First time in 145 years! NZ vs Pakistan 1st Test enters history books with rare incident in red-ball cricket
The first Test between New Zealand and Pakistan kicked off in Karachi on December 26. After England, it was Tim Southee’s men’s turn to tour Pakistan. While England had toured Pakistan for the first time in 17 years, the Kiwis are touring Pakistan for the first time since 2002. On the opening day of the first Test, Kiwi wicketkeeper Tom Blundell entered history books as the opening session saw an incident which has not happened in 145 years of Test cricket.
It took only 18 balls for Southee to introduce spinner Ajaz Patel into the attack. The move paid off immediately as Abdullah Shafique was stumped by Blundell. Pakistan received another setback after three overs as Shan Masood was also stumped by Blundell off Michael Bracewell’s bowling. It was for the first time in the history of men’s cricket in Tests that the first two dismissals were stumpings.
The series is the start of a new chapter for New Zealand after Williamson recently stepped down as the Test captain. Earlier, Azam won the toss and decided to bat first. The move backfired for Pakistan as the hosts kept losing wickets at regular intervals
Barring Azam, none of the Pakistani batsmen looked comfortable against the New Zealand attack. At lunch, Pakistan’s scoreboard read 115/4 with Azam unbeaten on 54.
Pakistan made a big change to their playing XI as out of form batsman Muhammad Rizwan was replaced by former Pakistan captain Sarfaraz Ahmed.
Pakistan would look to get back to winning ways after being thrashed 3-0 in the recently concluded three-match series against England – who overshadowed Babar Azam & Co. in all three departments of the game. After the series loss, Ramiz Raja was sacked as the PCB chief and was replaced by Najam Sethi who appointed former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi as the chief of the interim selection committee.
