Pakistan v New Zealand, 2014-15

At Dubai, November 17-21, 2014. Drawn. Toss: New Zealand.
New Zealand emerged with respect recouped after their Abu Dhabi trouncing. McCullum set Pakistan 261 in 72 overs, and they finished 65 runs short of victory, with New Zealand five wickets away. The final day was the Muslim day of worship, meaning lunch was extended to an hour to accommodate Friday prayers. Factor in the umpires' enthusiasm to test their light meters, and it was almost inevitable some play would be lost to the dusk of the oncoming Arab winter.

The match moved on at a crawl, but no purist would have left disappointed. McCullum's attacking fields helped: he employed two short covers for Southee, opened up the off side to tempt left-hander Shan Masood against Sodhi's leg-spin, and gave Craig a regular short leg and leg slip against the right-handers. Craig dismissed Azhar Ali and Younis Khan, but he and Sodhi did not use the footmarks as effectively as Pakistan's spin attack (now reduced to two, with Mohammad Hafeez suspended). In New Zealand's second innings, Zulfiqar Babar and Yasir Shah took all nine wickets between them before the declaration.

Taylor negotiated them better than anyone, underlining his value with a 12th Test century, joining John Wright in second place among New Zealanders, behind Martin Crowe (17). Taylor's stock shots were pushes into the off side, and cuts behind point. Shah eventually had him stumped - for the first time in a Test - on 104, but his seventhwicket partnership of 60 with Craig extricated New Zealand from a perilous 166 for six with a day remaining. They had claimed the early honours, with Latham reaching stumps on the first evening unbeaten on 137 out of 243 for three. He played only when necessary, and looked best punching off the back foot through the off side. Latham became the second NewZealander, after John F. Reid in 1984-85, to score centuries in consecutive Tests against Pakistan.

Three wickets, including Latham without addition to his overnight score, fell in short order next morning, but a stand of 68 between Watling and Craig gave New Zealand a firm foothold with 403. Pakistan, who had fielded the same side in winning their last three Tests, were forced into changing both openers, and left-handers Masood and Taufeeq Umar produced diminishing returns. Azhar and Younis fought back with a century partnership, before Younis - who passed 1,000 Test runs for the year - lapsed with a lazy shot to cover on 72.

He used his feet as if in a ballroom, stretched forward to sweep like a supple yogi, and watched the ball as if it were threatening to pinch his lunch. The rest of the order looked out of touch, which was perhaps unsurprising: Pakistan had not needed to call on anyone beneath No. 5 in four of their previous seven innings. At 312 for nine they were facing a potentially irreversible deficit, but Sarfraz Ahmed and Rahat Ali put on 81, a record tenth-wicket partnership against New Zealand. Sarfraz gripped the bat low down the handle, ready to rifle his wrists through anything wide, and loft straight or through the leg side. He farmed the strike expertly, pressed on from 53 to 112, and claimed the record for most runs in a year by a Pakistan wicketkeeper. When he slapped back a return catch, it was McCullum's first wicket in any form of top-level cricket. As McCullum later pointed out, that gave him one more Test wicket than his offspinning brother, Nathan.
Man of the Match: L. R. P. L. Taylor.