Pakistan skipper Misbah-ul-Haq barely had time to utter the syllable "bat" before galloping to the shade of the dressing room as the visitors started to slip, slop, slap.
The New Zealanders were subjected to the desert sun, a ball getting scuffed prematurely and batsmen with a reliable GPS as to the location of their off stump. The only respite was a westerly zephyr to evaporate the litres of sweat.
Fault didn't lie with the bowlers.
Trent Boult and Tim Southee pitched up and made the best of any early movement, despite what must have felt like bowling on an artificial.
It presented an extraordinary scenario when spinner Mark Craig came on in the 10th over, followed by Ish Sodhi in the 11th. Craig had a stumping chance butchered by B-J Watling at 44 without loss, when Shehzad was 16. Sodhi also got a ball to beat Shehzad in his first over. It hit high on his back thigh and, while it wasn't out, was worth an lbw shout. The leg spinner looks New Zealand's most potent asset as the test advances.
Another of his deliveries spun away from Mohammad Hafeez on 35 and took the edge. It half-volleyed into the hands of Ross Taylor at slip. The flight and dip generated confusion. He deserved a wicket but Hafeez instead added 61 more runs.
"Obviously they were quite tough conditions on day one of a test," Sodhi said. "They [Pakistan] played well but at least we created a few chances. It's not that we bowled badly. Any good player, if they apply themselves, can bat on that."
McCullum's decision to opt for a six-prong attack looked justified. The onus goes on those selected to toil, and for the fieldsmen to employ possum-trap hands. Any catches which escape their grasp, like when Watling put down an edge from an Azhar reverse sweep off Craig in the 80th over, could cost the chance of a result. Fitness and concentration levels will be scrutinised.
McCullum attacked as best he could. He never relinquished a slip cordon and posted close-in catchers throughout. Taking wickets rather than containing was paramount. The circumstances even forced him to bowl for just the second time in tests in the 73rd over at 226 for one. He finished with none for six off five overs.
Still, that sort of adversity is what makes away assignments against Pakistan such a challenge since New Zealand started playing them in 1955. They've won one series in eight (1969-70) across 59 years. Pakistan are also yet to be beaten in a series in the UAE since making it their temporary 'home' in 2010.
ANDREW ALDERSON TRAVELLED TO THE UAE COURTESY OF EMIRATES
