Azhar Steers Pakistan out of Trouble with Fifty
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Sports Wednesday, December 5, 2018 17 THIRD CRICKET TEST MATCH IN ABU DHABI Mohammad Hafeez to retire Azhar steers Pakistan from Test cricket out of trouble with fifty The opener says he will continue to play limited-over cricket SCOREBOARD AFP The No. 3 NEW ZEALAND (1ST INNINGS, OVERNIGHT 229-7): J. Raval lbw b Yasir 45 ABU DHABI His top score of 224 came batsman faced T. Latham lbw b Shaheen 4 against Bangladesh in Khulna K. Williamson c Shafiq b Hasan 89 STRUGGLING Pakistan in 2015 but he struggled in 169 balls to R. Taylor b Yasir 0 H. Nicholls b Yasir 1 opener Mohammad Hafeez England the following year compile a gritty B. Watling not out 77 said on Tuesday he will be re- and was dropped. C. de Grandhomme c Shafiq b Asif 20 tiring from Test cricket after Hafeez said he was not 62 not out T. Southee c Azam b Asif 2 the ongoing third and final forced into retirement. W. Somerville b Asif 12 A. Patel c Shafiq b Asif 6 match against New Zealand in “This is my own decision,” AFP T. Boult b Asif 1 Abu Dhabi. said Hafeez, after falling for ABU DHABI Extras (b11, lb6) 17 The 38-year-old has man- nought on the second day Total: (all out, 116.1 overs) 274 aged just 66 runs in seven in- of the third Test. “I had con- Fall of wickets: 1-24 (Latham), 2-70 (Raval), 3-70 AZHAR Ali struck a fighting (Taylor), 4-72 (Nicholls), 5-176 (Williamson), 6-203 nings since scoring a hundred veyed the decision to Pakistan half century to help Pakistan (de Grandhomme), 7-209 (Southee), 8-254 against Australia in Dubai last Cricket Board and the selec- recover to 139-3 at close on the (Somerville), 9-272 (Patel), 10-274 (Boult) month following his Test re- tion committee.” second day of the third and fi- Bowling: Hasan 20-6-58-1, Shaheen 23-6-52-1, call after two years away. - Triumphant return -Ha- nal Test against New Zealand Yasir 41-11-75-3, Asif 30.1-4-65-5, Haris 2-0-7-0. The Abu Dhabi Test is feez came back after a two- in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday. PAKISTAN (1ST INNINGS): Hafeez’s 55th since making year gap in October, notching It marked a good recov- Imam-ul-Haq c Southee b Boult 9 his debut against Bangladesh a brilliant 126 against Austral- ery from 17-2 after Kiwi pace Mohammad Hafeez c Southee b Boult 0 in 2003. He has so far scored ia in Dubai but he has strug- Azhar Ali not out 62 bowler Trent Boult ripped out Haris Sohail c Watling b Southee 34 3644 runs with 10 hundreds gled since. openers Imam-ul-Haq and Asad Shafiq not out 26 and 12 half centuries, with the Also an off-break bowler, Mohammed Hafeez, who lat- Extras: (b 1, lb 6, nb 1) 8 chance to add to that in his Hafeez took 53 Test wickets er announced his retirement Total: (for three wkts; 61 overs) 139 second innings in this Test. but his career as bowler was Still to bat: Babar Azam, Sarfraz Ahmed, Bilal Asif, from Test cricket. Yasir Shah, Hasan Ali, Shaheen Shah Afridi “I feel time is up. I am marred by questions over the Azhar was unbeaten on Fall of wickets: 1-0 (Hafeez), 2-17 (Imam), 3-85 announcing my retirement legality of his bowling action. 62 at the close having shared (Haris) and feel happy that I worked His action was reported on a dogged, unbroken fourth Bowling: Southee 12-3-27-1, Boult 14-4-39-2, hard in my career,” said Ha- three separate occasions, the Grandhomme 9-2-17-0 (1nb), Patel 14-3-33-0, wicket partnership of 54 with Somerville 12-3-16-0. feez, who has also played 203 last in October last year. After Asad Shafiq who will resume Toss: New Zealand one-day internationals and 89 the second report of his action on 26. Twenty20s. in August 2014 Hafeez was Pakistan are still 135 runs “I had been thinking of re- banned from bowling at inter- adrift of New Zealand’s first tiring from Tests for the last national level for 12 months. innings total of 274 in which New Zealander to pass 3,000 two weeks and thought that Hafeez said he was satis- BJ Watling made a gutsy and runs. now is the time to leave the five- fied with his Test career. vital 77 not out. Watling, dropped on nine day format but I will continue “I am satisfied with what I The three-match series by Imam off Bilal Asif on to play limited-over matches.” have achieved,” said Hafeez. is tied at 1-1 after New Zea- Monday, and debutant Will His early career was “As an opener I worked hard land won the first Test in Abu Somerville extended their marked by off-and-on perfor- and maintained a standard, Dhabi by four runs before Pa- eighth wicket partnership mances before he settled in so I am proud to have served kistan bounced back with an to 45 before Bilal Asif took the team in 2011. my country.” innings and 16-run win in the all three final wickets to fin- second in Dubai. ish with 5-65, his second five Azhar remains key for Pa- Pakistani batsman Azhar Ali raises his bat after scoring a half-century during the second day of the third wicket haul in five Tests. kistan if they are to build any and final Test cricket match against New Zealand at the Sheikh Zayed International Cricket Stadium in The 33-year-old playing kind of first innings lead. Abu Dhabi on Tuesday. (AFP) his 56th Test, reached his 16th The 33-year-old dropped Test half-century. His 77 not anchor and found the bound- by Boult’s double strike either in his first over, right before Azhar then dug in with out came from 199 balls in five ary just four times as he side of lunch. the lunch interval. Haris Sohail, adding 68 for hours and 32 minutes, and in- crawled through to his 32nd Hafeez has been strug- Hafeez, 38, who made his the third wicket before Sohail cluded four boundaries. Test half century. His 62 not gling for form for a while, debut against Bangladesh in edged Southee to Watling be- Leg-spinner Yasir Shah, out was carved painstakingly having made just 66 runs in 2003, announced at the close hind the stumps for 34. in his 33rd Test, failed to add from 169 deliveries as the Pa- seven innings since scoring a of play that this Test, his 55th, It was Watling, with an to his three wickets on Mon- kistan scoring rate struggled hundred against Australia in would be his last. unbeaten 77, who carried New day, leaving him two short of to rise above two an over. Dubai in October, following In the fourth full over after Zealand’s overnight total from becoming the fastest man to The equally-experienced his recall to the Test side after the break, Imam-ul-Haq took 229-7 and added an invalua- reach 200 Test scalps. Shafiq hit the same number a two-year absence. his eye off a Trent bouncer ble 45 runs over the last three The current record has of fours in his 26 which has so It was no surprise when and was hit on the back of the wickets to frustrate Pakistan. stood for 82 years after Aus- far occupied 85 balls. Boult had him caught low helmet. Next ball, he edged to During his five-and-a- tralia’s Clarrie Grimmett - Farewell Hafeez -The down at second slip by Tim Southee at third slip and was half-hour knock in his 56th reached 200 wickets in 36 Pakistan top order was jolted Southee for a fourth-ball duck on his way for just nine. Test Watling became the 14th Tests in 1936. Saraiva knocks out top-seeded Heller Igoshin stuns third RESULTS Pakistani batsman Mohammad Hafeez departs after his dismissal seed Zhurbin, during the third and final Test cricket Test match on Tuesday. (AFP) Qatar’s Zayid enters SINGLES (FIRST ROUND) Bernardo SARAIVA (POR) 6-4 6-3 Peter HELLER (GER) [1] second round Mikalai HALIAK (BLR) 7-5 4-6 6-4 Kristian LOZAN (RUS) Mubarak Shannan ZAYID (QAT) 7-5 7-6(3) Jaume PLA MALFEITO (ESP) Aslan KARATSEV (RUS) [5] 6-3 6-3 Vladyslav ORLOV (UKR) TRIBUNE NEWS NETWORK Evgenii TIURNEV (RUS) [4] 6-2 6-3 Tom PISANE (BEL) Khawaja’s brother gets DOHA Jaimee Floyd ANGELE (FRA) 6-3 7-5 Mirko CUTULI (ITA) Antoine BELLIER (SUI) 6-0 6-3 Richard MUZAEV (RUS) Duje AJDUKOVIC (CRO) 6-1 6-2 Constantin BITTOUN KOUZMINE (FRA) [8] PORTUGAL’S Bernardo Thomas STATZBERGER (AUT) [7] 6-1 6-4 Karl FRIBERG (SWE) bail in faking attack Saraiva, who has bagged many Peter KOBELT (USA) 6-2 6-1 Marc GINER (ESP) doubles titles but yet to land a Michail PERVOLARAKIS (GRE) 6-4 6-0 Matic SPEC (SLO) singles crown, had an explo- Alexander IGOSHIN (RUS) 1-6 6-3 7-5 Alexander ZHURBIN (RUS) [3] plot to frame rival Zizou BERGS (BEL) [6] 6-4 6-0 Guy DEN HEIJER (NED) sive start to Qatar Futures 4 Tennis Tournament when he in August. stunned top seed Peter Heller set. man, running away with the Nizamdeen was released in straight sets on Tuesday.