Pakistani bowling pair Hasan Ali and Yasir Shah leveled a 14-year-old record in an attempt to strengthen Pakistan’s chances over New Zealand in the first Test against New Zealand.
Hasan ended with bowling figures of 45/5 and Yasir with 110/5 to level 2004’s record at MCG against Australia where legendary fast bowler Shoaib Akhter and Danish Kaneria took 5 wickets each.
First time in 14 years that two Pakistan bowlers have taken a 5-for in an innings – Hasan Ali and Yasir Shah today. Last time it was Shoaib Akhtar and Danish Kaneria at MCG in 2004. #PakvNZ
— Mazher Arshad (@MazherArshad) November 18, 2018
The duo picked up five wickets apiece to bundle out Kiwis on 249 and set a 176-run target for Pakistan.
How Abbas Played Catalyst
Premier paceman Mohammad Abbas is the backbone of Pakistani bowling attack and remains at the heart of everything. Even if he’s not taking wickets, he ensures to blocks runs from one end which ultimately forces the batsmen to take risks at the other end- giving more chance to bowlers to take the wickets.
Even on Sunday, Abbas’s wicket basket remained empty but his sheer quality bowling forced the NZ batsmen to take risks against Hasan and Yasir, which means that he was instrumental to wickets.
Mohammad Abbas has been characteristically metronomic in this match. All bar three of his deliveries have pitched within a five-metre chunk of the pitch between 4m and 9m from the batsman's stumps. #PakvNZ pic.twitter.com/KLyUorZbSH
— The CricViz Analyst (@cricvizanalyst) November 18, 2018
