number of other leaders who have different perspectives, we always have that in our group. It was a fighting effort throughout the five days. A brilliant game as both teams put their best foot forward. In the second innings Pakistan were resilient in terms of not giving their wickets away. The wicket was quite difficult to score freely on.

That's great (being the No. 1 Test team). It's a game of small margins. It could have gone either way in the last session. It's great to come away with a Test win against a great team like Pakistan. There's so much that goes into to manufacture a result. It's moment by moment for five days and hence there's so much enjoyment to play this game. There was always that chance (Pak win).They did get on track, there was that chance. That opportunity of the Test Championship meant that you may lose a game in trying to win it. You'd rather give yourself a chance to get across the line which we did and it did go our way. There were still three results possible in the final session.

A remarkable test match comes to an end! A performance both sides can be proud of! It was truly a gripping game of cricket as Pakistan opted to bowl first and put New Zealand under real pressure early on courtesy some brilliant bowling, especially by Shaheen Shah Afridi. Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor steadied the ship for the Kiwi's as the skipper completed his 23rd Test century to put his side in a commanding position. The New Zealand bowlers did well on Day 3 to trouble the Pakistan middle order but Faheem Ashraf and skipper Mohammad Rizwan kept Pakistan in the game on a day the Kiwi quickies got great joy! New Zealand's top order got them off to a great start in the second innings, continuing from their lead of 192 runs and they declared on Day 4, setting Pakistan a target of 373. Pakistan were 0/2 at Tea on Day 4 and no one gave them a chance in this game but a fighting display from Fawad Alam(who got only his second test century, first in 12 years) alongside his skipper, Mohammad Rizwan, as they put up a 165-run stand, to get them back in the game on Day 5. At this stage, one couldn't rule out Pakistan going on to win the game in the last session before Kyle Jamieson got the breakthrough! Neil Wagner got two crucial wickets as well as he bowled a fabulous spell in the last session, with the toe injury he was carrying! Pakistan looked like they would succumb quickly after that but the no.10 and no.11 batsmen, Shaheen Afridi and Naseem Shah did a good job as they very watchful and took the game as deep as they could before being dismissed by Santner with less than 5 overs left in the day!

New Zealand go 16 consecutive games unbeaten at home and also are the Number one test team, for now.


Kane Williamson is awarded the Player of the match.

IT'S ALL OVER! New Zealand win this scintillating encounter by 101 runs! It's devastating for Pakistan and Naseem Shah, who ended up chipping one back to Santner.

123.3 Mitchell Santner to Naseem Shah, OUT! NZ WIN! What a catch to finish this! Tossed up outside off-stump and Naseem simply couldn't resist as he lobs this straight back to the bowler. Naseem looks shattered but he can feel mighty proud and so can Pakistan as this has been a monumental effort to come this close.

Santner has to make the batsmen play as much as they can. He can't afford to stray from his line at this stage of the game and has to keep it stump-to-stump!

123.2 Mitchell Santner to Naseem Shah, HUGE APPEAL! Arm ball coming in with the angle wraps Naseem on the pads. The umpire gives it not out on field and Williamson decides to review.

No spike on ultra edge and no bat involved. Wickets is umpire's call so it will remain  not out.

Sharp-eyed approach from Shaheen again, as he negates another over! These two batsmen have survived for 7 overs now, which will be a big boost for Pakistan. Just 5 more overs to go!

Mitchell Santner comes back into the attack.

122.5 Trent Boult to Shaheen Afridi, full-length ball looks like the slower one. Shaheen picks this one early and defends this one back to the bowler.

122.3 Trent Boult to Shaheen Afridi, CLOSE! Short of a length just outside off-stump Shaheen thought of playing at it but sways out of it at the last moment.

New Zealand need to adjust their line a little. They're bowling outside off stump, which is enabling the two batsmen to just leave the deliveries with ease. That can be very frustrating for the bowlers but they can't afford to be loose now, when the game is there to be won! Pakistan will be counting down the deliveries now.

6 overs to go in this test match.