Tim Southee fell agonisingly short of leading New Zealand to victory in his first series in charge, and the 34-year-old put it down to Sarfaraz Ahmed’s dream comeback for Pakistan.
The two-Test series in Karachi ended in a 0-0 stalemate even though New Zealand were in a position to win both only to be thwarted by bad light and Sarfaraz’s red-hot form in the 35-year-old’s first series in nearly four years.
New Zealand sensed a series-clinching victory when they reduced Pakistan to 80-5, having set them a daunting victory target of 319.
Sarfaraz produced a career-best 118, his first Test hundred since 2014, to help Pakistan eke out a dramatic draw at Karachi’s National Stadium on Friday.
“Sarfaraz was outstanding—not only today but throughout the whole series,” Southee told reporters after bad light stopped play with New Zealand one wicket away from winning the series and Pakistan 15 runs short of victory.
“He came out; he played positive, busy cricket.” “For somebody who hasn’t played for four years, credit to him.” “We knew from the nature of the surface that things could happen late in the test, but Sarfaraz was probably the difference.”
We could’ve won had we gotten him earlier.
