Abu Dhabi defeat ‘one of the worst’ in Arthur’s career

New Zealand took it deep and pulled off one of the most stunning Test wins in recent memory when they beat Pakistan by four runs in the first Test in Abu Dhabi.

New Zealand scored just 153 batting first, and when Pakistan began the fourth innings, they had 176 as their target. At 130/3, it looked like a canter for Pakistan, but that’s when debutant Ajaz Patel, the left-arm spinner, and paceman Neil Wagner took control. Wickets fell at breakneck speed, and New Zealand, against all calculations, were the winners.

“This is probably one of the worst defeats I have ever suffered in my career. Everyone from myself as head coach to the players and the staff are hurting but we will use this defeat as a motivation to give ourselves every opportunity to win the second game,” Mickey Arthur, the Pakistan coach, was quoted as saying by Agence France-Presse.

“There was no complacency, I can certainly say. The guys tried unbelievably hard and everyone was disappointed from the decision of shot selection under pressure. We need to learn from this and move forward very, very quickly.”

Pakistan, who won the ICC Champions Trophy 2017 under Arthur, have now lost 13 of their 23 Tests since he took charge, winning just nine. Also, this wasn’t the first time Pakistan have faltered in a small chase – they failed in their pursuit of 136 against Sri Lanka last year, also in Abu Dhabi.

“The most disappointing thing was that it happened against Sri Lanka last year as well,” agreed Arthur. “That’s the thing the batting unit needs to get over and that we need to chase down targets in fourth innings.

“We left ourselves too much to do in the fourth innings (against New Zealand). We had that opportunity to nail this game off in the first innings but we let that go.”

For Arthur’s opposite number Gary Stead, it was a ‘special occasion’, one the team celebrated long and hard.

“I don’t think we’ve won too many Tests when we’ve scored 153 in the first innings. It was always going to be that we need to keep fighting and fighting, and my message to the boys was that if you can lose wickets in clumps, then why can’t we do that back to them through sustained pressure,” Stead said.“If we had to win the game on day two or three, we had to take the game as deep as we could to give ourselves a chance.”

It’s a three-Test series, and Pakistan are bound to come back hard, something Stead is aware of.

“Pakistan are a good team, hard to beat over here. That’s what makes this really, really pleasing. But they’ll be better for it, and if they were taking us lightly, they won’t be now. I expect them to be better and I expect us to be better as well.”

The second Test starts in Dubai on 24 November before the teams go back to Abu Dhabi for the third Test from 3 December.