New Zealand, led by captain and opener Brendon McCullum, launched an attack on Pakistan's bowlers last night as they attempted to survive the four-and-a-half remaining sessions in the first test.
Pakistan declared their second innings closed at 175 for two in the middle session of the fourth day, leaving NewZealand to chase 480 to set a world record win or, more realistically, bat for a draw.
New Zealand was 69 for three at tea.
McCullum raced to 39 off 49 balls before falling lbw to Yasir Shah in an over where the bowler lured him in before delivering a flipper to pin him on the back foot. The New Zealand captain played an aggressive hand where he peppered the boundary seven times, and often justifiably, punishing bad balls. He even ditched the helmet for a cap, but the innings remained a cameo when New Zealand needed an epic.
Ross Taylor went in similar lbw fashion to Yasir for eight shortly afterwards.
Earlier, Tom Latham was dismissed for 20 from an attempted slog sweep off Zulfiqar Babar. Yasir took the catch at square leg..
Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq waited for Mohammad Hafeez to score his sixth test hundred before drawing the curtain on their scorecard.
Both teams spent the morning trying to outfox each other. New Zealand wanted to conserve energy for their inevitable examination via spin on a cracking pitch and prevent a run-haemorrhage to fast-track the start of their second innings.
Pakistan wanted to advance the game with a brisk accumulation to give their bowlers the maximum opportunity to prod New Zealand batting weaknesses.
The session indicated how the rest of the series might unfold. New Zealand's much vaunted bowling attack has minimal traction in these conditions. Trent Boult and Tim Southee, one of the best pace partnerships in international cricket over the last year, had few answers despite their obvious toil. The curators in Dubai and Sharjah will turn their pitch recipe books to the Abu Dhabi page to roll and bake surfaces accordingly.
If New Zealand is to have any chance in the coming tests, they'll need to a) win the toss; b) thrust spinners Ish Sodhi and Mark Craig into an exponential learning curve where accuracy is paramount; and c) hold any catch presented. These Pakistani batsmen are batting barnacles.
Chances were limited in the opening session. Ish Sodhi finished with a pair of lbws for figures of two for 66 from 13 overs.
The lack of wickets in this test is a key point for review. With half of the International Cricket Council's 10-test playing nations coming from spin-friendly environments, it remains an area of the game New Zealand must conquer with their ambitions to advance beyond No.7 in the world.
Enduring against spin is the next obstacle if a draw is to be salvaged.
