Pakistan Against New Zealand: Takeaways From The First Day Of Abu Dhabi Test

Another Pakistan against New Zealand contest resumed yesterday when both sides met during the first day of the series decider in Abu Dhabi. So, here is a look at 3 takeaways from the opening day of the final Test match of the series.

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Shaheen’s Impressive Debut

Making his debut teenage sensation, Shaheen Afridi was extremely impressive on a wicket that basically suits spinners more than the pacers. The left-arm quick bowled in good areas and while bowling with the new ball in particular, he was clearly well ahead of the senior partner i.e. Hassan Ali.

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Vicious Spin

The wicket provided plenty of assistance to both Pakistani spinners i.e. Yasir Shah and Bilal Asif on the opening day of the game. Hence, there is no doubt that the track is likely to spin viciously come day 3, 4 and 5.

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What Pakistan Needs To Do

As a Pakistani fan I hate writing this but the fact remains that even if it is spin and not pace; the batsmen for men in green are vulnerable once the ball begins to talk. Therefore, it is extremely important that Pakistan dismiss the Kiwis in the first innings with in 250 to 275 runs and then score somewhere around 450 runs when they bat next. Also important for them is to ensure that they don’t have to chase anything over 100 runs on a track that is expected to provide big time assistance to Kiwi spinners, come the fourth innings.