Pakistan grind out draw to win NZ series

WELLINGTON, (Reuters) – Pakistan captain  Misbah-ul-haq produced a man of the match performance to ensure  his side batted out the final day to draw the second test  against New Zealand today and claim their first series  victory since 2006.
Misbah finished the day on 70 not out, following on from his  99 in the first innings, as Pakistan reached 226 for five at the  close of play, 48 runs short of their victory target of 274, to  wrap up the two-match series 1-0.
Adnan Akmal was two not out as the visitors claimed their  first series win since they beat the West Indies 2-0 at home  five years ago.
“It’s pretty pleasing, we’ve been through some rough times  but we’ve played some really good cricket in this series, we’ve  been very disciplined,” Pakistan coach Waqar Younis told  reporters.
“Full credit to Misbah and the boys, I think they all stuck  to the task and managed to win the series.”
Misbah had shared in an 118-run stand with Younus Khan (81)  — their second century-stand of the match — after New Zealand  had threatened to spoil the visitors’ day when they reduced them  to 42-3 in the first session.
Chris Martin was particularly aggressive in the first  session, taking 2-24 off nine overs and had the Pakistani  batsmen frantically trying to see him off.
New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori also provided some  concerning moments for the visitors, introducing himself in the  eighth over and getting bounce from the harder ball and some  turn out of the footmarks.
Misbah and Younus, however, slowly but assuredly ground down  the attack and for long periods during the session between lunch  and tea looked to have given up any pretence of chasing down the  target before they slowly began to increase the scoring rate.
New Zealand were given the slightest hope of a final session  victory when Younus was caught by Reece Young off Tim Southee in  the final over before tea.
“That was the key partnership, Misbah and Younus Khan,”  Vettori said. “They’re pretty experienced players and they know  their game pretty well.
“The wicket was good and we just couldn’t get that  breakthrough early enough.
“I think even when we got Younus out before tea there was a  chance there but we just needed to keep getting those  breakthroughs to get into their inexperienced middle and lower  order and we didn’t get them.”
Misbah, who faced 172 balls and hit his fifth boundary to  bring up his 50 after 255 minutes at the crease, and Asad  Shafiq, however, continued to combine stoic defence and flirting  with the possibility of launching a frantic final assault.
In the final hour, Vettori trapped Shafiq in front for 24 to  leave Pakistan 215-5 and while the New Zealand bowlers attempted  to rattle them with several vociferous appeals, Akmal and Misbah  negotiated their way through until the close.
Martin finished with 2-63 off 24 overs, leaving him on 199  test wickets.