On this day in 2018: New Zealand beat Pakistan in away Test series after 49 years
On this day, two years back, the New Zealand cricket team finally managed to break their Test jinx by winning an away Test series against Pakistan after a long wait of 49 years. New Zealand’s last away series win against Pakistan came in 1969 where they had outshined the home team by 1-0 in three-match Test series.
The Black Caps finally managed to put an end to their 49-year pain by winning the final Test match of the three-match series by 123 runs against Pakistan at Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). This victory propelled the visitors towards a Test series win by 2-1. New Zealand started the Pakistan tour on a bad note as they lost the T20I series by 0-3. However, they somehow managed to cling on to the One-Day series by 1-1 as the last One Day International was washed away by the rains.
This was followed by the visitors registering a thrilling win against Pakistan by 4 runs in the first Test of the three-match series at Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi. The visitors had to swallow a bitter pill in the second Test match of the series as they succumbed to a humble defeat by an innings and 16 runs in Dubai.
#OnThisDay in 2018, New Zealand won the decider in Abu Dhabi by 123 runs and claimed their first Test series victory over Pakistan away from home in 49 years ?
Kane Williamson was the Player of the Match for his knocks of 89 and 139 ? pic.twitter.com/zIga377yif
— ICC (@ICC) December 7, 2020
The final game
The two cricketing nations were then up against each other in the series-decider at Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium. It was a comprehensive victory for the visitors as they excelled in all the three facets of the game. Batting first, they managed to put 274 on the board on the back of 89 and 77 runs by skipper Kane Williamson and wicket-keeper BJ Watling. In reply, Pakistan scored 348 runs in their first innings as Azhar Ali and Asad Shafiq smashed a century each. In the second innings, the Kiwis declared their innings at 353/7 and set Pakistan a target of 280 runs.
In reply, Pakistan stumbled to 55/5. Their collapse continued despite Babar Azam scoring a half-century. The lower order resisted hard enough but the home side faltered for 156 runs. William Somerville, Tim Southee and Ajaz Patel took three wickets each. This victory resulted in New Zealand scripting a historic Test win against Pakistan by 2-1.
